REVIEW: Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon (Nintendo Switch, 2018) “Dead and Loving It!”
Castlevania: Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon came about by way of that popular trend a while back of old timey developers attempting to prove to the industry that they still got it. Through Kickstarter, some members of the original team behind Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (and subsequent GBA and PS2 entries in the series) got the band back together back in 2015 to develop the spiritual successor to their Castlevania work: Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night. Curse of the Moon was actually listed as a stretch goal for that project and developed by Inti Creates (Mega Man 9, Mega Man 10, a bunch of other games that aren’t as good as those two). And since I personally haven’t loved anything in the series since Super Castlevania IV for the SNES, this NES trilogy inspired side-project gave me that feeling. You know the one. I knew this game was gonna be good…
I just knew it!!
Right off the bat, the atmosphere makes it perfectly clear that you are for all intents and purposes indeed playing Castlevania here my friend. The characters all have different names and Dracula is nowhere to be seen, but this nerd wasn’t born yesterday. From the outset you take control of Zangetsu, a suspiciously familiar looking character on an epic quest to kill the last boss of the game. But Zangetsu is Simon Belmont in sprite only, as his signature weapon is a sword and not the legendary vampire killer whip. Got that? HUGE difference ok? (Well one of his sub-weapons does happen to be a long chain that grants a pretty neat long range attack, but again: not the same dude). The first stage nicely sets the tone for the entire experience, as a massive steam locomotive barrels through the midnight woods behind you and man, that thing looks real cool. It’s the first of many thrilling graphical flourishes you’ll come across and believe you me, they go a long way toward making you grin like an idiot.
Much like Castlevania III, Curse of the Moon has you coming across and adding 3 assistant characters to your roster, each with their own unique set of abilities and secondary attacks. The first of these that you cross paths with is Miriam (the main protagonist of Ritual of the Night). And while Zangetsu puts in an effort to avoid any kind of legal trouble, Miriam has no problem using a straight up whip as her primary weapon. She also has a very cool slide attack that comes in handy as there are areas that can only be reached this way and she’s the only character who can do it. She’ll also obtain a really neat boomerang sickle thing that kicks ass and really makes the undead wish they’d never died.
The next character you add to your party is an alchemist named Alfred who counts playing the crap out of Ninja Gaiden 2: The Dark Sword of Chaos amongst his favorite pastimes. His main attack is smacking enemies upside the head with a stick but you can also obtain the helpful ring of fire (seen above) as well as the ability to double himself, Ryu Hayabusa style. He starts with the lowest health bar of the group but naturally there are life and weapon meter extensions scattered throughout. Which reminds me: The hearts that you collect in this game actually restore your health and not your sub-weapon attacks. Unlike some other backwards thinking video game series that this is not a part of. That is something that has really bothered me for years and thanks so much you guys for finally fixing that.
Your fourth and final playable character is unquestionably the coolest because he wears a damn cape and can turn into a damn bat. Gebel is clearly a nod to Alucard and in high school was voted the most likely to wind up as somebody’s tattoo. Like Maria’s sliding power, his bat transformation also makes him the only one who can reach certain platforms, allowing him to fly to other areas of the stage that lead to branched off paths. It’s pretty great. In fact, the character swapping mechanic overall is one of my favorite aspects of the game. It’s such a smart and seamless shortcut to hop between all of these abilities at the press of a shoulder button. Way to go, development peoples.
Story wise, from what I understand the game features a pretty cool one but I wasn’t really paying attention to that part. At least not until I got to the end and was trying to figure out what the Hell was going on. There is a very cool twist with the final boss that is a nice idea and adds an odd melancholic touch to the whole thing too. Pretty tastefully done!
As for the amount of game you’re getting here, I’ve read some complaints that the whole thing lands sadly on the short side. And I get it! Nobody wants a good thing to end too soon. But the main course of Curse of the Moon falls somewhere in between the length of the original Castlevania and part III, which I think is plenty. Throw in the fact that there’s a *spoilers* second quest with a neat bonus stage and the fact that it fully encourages speed runs, not to mention customizable difficulty settings and well, to me that all adds up to a high level of replayability. I’ve rolled credits on this game several times now and keep popping it on in short bursts here and there because it’s simply so fun.
The soundtrack is good too. Maybe even very good but just shy of great (though there are some outstanding moments that will burrow themselves into your head for sure). Stage 2 (Frigid Hell) is a particular standout that sounds ripped straight from a Konami game pak. This OST also made me wonder something about those old 2D sidescrollers that never occurred to me. Were they composed with the player’s pace in mind? Because some of the tracks here can flow so perfectly in sync with your stage progression that it was hard to not notice the synergy taking place. And there were more than a few “put the controller down and just savor this” moments. You know what I’m talking about: When the AV sensory really kicks in and tickles those pleasure parts of your brain? They are very rare and welcome instances and this game’s got ‘em.
To address the elephant in the room, I don’t think I’m alone in feeling like the indie scene is a bit oversaturated with “8-bit” retro NES styled games. But along with titles like the glorious Shovel Knight and UFO 50, the team behind this achievement doesn’t just nail the presentation, they really capture something. Bloodstained sincerely plays like an actual relic of the 80’s that you somehow missed or was never released and now here it is. I believe the word I’m looking for here is authenticity. Everything looks, sounds and feels the way you remember Castlevania and so many other titles from that pixelated heyday. It perfectly conjures up the tone of those 5th grade Friday late nights lying on the floor lit only by glow of the television, but now on an HD widescreen canvas.
They really did it.
So there it is people. This game comes at the highest level of Tales From the Dorkside recommendations. And at ten bucks and a blink and you’ll miss it file size, it’s a good thing Nintendo doesn’t let you “gift” digital games anymore because I’d wind up in big trouble buying it for every Switch owner I know every Halloween.
