Last year’s Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night was a solid metroidvania title, and a comfortably familiar experience for all those who’ve been yearning for a good classic Castlevania title for years. However, the game’s launch was somewhat marred by the poorly optimized Switch version. It was so poorly optimized, in fact, that the game’s own director was surprised by its performance, while the developers have been consistently rolling out new patches to fix the game and bring it up to snuff.

The game’s latest Switch patch, update 1.0.4, is a significant one (you can check out the patch notes below). Most notably, the developer points out that with this newest patch, the Switch version of Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is finally in “a nearly identical state for content” to other versions of the game- though they also ensure that they will “continue to work on overall performance improvements for Switch.”

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is currently available for PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC.

PATCH NOTES:

• Stability improvements, such as crashes experienced while interacting with bookcases
• Fixed an issue with corruption during dialogue which could lead to crash
• Some Performance improvements related to animations
• General Bug Fixing

Iga-vania is running wild with Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, which has been hailed as a strong successor to Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. Though work still needs to be done on the Switch port, developer ArtPlay has quite a bit in the pipeline for the future. That includes future cosmetics, and the developer is seeking feedback on pricing for the same in a new survey.

The plan currently is to sell outfit/accessory packs, which will contain a headgear accessory (along with an alternate version of the same), a back accessory, full outfit/dress, boots, a weapon, and a Shard. Along with asking how much players would be willing to pay for all this, there are also options for what kinds of cosmetics the developer should make. Since the developer is planning for more extra content and wants it to be free, these outfit/accessory packs are a way to earn some money in return.

This content will also be separate from the post-launch content that’s already announced. It includes a new playable character with Zangetsu (voiced by David Hayter) and new modes like Speedrun, Boss Rush, Classic, Chaos, and Boss Revenge. Stay tuned for more details on when the content will go live.

Hey, everyone. Survey time! We're pondering some future cosmetic options and we'd like your feedback. https://t.co/VUGFAF9M4C

— Bloodstained: RotN (@SwordOrWhip) July 15, 2019

Koji Igarashi and team’s spiritual successor to Castlevania: Symphony of the Night is out now, and thankfully, it’s been worth the wait. But its launch hasn’t been without hiccups. The majority’s of the game’s audience seems to be on the Switch (which isn’t surprising, since indies and metroidvanias never fail to do well on the Switch)- which is unfortunate, because that particular version of the game is significantly worse than the others.

A lot of that is down to poor optimization and bugs, among other issues, and the developers had promised that they’ll be addressing these problems as soon as they can. Now, in a new Kickstarter update, they’ve detailed some of the improvements coming to Bloodstained’s Switch version, and when we can expect them. They’re targeting a release for the patch in the week of July 15th, and will be looking to address various issues. These include changing the marker button, improving the map scroll speed, improving the zoom in and zoom out function, auto-centering when opening up the map, and more. Take a look at the detailed notes below.

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is available now for PS4, Xbox One, PC, and Nintendo Switch. You can check out our review of the game here.

Nintendo Switch (Status—fix being tested)

• The fix is currently in test, the submission date we were working toward has been delayed due to a graphical bug that has reemerged.
• We anticipate testing will be completed by next week, which would mean an ETA of public release during the week of July 15, 2019.

Improvements

Map Improvements

• Map close button has been remapped to standard exit/close button
• Marker button has been changed
• Trail display button has been changed
• Map scroll speed improved
• Zoom in and zoom out improved
• Zoom level retained when reopening the map
• Auto-center when opening the map
• Bug fix: No longer displaying enemies for completed quests

Fixed items getting stuck on walls/geometry

• The functionality of waiting until the item is collected automatically has been left in, in case the issue persists.

Switch-specific Improvements

• HD Rumble issues in certain areas of the game have been fixed
• Enabled Traditional Chinese language option
• Fixed instances where the game would crash while transitioning between rooms
• Work has been done on the technical “non-visible” side of things to improve input delay, stability, and various optimizations. The teams are continuing to work on these items and we’ll have future updates and plans to share soon.

