Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night Review

The thriving subgenre of “Metroidvania” games exists to try to recreate the magic of classic Metroid and Castlevania games — because original developers Nintendo and Konami dropped the idea long ago. Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night achieves this goal better than most because it plays and feels almost exactly like the legendary Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. It should, considering that was the whole pitch of the Kickstarter back in 2015, and that the team behind it is led by Symphony’s assistant director, Koji “Iga” Igarashi. Granted, not all attempts at crowdfunded spiritual successors to beloved games end up successful (looking at you, Mighty No. 9) but the stars have aligned for Bloodstained. Ritual of the Night has emerged as a game worthy of its heritage.

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