(Originally published to Glitchwave on 10/25/2022)
[Image from glitchwave.com]
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night
Developer: Inti Creates, WayForward Technologies, Disruptive Games
Publisher: 505 Games
Genre(s): Metroidvania
Platforms: PS4, Xbox One, Switch, PC
Release Date: June 18, 2019
I was a bit skeptical of how Ritual of the Night would compare with Symphony of the Night, much less overthrow it. How is Ritual of the Night to surpass its source when so much of its foundation was shamelessly copied from it? Using Ritual of the Night as the title of Symphony of the Night’s successor already signifies a sense of familiarity as if the word “Symphony” was crossed out with “Ritual” written underneath to fool us. None of us Castlevania fans minded that Ritual of the Night was a shameless clone of Symphony of the Night because we like Symphony of the Night. However, it’s not as if we fans don’t have access to Symphony of the Night, either the original or the bevy of modern consoles it’s been ported to. That, and Symphony of the Night has aged as well as a fine cabernet sauvignon, except for the sparse instances of questionable voice acting. Igarashi had plenty to cash on by putting his name on a new project that sparked a sense of conventionality, but Ritual of the Night’s existence didn’t seem to have any merit on an artistic scale. Taking the template of a flawed, rudimentary game on the NES and treating it with the sheen of modernity with Curse of the Moon was easy, but Symphony of the Night did not need a thorough refurbishment. However, with over two decades of hindsight since the release of Symphony of the Night, perhaps it’s best to give Ritual of the Night the benefit of the doubt.
A simple way to give Ritual of the Night some discernibility is a graphical rehaul. In this context, one couldn’t enhance the already spectacularly crisp pixel art of Symphony of the Night, and copying it would be too uncanny for comfort. Instead, Ritual adopts a rounded, cel-shaded 3D style. Using this visual aesthetic makes the Ritual of the Night graphics pop with the same sublime, effervescent glow of contrasting lights and darks that made the original Castlevania games so striking. All the while, the cel-shading isn’t so overwhelmingly cartoony as it tends to be in other games. Normally, I’d claim that emulating Castlevania with this kind of art style would be inappropriate, but everything from character models to backgrounds and foregrounds artfully balances the bright roundedness with that notable gothic mystique. It’s difficult to state whether or not Ritual looks better than Symphony because its graphics are so dissimilar, so the developers at least achieved a distinct style. Sadly, Ritual of the Night is not exemplary of modern 3D graphics. It seems that 3D games spurred by Kickstarter campaigns can’t hide some awkward, unrefined textures seen with various objects and character models. The Glutton Train boss looked so unprocessed that I questioned if it was finished. I noticed this while playing fellow crowdfunded 3D game A Hat in Time. I suppose this amateurish graphical quality can be expected of all Kickstarter video game projects with Ritual’s example. It is by no means jarring or unpleasant to look at, but Symphony bestowed the finest pixel art of any game at its time. You’d think offering better graphics would be the easiest aspect to improve in succeeding in a two-decade-old game.
Really, the appeal of the cel-shaded graphics is bringing the pixelated characters from Curse of the Moon to the rounded third dimension. Given that Curse of the Moon predates Ritual of the Night only by a year, it’s not as if we’ve yearned to see this visual upgrade for long, like other iconic characters jumping to 3D. Nevertheless, my piqued interest is a testament to the wonders of vague pixel art. All of the familiar characters we’ve come to know over the short course of a year all make their multi-polygonal leap into Ritual of the Night. One would expect that our favorite stony-faced demon hunter Zangetsu would resume his role as the frontman of this operation, but he’s relegated to a supporting position. Instead, the protagonist of Ritual of the Night is Miriam, the high-hopping whip-wielder who is the first member of Zangetsu’s party in Curse of the Moon. I guess Miriam serves as the prime emulatory character for the franchise, imitating the typical Belmont whip in a pixelated 2D Castlevania and taking the role of the more nuanced RPG character Alucard from Symphony of the Night. Wizard master Alfred plays a supporting role along with Richter, and Gebel has taken on an ambitious new stance as the game's main antagonist. Many bosses from Curse of the Moon return, like the twin dragon Andrealphus and the debonair poker king Valefar, and now the third dimension allows us to marvel at their massive, screen-spanning glory. A presentational addition that Symphony of the Night added was a textbox with an icon of the speaking character during dialogue, and Ritual of the Night amplifies this with fully-rendered character models conversing on opposite sides of the screen. These instances are the best way to get a glimpse of Bloodstained’s returning characters in their full 3D glory, As for the voice acting, the most painfully amateurish quality in Symphony of the Night has reached a point of adequacy. Even indie games whose budget consists primarily of crowdfunded donations offer better voice acting than the triple-A titles of yesteryears did, a prideful sign of how far we’ve come.