“Iga’s Back Pack” DLC

Nintendo Switch (Status—DLC approved, release imminent)

• The DLC has been approved by Nintendo, we’re just taking the final steps to make it go live.

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is out and about, garnering praise from fans and critics alike. Helmed by former Castlevania series producer Koji Igarashi and developed by WayForward Technologies, DICO, and ArtPlay, it’s been described as a true successor to Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. Unfortunately, the Nintendo Switch version stands as a sore spot.

Performance and visual quality on Switch appear to be a major step down from other platforms. Thankfully, the development team is looking to improve it. On the official Bloodstained Twitter, it stated, “We have been listening to the feedback regarding Switch performance. Our goal is for everyone, regardless of platform, to be able to enjoy the game and have it run smoothly. We want to live up to your, and our, expectations.”

There will be a number of small updates for the Switch version to improve “different areas.” The developer is going with this approach instead of a large update to ensure that fans won’t have to wait. Time will tell just how much things improve, but it’s good to see the development team responding in such a timely fashion.

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is available now for Xbox One, PS4, PC, and Nintendo Switch. You can check out our review of the game here. More content will be coming after launch, including a second playable character, additional modes, and co-op support.

We have been listening to the feedback regarding Switch performance. Our goal is for everyone, regardless of platform, to be able to enjoy the game and have it run smoothly. We want to live up to your, and our, expectations.

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— Bloodstained: RotN (@SwordOrWhip) June 25, 2019

Throughout the QA process we have been addressing performance issues in the game. Update 1.01 was published to Switch prior to launch to add content and improve performance. It did not accomplish as much as we had hoped and we need to do more.

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— Bloodstained: RotN (@SwordOrWhip) June 25, 2019

To address the concerns brought by the community we are immediately shifting resources to improve performance and stability for the Switch. You can expect a number of small updates that will improve different areas of the game rather than waiting longer for one big update.
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— Bloodstained: RotN (@SwordOrWhip) June 25, 2019

We will have more details as we dive into the work.
We thank you for your patience and apologize for the inconvenience

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— Bloodstained: RotN (@SwordOrWhip) June 25, 2019

It’s been a long wait, but Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, developed by ArtPlay, DICO ,and WayForward Technologies, is finally available. You can pick it up on Xbox One, PS4, and PC right now. Nintendo Switch users will have to wait until June 25th though. In the meantime, check out the launch trailer below.

Along with the signature weird clips of producer Koji Igarashi, we get to see plenty of gameplay. There will be 13 post-launch DLC updates released for free, and many of them – like co-op and Classic Mode – are showcased here. The most interesting addition to the list is Shovel Knight, Yacht Club Games’ mascot.

Shovel Knight seems to be the next playable character available post-launch, the first being Zangetsu from Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon. We can’t be sure, but many of the classic movements like shovel strikes and bouncing off foes with the shovel can be seen. Stay tuned for more information on Bloodstained: Ritual of the Moon in the meantime, especially as more impressions go live.

Much has been made about how Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, Koji Igarashi’s crowd-funded title, is a spiritual successor to Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. It sports a number of different elements and will even have new modes and characters post-launch. However, the playtime for the two should be roughly the same.

In an interview with Gematsu at BitSummit 7 Spirits, the Castlevania series producer spoke about how long a single playthrough would be. “Including some time to get lost, it should take about 10 or more hours.” He noted that this was without the “added elements.” “The enemies and bosses are quite tough this time.”

According to HowLongToBeat.com, this is pretty much in line with Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, whose main story takes 8.5 hours to complete. Completionists will wring 17 hours or so out of the title, and Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night shouldn’t be any different. However, as noted earlier, there will be additional playable characters, like Zangetsu from Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon, releasing later.

