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Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon


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#1 The Satellite

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Posted 11 May 2018 - 11:18 PM

 

I didn't even realize they had promised an 8-bit game as a Kickstarter stretch goal but here it is. It gives off serious Castlevania 3 vibes and I very much want this. $10, out in just under two weeks... yep. I'm buying it.

 

(Topic split from posts in the main Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night thread.)


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#2 The Satellite

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Posted 24 May 2018 - 07:38 PM

Beat the first two levels and here's some quick impressions:

 

- Yes, this is Classicvania. Stiff jumps, whipping candles for ammo and subweapons... You move way faster on stairs though, and can jump onto them. I forget if this was a thing in Castlevania 3 though; however, you can't jump off them.

- Your starting character and Miriam, your first partner character (and the heroine of Ritual of the Night) are both basically Simon Belmont, just the dude has a sword and Miriam jumps real high. And can slide. I prefer Miriam between the two, but she does have less health.

- Bosses are flashier, not necessarily difficult though. At the very least, fun.

- Admittedly the music isn't as energetic as I'd like for a Classicvania game. Good compositions, but not upbeat enough. Maybe that'll change?

- Interesting system where each character has their own life bar, and switching between them is seen as strategic. If one character dies, you restart at the checkpoint but don't lose a life; you just lose access to that character. You lose a life only if all of your characters die.

- First level was easy, but the second level quickly reminds you that you need to pay attention and time your movement/attacks if you want to survive, like you should in a Classicvania. We'll see if the difficulty curve continues steadily this way, however I wouldn't say it's too bad so far. At least, not on the level of either NES Classicvania.

 

So yeah, overall really positive so far. If it stays the course, I'll be quite happy.


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#3 The Satellite

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Posted 25 May 2018 - 03:03 PM

Just beat it. I won't say more than I said above but I'm very satisfied with it, more than worth the $10 especially if you're a fan of classic Castlevania. While you're definitely not going to struggle as much as you would with Castlevanias of the past, it's still a challenging game with a lot of depth. They did good on this one. Real good.


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#4 Anthus

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Posted 25 May 2018 - 03:28 PM

Ohh, this is out now. I'll be picking this up later tonight. Dunno if I'll have time to play it.

I will say, I'm a little sad to hear they are using that clunky arc jump, but it sounds less annoying since it's not using that old life system.
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#5 The Satellite

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Posted 25 May 2018 - 03:47 PM

Honestly I don't think I'd enjoy this game as much without the classic Castlevania jump arc. It's part of the style, a deliberate choice, forcing you to plan wisely. And when the game's designed around it, it's not as big a deal I feel.



#6 ShadowTiger

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Posted 29 May 2018 - 03:29 PM

I've always been infinitely more of a fan of the Metroidvania style Castlevania games (The GBA / PS1 / DS games)  than the ClassicVania games.  Inventory systems, being able to control ourselves in mid-air, and having multiple varieties of weapons while going through an open world game are my cup of tea.



#7 Saffith

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Posted 30 May 2018 - 11:17 PM

For whatever it's worth: you don't have to take all the potential partners along. You can also kill them, and you get new abilities for doing so. One of them gives you a double jump.



#8 The Satellite

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Posted 30 May 2018 - 11:28 PM

Yeah, I found out about that after beating the game and reading about it elsewhere. Haven't tried it yet but I kinda wanna do two solo Zangetsu runs: One just ignoring the helpers, and one killing them. Sounds like the former is the more challenging one and probably closer to a traditional Castlevania experience.



#9 Saffith

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Posted 31 May 2018 - 12:20 AM

Yes, it gets quite difficult. Especially those damn bird and frog passages.
Something that seems like another callback to Castlevania (very minor final boss spoiler):
Spoiler

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#10 Anthus

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Posted 31 May 2018 - 10:38 AM

Picked this up last night, and made it to stage 3. It's fun. Even with the jump arc thing, it's not cheaply designed like some time-wasting hallways of the NES days.

Not really a spoiler, but an observation


#11 Haylee

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Posted 01 June 2018 - 06:38 AM

I'm absolutely infatuated with Curse of the Moon so far, especially with all the variety of ways there are to play it. I've already beaten the game at least twice, and I have two other runs almost beaten already.

 

I also just realized with how short this game, it's literally perfect race material, thoughts?



#12 The Satellite

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Posted 08 June 2018 - 10:48 PM

Alright, I went ahead and split this into its own topic, seemed fitting since it's been generating a decent amount of discussion. Left a link to the original thread in the new OP.

 

Anyway, I have beaten this game three times now in different modes. Veteran each time of course, but I've done a regular run with all allies, the "Nightmare Mode" that unlocks after beating the game this way, and a solo Zangetsu run. Spoilers within for those last two runs:

 

Spoiler



#13 Moosh

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Posted 09 June 2018 - 02:31 AM

I also just realized with how short this game, it's literally perfect race material, thoughts?

I'd love to do a race sometime. This game is great. I've played through the whole thing four times in quick succession and I'm still not fully tired of it. :D

 

 

Spoiler

Spoiler



#14 The Satellite

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Posted 09 June 2018 - 11:21 AM

Spoiler



#15 The Satellite

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Posted 19 July 2020 - 02:38 AM

I had been hoping for a sequel to this game (Ritual of the Night isn't the sequel they're different gameplay styles shut up) for a while now and I got my wish when Curse of the Moon 2 was announced last month and released this month. Curse of the Moon was a fantastically-crafted Classicvania that, for the most part, streamlined out much of the Castlevania bullshit, made it more accessible, and just was a great experience overall. Curse of the Moon 2 was hopefully to be more of the same, and I'm overall satisfied, but...

 

To put it succinctly, this game is "too much." In multiple ways. It's a good game, but whereas the original made things for the most part come off as an improvement of the formula, 2 in many ways goes back to the formula, with its own share of cheap enemy placement, just plain too many enemies, bosses that can have too much going on... If you want to play this game, but want to mitigate the bullshit, I definitely recommend the infinite lives, knockback-free "casual" mode. Hell, I used it on my second playthrough (and only that playthrough), for reasons I'll get into in spoiler text, along with further elaboration on the "too much" point.

 

Spoiler

 

The short version is that I'd still recommend playing Curse of the Moon 2, especially if you loved the original, just be prepared for pain and fatigue if you attempt going for completion. It looks great, it plays great, but it can be a little more cheap, and the soundtrack, in my opinion, isn't as strong. There's definite improvements in some areas, but they don't mesh perfectly as a whole as much as the original game did.

 

I still hope there's a Curse of the Moon 3 one day.


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