We can be thankful that the voice acting in Ritual is sufficient because Ritual is much more dialogue-intensive than Symphony ever was. None of Ritual’s dialogue is worthy of being preserved through tongue-in-cheek internet memes. Still, those celebrated quips from Symphony would become insufferably grating if they were as commonplace as Ritual's dialogue. More vocal lines are delivered in Ritual is due to the narrative having a weightier presence. Symphony’s story was yet another escapade in defeating Dracula like in the classic Castlevania games, but in a more roundabout trek to reach the peak of his castle. On the other hand, Ritual takes the basic lore and narrative of the Bloodstained world established plainly in Curse of the Moon and inflates it to the scope of an epic gothic tale. Bloodstained sets itself 2,500 kilometers away from the Carpathian terrain of Romania and takes residence in the Anglosphere of early industrial-era England in the late 1700s. The clergymen that dominated social and economic influence with the religious powers of the church for centuries expressed anxieties about the influx of capitalist ideas and practices running rampant throughout England, undoubtedly rooted in real-life parallels from this time in history. In a desperate attempt to retain their mighty, fearful eminence, the alchemists abduct two orphans and transform them into demonic mediums known as “shardbinders.” Miriam is one of these orphans whose transformation goes awry as she succumbs to a decade-long coma. Gebel’s ritual, on the other hand, proves to be successful as demons arise and destroy England to an apocalyptic degree. In the wake of the alchemist’s poorly conceived plan ten years later, Gebel plans on using his shardbinder powers to avenge the alchemists. Miriam arises from her slumber to prevent Gebel from making a fatal mistake. Curse of the Moon initially separated Bloodstained from its source material by explicitly branding its monsters as demons. That separation, coupled with the fleshed-out story Ritual provides, makes a substantial stride to branch itself off Castlevania. Just because Dracula is a public domain character doesn’t mean the developers of Ritual should liberally implement him as the backbone for another series.
What did the evil forces in Castlevania do to brandish their prominence over the realm they resided in? Like the Count always did as his first step in reinvigorating his prestige, the alchemists have erected a gigantic, ominous gothic castle. Presenting the monumental eyesore from its front view has always been a tried and true method of evoking a sense of sublime intimidation, and Ritual achieves this in theory. However, the threat that the view of the stupendous estate is intended to implicate feels a bit lacking because the direction of the sinister aura feels off-kilter. Besides Alfred and the uncharacteristically pleasant Johannes, the alchemists are an enigmatic group that we only hear of only when prompting the plot with lore. The peak of this nameless manor does not house a round table of bearded old men in robes that Miriam must defeat one by one. With all of the demons running amok through the castle and along its perimeter, the player gets the impression that the demon plague is a rampant disease that illustrates how badly the alchemist’s plan got out of control. A state of anarchy among the demons may signify the unclean, profane pandemonium surrounding the castle, but all of it has less weight when these creatures of the night are not housed by Dracula. I assumed that each enemy that resided in Dracula’s Castle in Symphony was one of Dracula’s underlings, his “children of the night,” so to speak. Without that governing force of Dracula serving as a looming, imposing threat, the demons feel nebulous. Gebel serves as a similar climatic figure, but his more complex villain role, as opposed to Dracula’s imposing, all-encompassing evil, doesn’t exude the same presence.
Perhaps it feels like this because Ritual can work outside the castle's confines. Other level themes often seen in Castlevania games, like cemeteries and forests, had to be scrapped in Symphony because offering levels that existed outside of the castle’s perimeter would compromise the integral design of the enclosed castle setting. Castle settings in Curse of the Moon didn’t seem too pertinent to Bloodstained’s identity, so the game could emphasize locations beyond an indoor setting. Ritual continues to provide a comparatively abundant level variety set by Curse of the Moon while using the same Metroidvania design philosophy set by Symphony. The different areas inside the colossal castle and its connecting mezzanines are situated in the center of the game’s world map, with many outside areas branching from the castle’s exterior. Ritual’s first level is on a galleon sailing out at sea, docking at the shores of the castle’s residence of Arvantville once the player defeats that area’s boss. While this area feels “completed” after arriving at the castle, they can still explore the decks of the ship whenever they please, as it is still connected with the rest of the map. However, this is only to a certain extent. The map of Ritual is a shameless copy of the map from Symphony, complete with the same rudimentary, rectangular blue grid with the usual red and green upsets that signify the locations of save and teleportation rooms. For some reason, to illustrate that areas like the galleon and other places like the train and the Sorcery Lab are removed from the castle, looking at any of these areas on the map are colored in with a deep, opaque indigo color. I was irked at the lack of areas outside of Dracula’s gothic estate in Symphony, but perhaps they got it right the first time. None of the areas outside the alchemist’s castle are lackluster or on their own merits. Still, their lack of connectedness indicates a lack of cohesive design presented in Ritual’s world. Many individual areas of Ritual’s map, like the sunken grotto of Forbidden Underground Waterway, the tall, winding Towers of Twin Dragons, and the cluttered bookshelves of Livre Ex Machina, are obvious which Symphony areas they mirror, and they reside in the same architectural space of the castle. As a whole, however, the more sprawling design of Ritual’s map is a little too immense as opposed to Symphony’s comparatively restrained architecture.