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night will be out on June 18th for Xbox One, PS4, and PC. The Nintendo Switch version arrives one week later on June 25th.

Koji Igarashi and team’s spiritual successor to Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is out in a matter of days now, and excitement surrounding the long-awaited game continues to build as we approach its release. Information on how big the game’s file size will be has emerged now, and it’s not too much.

As per the game’s listing on the Microsoft Store, Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night will require just under 8 GB of your system’s storage- 7.73 GB to be precise, which is a pretty decent size. We can probably expect the game to weigh about as much on the PS4 and PC as well, though the Switch version will probably be compressed.

Details on its post-launch plans were recently given out, while it was also confirmed that the game’s second main playable character will be voiced by David Hayter of Metal Gear Solid fame.

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is out on June 18th for Xbox One, PS4, and PC, with the Nintendo Switch version releasing on June 25th. Check out how much it has improved visually through here.

Koji Igarashi’s Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is out next month after years in development. The journey doesn’t end there though, as new characters and modes will be added for free post-launch. One of those characters has been revealed, and it’s Zangetsu, the demon hunter, from Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon. Check out the trailer below.

Perhaps the coolest part is that Zangetsu is voiced by David Hayter. Yes, that David Hayter, with his raspy Solid Snake voice seemingly carrying over from Metal Gear Solid. Zangetsu should be an interesting option for players – not only does he murder enemies with a katana and elemental magic, but also employs a chain hook for traversal.

If you want to know more about Zangetsu’s exploits, it’s worth playing Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon (which is an 8-bit throwback to the days of Castlevania-style gameplay). We don’t know when he’ll be added to Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, but the game itself is out on June 18th for Xbox One, PS4, and PC. Nintendo Switch owners can pick it up on June 25th.

The long-awaited Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, helmed by Castlevania series producer Koji Igarashi, is out next month. The improvements to the visuals have been pretty significant, and overall, it looks to be a massive game. More is coming after launch though – as per the official website, there are several modes and two additional playable characters in the works.

The modes include Speedrun, Boss Rush, Roguelike, Classic, Chaos, and Boss Revenge. Players will also receive the Pure Miriam Outfit, along with online/local co-op support and a Versus mode. Interestingly, publisher 505 Games has announced the Iga’s Back Pack DLC for $9.99, which features a battle with Igarashi and the Swordwhip as a reward.

505 Games’ Roberto Angel-Corlux addressed potential complaints from Kickstarter backers, since the items in the Iga’s Back Pack DLC were meant for those who crowd-funded the title. On Kickstarter, he stated that money was “a part” of the decision, adding, “The chief things I was considering was making sure everyone had a safe and legitimate way to get the full game experience no matter when they find out about Bloodstained, whether that’s 5 months ago or 5 years from now, and that we were being respectful of the price backers originally paid.”

Angel-Corlux also stated that in a questionnaire regarding the content being made available to everyone, the “overwhelming response” from almost 30,000 backers was “That in general you were okay with it.” We’ll see how this pans out in the long-term.

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night arrives on June 18th for Xbox One, PS4, and PC, with the Nintendo Switch version releasing on June 25th.

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, the spiritual successor to Castlevania: Symphony of the Night from legendary producer Koji Igarashi, is out on June 18th. It will release for Xbox One, PS4, and PC, with the Nintendo Switch version out on June 25th. Check out the trailer below, which also showcases the game’s vastly improved visuals.

Though we enjoyed the gameplay mechanics and old-school approach, many fans criticized last year’s demo for Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night as lacking polish. Igarashi and the respective teams clearly took this to heart. There are some pretty hefty changes to textures, lighting, and environmental design throughout.

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night has had quite the development process. As a crowd-funded project, it saw numerous delays and the cancellation of the PlayStation Vita and Wii U versions. ArtPlay and DICO also partnered with WayForward Technologies to help further polish the game. Stay tuned for more details en route to the game’s release.