Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon - Review

Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon - Review

Review for Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon. Game for Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita and Xbox One, the video game was released on 24/05/2018 The version for Xbox One came out on 06/06/2018

The 2019 will be the year of Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, new Metroidvania made by Koji Igarashi, one of the key men in the development of Castlevania starting from the epoch Symphony of the Night. The game has generated a huge amount of hype, quantifiable in the five and a half million dollars obtained from its campaign Kickstarter. To pass the spasmodic wait, Inti Creates has come up with Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon, A kind of appetizer by Ritual of the Night.



Also in this case we are faced with a game that pays homage in every pixel Castlevania, but the episode taken as a model this time it is not Symphony of the Night, but the much older third chapter, Dracula's Curse, dating back as far as 1989.

Curse of the Moon, therefore, is a very valid action platformer that seems to come out of the era of the glorious NES, as is evident from the first screenshots, reminiscent - net, obviously, of the infinitely greater resolution - of the faraway era 8 bit; in this sense, Curse of the Moon reminded us of Mighty Gunvolt, another similar operation by Inti Creates, which wanted to accompany Azure Striker Gunvolt with a deliciously retro spin-off. Another point of contact with the games mentioned is the wonderful soundtrack, made by the specialist Ippo Yamada, who has signed many OSTs for Mega Man (as well as that of his spiritual successor, Mighty No. 9) and who will participate in that of Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night.



Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon - Review

But the similarities certainly do not stop at the graphic sector and the artistic direction, also extending into the field of gameplay. Dracula's Curse marked a return to the purely action platform mechanics of the first episode, abandoning the adventure and role-playing elements of Simon's Quest, but added other elements to overcome the problem of excessive linearity, introducing three supporting actors and some crossroads, which lead to multiple endings.

Curse of the Moon also predicts three additional characters e multiple endings, even if it handles these elements differently. As for the supporting characters, Dracula's Curse allowed you to bring only one with you, a restriction absent in Curse of the Moon, which thus composes a really interesting party: the swordsman Zangetsu, seeking revenge against the demons who cursed him, can be accompanied by Miriam, equipped with the classic whip that Castlevania fans have come to love, from the wizard and alchemist Alfred and Jebel, able to transform into a bat. These four characters will return in Ritual of the Night, even if their s will not necessarily be friendly ...

Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon - Review

But it is not mandatory to let all the supporting actors enter the party, on the contrary, Curse of the Moon from time to time allows the player di choose whether to recruit them, not recruit them or kill them, thus acquiring a new move for Zangetsu. Depending on the choices made, one of the six alternative endings and possibly the Nightmare (complete with a new final stage) and Ultimate modes, as well as the Boss Rush Mode. This set of extras is necessary to achieve a decent longevity, since a run itself lasts just a couple of hours, ten / fifteen minutes for each of the eight levels it consists of - but, unlike Dracula's Curse, here it is not 'is the countdown timer.



All the characters, switchable with the LB and RB buttons, have their own health bar and, with the exception of Gebel, their own set of secondary weapons (which have a dedicated button, although it is possible to restore the ancient combination ↑ + Attack ), but the indicator linked to the latter is common (you see it at the top right in the screenshots accompanying the review, under the score). The death of one does not involve the loss of a life: simply, you return to the previous checkpoint using the other fighters; only when all are dead is a life lost. Always said that you are playing in Veteran Mode and not in Casual Mode, which eliminates lives and knock backs.


From this point of view, Inti Creates' ability to scale the difficulty is to be commended: Curse of the Moon can turn out to be a walk in health (in Normal Casual, recruiting all characters) as hell (in Ultra Veteran, without one or more supporting actors, especially in the later levels), it all depends on the player.

Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon - Review

Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon is a great (like-) Castlevania “the old way” - that is, before Symphony of the Night revolutionized gameplay - as well as a very tasty appetizer while waiting for Ritual of the Night.

► Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon is an Adventure-Platform game developed and published by Inti Creates for Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita and Xbox One, the video game was released on 24/05/2018 The version for Xbox One came out on 06/06/2018

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