Ritual’s gameplay also treats Symphony’s gameplay with expansive, creative liberties. However, Ritual manages not to bloat Symphony’s template in this regard. Miriam, expectedly, is a gender-swapped version of Alucard, more so with the adaptable magical powers aspect and less of Alucard’s deep-seated daddy issues. Miriam is situated to be an RPG character, becoming more powerful through a combat-oriented RPG leveling system and accumulating more sustainable armor and weapons. One extra perk that overlaps with Miriam’s progression throughout the game is the collectible shards that give Miriam various abilities. While this mechanic was not present in Symphony, it is not a new idea the developers conjured up during Ritual’s development. The idea is taken from Aria of Sorrow, the other most critically acclaimed Metroidvania Castlevania title. On rare occurrences, defeating an enemy will cause a shard to erupt from their disintegrating bodies and rush through Miriam as she shrieks on its cathartic impact, like Link’s transformation sequences from Majora’s Mask. The enemy roster in Ritual is vast, and most enemies will drop a shard for Miriam to integrate into her combative prowess. Three of six types of shards will be assigned to three buttons/triggers on the controller, one will enhance a single statistic, one will summon one of six familiars, and the last one will unlock an innate ability used for the Metroidvania hindrances in the areas. The sheer volume of shards allows the player to mix and match various combinations. I recommend a defensive ranged shard mix due to the spry enemies causing too much contact damage. If this shard meld does not suit your needs, fortunately, there are many more to choose from. This mechanic may only serve as an additional perk to the gameplay, but it greatly impacts Ritual’s expansiveness.
Ritual’s imperative to ascend over Symphony is through expanding its RPG elements. Besides the shard system, Ritual also offers side quests, an RPG staple meant to prolong the experience. In the sanctuary hub of Arvantville, seen before the entrance to the castle, many refugees will congregate around a rustic bunker to shelter themselves from the demon scourge. Most of these survivors will offer extra objectives for Miriam to consider, which can either be completed at the same time or done consecutively. Lindsey is feeling quite vindictive and has Miriam play bounty hunter, avenging the deaths of the village’s fallen denizens by defeating a number of the same type of demon that slayed them. Abigail, located in the field, rather chooses to tribute the deceased with a commemorative item that Miriam has to retrieve. An old woman named Susie will have Miriam fetch an abundance of intricately-prepared foods. In any normal survival scenario, this feeble old bat would be expunged for being deadweight and taking advantage of the hustlers. Acting as this woman’s Uber Eats driver would have been more of a pain in the ass if not for Arvantville being the one-stop emporium for everything to do with the materials. Dominique and her little apprentice Anne sell any conceivable item, and Johannes is the man to seek for anything relating to crafting (weapons, armor, food, etc.). Unlike the Master Librarian in Symphony, the territorial nature of the merchants/quest givers is not a hassle because teleportation rooms are as common as safe rooms are in Ritual. A hub in Symphony could not be feasible because of both the enclosed design and the constant feeling of hostility within Dracula’s walls. Arvantville is the one area outside the castle that is a welcome addition to expanding Symphony’s map without adulterating its cohesive form.
