Hi everyone. I've got so many thoughts to share on Bloodstained writ large, as I've finally gotten around to playing Ritual of the Night in earnest and have been replaying Curse of the Moon (and picked up Curse of the Moon 2 to have in reserve). I'm trying not to rush through everything, though, and I've got a lot going on, so it might be a little bit before I share my thoughts. But I couldn't resist taking a peek at Classic Mode, which was something I had looked forward to back when we all got this going on Kickstarter. I've only played 1.75 levels so far, so I can only speak to the impressions up to that point...
The official Twitter teaser video put out a little while back clued me in to expect something more bare bones than I was expecting, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Here's the deal. At the end of the day, for preferences, I'm probably 70% Classicvania, 30% Metroidvania. That being said, to me, Classicvania doesn't inherently mean copy-pasting Castlevania 1 any more than Metroidvania means copy-pasting Symphony of the Night. So, on some level, Classic Mode adhering so much to Castlevania 1, almost in the fashion of parody even more so than homage, is a little disappointing.
I think at minimum, I would have thought it'd be the Wii's Castlevania The Adventure Rebirth, which while not going far enough, did a little bit more than a straight-up nostalgic homage. And granted, I'm fully aware that the intention of this Classic Mode was to give us the old-school format, but I don't remember it saying anywhere it had to adhere so closely to the particulars of that format. Like, Castlevania 1, 3, 4, Bloodlines, Dracula X are all in that format, but they're all pretty distinct in their nuances and gameplay quirks. I think in the back of my mind, with Ritual of the Night pushing to "top" Symphony of the Night for Metroidvanias, I felt like this Classic Mode would try to be an ideal, even if small-scale, version of the Classicvania versus what it seemingly is. As has been stated here, there are aspects of Curse of the Moon that sort of got closer to what I was expecting.
But on to the game itself. It controls well. The classic Belmont strut is well done and I like the whip animation. (The strut brings to mind the version IGA modeled in a Youtube video once.) The fluidity of changing direction in midair to whip behind you is very nice. I appreciate it holding back to the classic controls on some level. Could have been interesting to see it experiment a little bit, but obviously there is a danger there of going too far and losing the proper "feel/flow." The backflip and backdash seem to be some more modern concessions to the idea of doing something beyond Castlevania 1, but they almost don't seem to mesh with the rigid homage most of this is.
Levels 1 and 2 border on plagiarism of Castlevania 1, which kind of surprised me. Outside, hall, underground waterway, and bat boss.
Even platform structure placement/enemy placement and the obstacles seem to be just slightly reworked...like the guillotines versus spike-presses in Level 2. And I was shocked to hear the "ch-ink" impact sound effect of the whip strike from NES Castlevania. Is that legal? Did IGA have to get permission, or is that public domain? Or does he just have a pass because he's IGA?
It just is sort of weird to see this try to BE Castlevania. All the sub-weapons clearly echo Castlevania's sub-weapons, even beyond what Curse of the Moon did. And the hidden score items from Castlevania 1 are here, too. Yikes.
The music so far is sort of middle of the road. Not fully grabbing me like some of Curse of the Moon did. Also, I think it's a bit kitschy that they went with some 8-bit menu motifs and such. It sort of leans toward parody, but maybe that's my issue with taking Classicvania pretty seriously. There are winks, but it's rarely altogether silly. But then IGA's entries have generally had more of a sense of blatant humor, and I've seen that in Ritual of the Night pretty clearly so far.
Come to think of it, Classic Mode reminds me of that Unreal Engine fan remake of Castlevania 1 that was going around for a little bit and making waves.
I found one potential glitch where if you jump down from the platform before the blood pool in Level 1 and land on the stairs, you might go right through those stairs, and then you have to jump back up to get back on the game's playable area. No biggie. And maybe it could be interpreted as landing behind the stairs. In the underground waterway portion of Level 1, I had some trouble determining what were actual playable platforms, too. I died a few times by that torch on the left side when you drop down.
I'm surprised there was no Kickstarter update emailed out about Classic Mode. All in all, though, I'm happy it exists and it's good fun. As a simple Stretch Goal, it fulfills its basic duty. Can't make up for Konami's negligence, but it is what it is. Got to say this Kickstarter has produced a lot of fun content.
As an aside...personally, "if I ran the zoo" at Konami, I would do the following: Try to make the ultimate Classicvania. Start with the gameplay mechanics of Super Castlevnaia IV with a dash of Bloodlines and Dracula X/Rondo. Build some extra whip tricks into it, like pulling stuff or ziplines, and nudge up character mobility just a bit, too). Next, set the level design and map design to largely build off of Castlevania III's consequential but non-intrusive branching paths. (While clever, Rondo's branching paths system broke the consequential flow of the game too much, IMO. The Adventure Rebirth's "key system" could be employed to some extent, though.) Then go hog wild with the modern equivalent of Mode 7 effects and variable geometry, like what Retro did with Donkey Kong Country Returns. Finally, add a few light RPG elements for variety like Curse of the Moon did, where there are some optional stat-boosting items hidden in some of the levels--just not so much that it becomes a distraction or a Metroidvania. When I hear "Classicvania," that's what my mind goes to, versus just nostalgia or homages.
If Konami accomplished this, I'd say they should move to the next phase of a full 3D game that starts with Castlevania 64 as the baseline, and then improve it in every way and add to it, versus starting with copy-paste Dark Souls or God of War or anything else. Those are my dreams for Castlevania's future, 2D and 3D.
Thanks for noting this. I'm not surprised that WayForward were the ones responsible. I had a feeling when they were brought on board to help with Ritual of the Night that they'd be handed this duty.
Even platform structure placement/enemy placement and the obstacles seem to be just slightly reworked...like the guillotines versus spike-presses in Level 2. And I was shocked to hear the "ch-ink" impact sound effect of the whip strike from NES Castlevania. Is that legal? Did IGA have to get permission, or is that public domain? Or does he just have a pass because he's IGA? 
It just is sort of weird to see this try to BE Castlevania. All the sub-weapons clearly echo Castlevania's sub-weapons, even beyond what Curse of the Moon did. And the hidden score items from Castlevania 1 are here, too. Yikes.
. He also mentions that they recorded the female WF employees as a reference for Miriam's walking animation and other interesting tidbits like that. Really looking forward to what BS RotN2 will look like with Way Forward on board from the get go!
