Demon Shard Predictions

The shards will depend on the enemies who drop them... Makes me wonder how the developers approach the design.... Invent a shard power for Miriam and then design the monster around it, or design the monster first and then figure out the shard power... Hmmmm....

Interesting thought, cecil-kain . I never thought about it like that. Huh, it really does make you wonder.

I think there will be a soul that drains life from the enemy like the Succubus soul or Persephone's soul. It would probably come from any sort of vampiric creature.

I also think, for some reason, that there will be a soul that allows Miriam to "steal" certain things from the enemies she hits. Unlikely, but a prediction is a prediction.

I hope there is a soul to transform into a flying creature, and to show some diversity and distance from IGA's previous works it could be a raven or eagle instead of a bat.

Although we are already getting Familiars, I would still love to see something like the Manticore Tail or the Great Armor from Dawn of Sorrow: an entity or appendage that attacks as you do. Aria had one as well (it even shouted ORA ORA ORA to make the Jojo nod as blunt as possible).

A Stand. I admit it: I want just one ability in this game to give Miriam a Stand XD. 

"That is why, Gebel, I will judge you myself, WITH MY FAMILIAR!" 

I actually think that would be a really cool replacement for the Soul that just let Soma walk on water. Hearkens back to stuff like the Ice Arrows from older Zelda games. 

Let me add my two cents here =)

The Shard System is obviously based on Soul Dominance, wich is a good thing. IGA said it that the Soul Dominance was the best gameplay system he and his team ever did, and he even said that Dawn of Sorrow was born with the idea of reusing that system, because "it was too good to use it on a single game". And he was totally right.

Seeing a revamped "get enemies powers to use against them" system for Bloodstained is a good thing. Now, into the Shards predictions.

TRIGGER

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The trigger shard, usable by pressing a single button, is our basic, projectile magic. Considering past Igavania games, we can bet that most Triggers will be simple, one-shot projectiles like fire balls, ice lances and things like that, some weapon throws to make a nostalgic old-school Castlevania feeling, like throwing knives, axes and such. We can also bet that it will have more "summon" triggers, like Cast Amy Trigger Shard on Demo, where you summon a demon and that demon goes attacking. They can also throw few unortodox powers here, like summoning a music, or maybe luring enemies with dolls or something.

EFFECTIVE

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We still don't know how Effective Shards will be used, since the Demon didn't had a single one, but we can guess, considering how the others worked and how games with similar systems, like the Sorrow series and Order of Ecclesia, worked on their on magic sytems. 
I think Effective Shards will work like a on/off magic, like Guardian Souls on Sorrow series / Red Glyphs on Order of Ecclesia. You activate it with a button (probably a trigger button) and deactivate it by pressing it again. Or you hold the button to use it. 
IF i am right, we can guess that they will mostly be magical barriers, small summons that aren't really familiars (like summoning a demon close to you that attacks when you attack) and stats-changing temporary boosts. This Shard can also be used for progression abilities, like flying or powers to traverse areas.

DIRECTIONAL

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Directional Shards, that you use by aiming with right analog and shooting it with a button, a really nice, tactical addition. Considering what we saw, i bet that we will have others "breath" powers from all elements, like Fire Cannon, and this Shard will most probably be used for tactical gameplay, where the power changes depending on how and where you aim it. I have a feeling that we could see a grabbing whip of sorts, to move around the castle, throwing a rope or whip on some places to shake yourself and go further. That would sure be awesome!

ENCHANT

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Enchant Shards are the "safe" Shards for the dev team. Like the Souls of the same name on Sorrow series, anything that they CAN'T think of a power for a enemy, just add it here, due to how easy it is. Expect boosts for all stats, elemental boosts, gameplay-changing shards (that let you freeze yourself on air, or dodge projectiles, increase dropping chance, material dropping chance for forging, and such).

FAMILIAR

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That is pretty much self-explanatory. We still don't know how familiars will work. Maybe you have a button to summon or (wich i think it would be much easier) you just equip one at Familiar Shard and it shows up automatically. We can expect more familiars than Symphony of the Night, with specific roles like Attacking, healing, shielding, boosting, finding secrets and such.

That's all folks!

I was kicking around an idea in my head and I wanna share... what do you guys think of broken shards or shard pieces? what if really powerful moves, spells, transformations etc... can only be obtained if you find these shards and use alchemy to fuse them together...

so what do you think? I think it will bring a whole new dimension to shard collecting.

1. I agree with Pure Miriam about the "Effective" slot. I fully expect "buff" skills like Winestaind and Magic Throne to appear here, as well as "Stance" powers like Jonathan to either tank hits or buff specific stats temporarily. The only power from the concept art I still cant figure is the Voltaic Chain. It really seems like an Item Crash or the Dual Crush powers from the Belmont days and Ecclesia, respectively.
2. I agree with Croc here. Making us collect shards of crystals to make into the crystals would be too much "busywork" in-between the player finding out a power exists and then needing to hit up google. Finding the Crystals ready to use is simple and still has PLENTY of "go find the secret room with the chest or enemy" gameplay to keep people hunting without making it more complicated.

I understand not everybody wants this... but these will be non-traditional shards... these will be shards that are too powerful to exist in the human realm. and they will be optional. not needed to beat the game. it will be "Busywork" for those who want it.

Sure it is easy to get shards and level them up the normal way but come on nobody wants some special shards that are a little harder to get... just to give the game something extra.