After four years, Bloodstained finally made it. After playing Curse of the Moon, i couldn't wait for Ritual of the Night. Now that i have the game and beat it, i do have some thoughts.

First off, the story and characters are glorious: Miriam has become a favorite even before launch, and Zangetsu follows the rule of cool. Erica Lindbeck and David Hayter really delivered in voicing their respective characters. Ray Chase doesn't disappoint as Gebel, and Robbie Belgrade's guest appearance voicing OD really shines. The gameplay is exactly how i remember Symphony of the Night, IGA and his team really did fantastic. Ayami Kojima doesn't disappoint with her illustrations; she still has that magic touch, and all the collaborating companies really did fantastic helping IGA finish the game. the team really did show their love for their community and backers, especially with the easter eggs by inputting certain phrases in the name ID. They even went as far as providing shoutouts to various backers in sound mode. For example: when WayForward was brought in to help IGA finish the game, he showed his thanks by putting Shovel Knight in the game as an enemy, plus getting his armor allows players to play the game as Shovel Knight.

However no game is ever perfect, so here comes the problems. The difficulty spike is ridiculous, even on Normal. there are some enemies that are a total breeze, but then there are the bosses that are very cheap, like Bloodless's attacks being too fast to dodge and her blood rain juggles if not dodged (zero to death instantly). Certain bosses took a few pages from the Touhou series, making their fights total bullet hell, forcing players to think and react on the fly. there's also certain attacks from bosses that cover the entire arena. Not to mention the fact that certain shards are very broken and OP (Teps Oceus and Shovel Knight infamous for being overpowered), they make all other shards completely useless. Even the boss's shards are worthless since you only get them once and they can't be enhanced without end game resources (with some exceptions). There's also a few bugs addressed, like quest items being lost, and the map coverage locking at certain percentages (eventually they got fixed). no invinciblity frames after taking damage, making players suffer through juggles by bosses, resulting in zero to death moments. Lastly, post game bosses and the fight with IGA himself deliver extreme damage and are brutally punishing.

SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!

Another issue is the story as well: unless you played Curse of the Moon, you're gonna be completely lost on who these characters are, but at the same time, there's no connection between the two games. in Curse of the Moon, the characters were allies, but in the sequel, they became enemies, and there's no context explaining how this happened. Also there's no pay off to the consequences of absorbing a large number of shards. There was artwork showcasing Miriam being corrupted by her crystal from absorbing too many shards, but there's no payoff to that consequence; in other words the game straight up lied, there's no worst ending for Miriam becoming corrupt.

Pros:
+ IGA's finest game. Truly captures Symphony of the Night.
+ Excellent voice cast.
+ Many call backs to his previous works.
+ All Castlevania tricks (Koji Kombo and enemy footstool) work.
+ Lots of love and dedication to and for the community, including actually listening to feedback.
+ End game content for replay value.
+ Not reviewer friendly, meaning NO EASY MODE FOR REVIEWERS. (a big F U for reviewers and critics, and i love it!!!)
+ FIGHTING IGA HIMSELF IN HIS OWN GAME!!!! O_O

Cons:
- game breaking bugs (eventually patched).
- exclusive weapon techniques, no universal weapon crushes. only certain weapons can perform more than one technique (Zangetsuko can do two while some katanas can do either one or none at all).
- Story is disjointed and separate, no connection to the previous title except for familiarity.
- Constant grindfest for better equipment and resources.
- certain infinite grinds got patched out.
- broken and OP shards make all other shards worthless.
- Not enough multiple endings, discouraging potential outcomes.
- Post game bosses are brutal and punishing. IGA shows no mercy.

Final rating: 9/10. so much good things to overlap the bad things. Truly a night to remember and relive.