I have very mixed feelings about Bloodstained and I feel that it's quiet hard for me to review well. So I apologise if I'm clearly missing something or I use the wrong terminology.
Firstly going into BROTN I was expecting a Metroidvania similar to Hollow Knight or the new Prince of Persia etc etc, but no this is very much just the Vania. I was completely fine with this realisation however I must mention my experience with Castlevania is very limited. So I thought let's give it a shot as I know the run time isnt that long and I'm always down to play a new genre.
Firstly I'll start with the positives.
Its clear alot of passion has gone into this game with it's fantastic sound track, awesome 2-3D, fun references and a cool world. I must commend whoever was in charge of boss design as these fights always felt creative and interesting. Bosses will often have an enhanced move set half way through the fight and the music will change to ramp things up. I also quiet liked the environments as they all looked great and had some alright puzzles. One of the true hilights for me were the many abilities you can unlock as almost all of them look awesome and have quiet a cool 3D flare.
However this is where I get into the negatives. Something about BROTN just feels off, maybe it's the uninteresting plot, all over the place difficulty spikes, weird UI or the large amount of distances you often have to traverse. Something just didn't sit right with me, which is ironic because for some reason there were chairs everywhere. Personally I really didn't like the need to switch move set all the time for one randome puzzle blocking my way. I also thought that the enemys although cool, were kind of odd and felt often very out of place. I also feel the same way for some portions of the map for example the random lava zone or Japan section in a Vampires castle? That aside the part that hindered gameplay the most for me was the ability to buy potions. Personally I don't have a better alternative but I often found with most of the bosses I would just buy max heals and out live the boss rather than "getting good" and beating them with skill. This aspect along with the other smaller ones I mentioned really diminished the experience I had with this game.
After completing Bloodstained I feel a little dissatisfied as you can tell the team is very talented but maybe Vania games aren't for me. Regardless I did have fun at times and wouldn't be against playing other games from the same team.
Firstly going into BROTN I was expecting a Metroidvania similar to Hollow Knight or the new Prince of Persia etc etc, but no this is very much just the Vania. I was completely fine with this realisation however I must mention my experience with Castlevania is very limited. So I thought let's give it a shot as I know the run time isnt that long and I'm always down to play a new genre.
Firstly I'll start with the positives.
Its clear alot of passion has gone into this game with it's fantastic sound track, awesome 2-3D, fun references and a cool world. I must commend whoever was in charge of boss design as these fights always felt creative and interesting. Bosses will often have an enhanced move set half way through the fight and the music will change to ramp things up. I also quiet liked the environments as they all looked great and had some alright puzzles. One of the true hilights for me were the many abilities you can unlock as almost all of them look awesome and have quiet a cool 3D flare.
However this is where I get into the negatives. Something about BROTN just feels off, maybe it's the uninteresting plot, all over the place difficulty spikes, weird UI or the large amount of distances you often have to traverse. Something just didn't sit right with me, which is ironic because for some reason there were chairs everywhere. Personally I really didn't like the need to switch move set all the time for one randome puzzle blocking my way. I also thought that the enemys although cool, were kind of odd and felt often very out of place. I also feel the same way for some portions of the map for example the random lava zone or Japan section in a Vampires castle? That aside the part that hindered gameplay the most for me was the ability to buy potions. Personally I don't have a better alternative but I often found with most of the bosses I would just buy max heals and out live the boss rather than "getting good" and beating them with skill. This aspect along with the other smaller ones I mentioned really diminished the experience I had with this game.
After completing Bloodstained I feel a little dissatisfied as you can tell the team is very talented but maybe Vania games aren't for me. Regardless I did have fun at times and wouldn't be against playing other games from the same team.