Some could argue that it doesn’t matter that Ritual augments Symphony’s design without impunity because Ritual’s progression through the map is nothing like its source. The most impressive aspect of Symphony is how free the player was to explore the entirety of the castle with only a few roadblocks to uphold the Metroidvania gameplay. Ritual, however, presents so many snags in the road that it becomes obvious that there is a singular path that the game forces the player to adhere to. At every corner, it feels like Miriam has yet another shard ability to gain to hurdle over another obstacle, which becomes tiring. Of course, a bigger emphasis on linear progress is emblematic of modern Metroidvania game design. Still, considering Ritual is intended to be a nostalgic lark that unabashedly emulates Symphony of the Night, one would think this would’ve been another facet of recreating it. Ritual would have benefited from it greatly, but perhaps the developers felt that Symphony’s unrestrained nature was too antiquated for modern gamers. They’d be wrong. I would forgive Ritual’s prohibitory design if it didn’t lead me to failure. After following the game’s intended path, the player will come across an area called the Hall of Termination, positioned at the top of the map. The player might get the impression that the “final boss” is here, and they’d be correct. Gebel, this game’s Richter, is positioned at the castle's peak and is ready to duel Miriam despite his selective inhibitions about doing so. If the player defeats Gebel, they will be reprimanded with a game over. Sure, in Symphony, defeating Richter without the right circumstances will result in an inefficient ending, but at least the player won’t feel as if they failed. In my defense, the narrow trajectory of Ritual led me to believe that I had completed everything up to this point.
I also subscribed to this belief because of a lingering possibility that I kept considering: is the second half of Ritual going to be a reversed version of the castle like in Symphony? I wished the developers would scrap a flipped castle portion because it didn’t prove necessary in making Symphony feel whole, but rather an addendum to the normal castle. However, I still fully expected the developers to reinstate this, for a game that tributes Symphony wouldn’t feel complete without it. This is why I figured the second half of the map would be inverted, but all Ritual does is grant Miriam the ability to invert the map and walk on the ceilings on her own volition as a cheeky reference. It turns out that I should’ve been more observant, and the many sections I seemed to have missed are what I will refer to as “Ritual’s second half.” I’m delighted that the developers decided to expand the map with more areas on the upside world map (even if it further compromises the already questionable world cohesion) instead of retreading levels with a newfound sensation of vertigo to boot. The areas of the latter half have a peculiar Mario influence judging by the fire, desert, and ice level themes. If that’s not the case, explain Den of the Behemoths to me.
These areas also serve as the point where Ritual’s narrative loses itself. If one couldn’t tell from the misleading ending of failure, Gebel is but a red herring intended to distract Miriam from the real antagonist of Ritual. Of course, anyone who has played Symphony will know this by Richter’s example, and those who played Curse of the Moon know that Gebel is not a villain. The second half is dedicated to uncovering who among the characters should not hold the mythical text of the Liber Loagaeith. Miriam fights a revamped Zangetsu along with Alfred, who is the Micolash of Bloodstained bosses. Again, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that neither of these two is bad guys if they’ve played Curse of the Moon. Is Curse of the Moon not canon or something? Tracking down Curse of the Moon’s final boss, Gremory, becomes a prime objective, but she is only the Shaft of this operation. One should be suspicious of Dominique, the one new character we have no previous reference to and keeps hinting at signs of malevolence. She's the one who stole the Liber Loagaeith and plans to summon the grand demon Bael to enact an act of violent revenge against God for letting the demons kill so many people ten years prior. As grand as the duel fight against Dominique and Bael is, the narrative resolution is all too obvious to be as shocking as the developers intended. Symphony expanded on everything from the 2D Castlevanias except the simple story, and Ritual should’ve borrowed the same sentiment.
Five million Kickstarter donations later, Igarashi’s wish to follow up his magnum opus came to fruition and managed not to be a Mighty #9 caliber disaster. Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night fulfills its initial promise of quenching the thirsts of Symphony of the Night enthusiasts and reminds us all of Igarashi’s brilliance. That is, it reminds us of how brilliant Symphony of the Night was. Tracing one’s own work and rereleasing it can only result in so much exaltation, even when that same creator adds a few more slight changes to it in the hopes that he’ll distract our accusations of self-plagiarization. Ritual of the Night obviously couldn’t have been a carbon copy of Symphony of the Night, and all of the two decade-spanning advantages of hindsight and technical progress meant there should’ve been no excuses that it should be a shameless clone. Curse of the Moon proved to be the best case of a classic Castlevania game, so Ritual should've performed on the same measure. Ritual does expand on Symphony, but all of the augmentations result in the game over-performing. Any elements that Ritual improves upon aren’t substantial enough to transcend Symphony’s quality. Does this mean that Symphony of the Night is a masterpiece by definition: an exemplary work that can be imitated but never replicated or surpassed? Yes, it does. If Ritual of the Night’s intentions were to remind us how good Symphony of the Night is, it passes with flying colors. Keyword: if.
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