Koji Igarashi Kickstarts Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night (2.5D, backdash, 2018)

First honest Kickstarter ever. I slacker backer'd the Zombicide Season 3, but dropped $60 on this for the physical edition. If I see more promising footage, I'll probably up the pledge.
 
Dreavus said:
"____ of the night" jumped out at me right away, but not so much for bloodstained. I don't think that was the goal there.
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Yeah the latter was probably not intended.

Being on console this should be the first IGAvania to match SotN's production values (incl. OST) and scale (still loved every GBA- and DS-title). Thus the "of the Night" seems appropriate.
 
I thought about it

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Insta backed. Igavania are some of my favorite games ever and nothing in the genre has really captured that magical feeling for me since the ds games
 
Heel said:
It's kind of amazing what people are willing to let slide, based solely on the fact a person made a game they liked a few decades ago.

I think some of these nickel and dime practices would be getting torn to shreds in any other context.
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It feels not unlike trotting old sci-fi "legends" out at conventions to make a quick buck off of some easy work. I guess it really depends on how you look at user-designed things. While meant to be a nice way to show some love, let's not forget the shitstorm poor Obsidian had to deal with when someone put a tasteless joke in the game and Obsidian did what they should do, and removed it.

How do we know the gameplay ideas by backers won't be censored later by the publisher for better -or- for worse?

That's always been an issue I've had with Kickstarter - most of them let go of a clear vision by the director in favor of making millennials feel a little more like they're a part of it. It's smart on the business end to get people invested in something they actually aren't a part of--we've seen this in a lot of kideo games and system warz and shit like that before. But tying an umbilical cord to gamers made of money so they feed from it? It's a brave new frontier in pushing your brand at the expense of keeping a singular vision. I really prefer games with a vision and aren't designed by a bunch of people who played an older game a few times.

Just my two cents.
 
Durante said:
That's just kickstarter 101. I'm happy they are doing it well, even though I'll not partake in any of the shenanigans. More budget = better game.

It's a good thing. They are making one game, on UE4, for high-end platforms that can run it well. Rather than spreading themselves too thin.

Platform stretch goals will actually erode my confidence a bit.
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Completely agree. I have way more confidence in a more focused PC/PS4/XB1 game than something spread over a ton of platforms and onto mobile & handhelds. I hope none of the stretch goals expand it past the current planned platforms.
 
FrontalMonk said:
I mean realistically, given the fact that we've only seen concept art, they probably haven't even prototyped what they want the game to really look like. MN9 didn't have a prototype video until a couple weeks in I think.
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Without prototype or art-style ready, prepare yourself for the inevitable complaining everytime they'll show the game.
 
Stone Ocean said:
I don't get the "too anime" complaints

What anime have you been watching that looks like this lol
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All of them.

But seriously this is pretty standard seinen anime design. More detailed? Yes, but the core design is the same.

I could care less but it seems to bother some people, and that's fine. Everyone has their opinions
 
Vince McMahon said:
Well, we all have different...wants, I suppose.

Terrifying how Wrestlevania is just one letter away from The Grandaddy Of Them All!

I will say it's interesting how Iga has managed to tie his own buyers into the marketing as heavily as he did.

Does anyone know if his company is good at managing money? All I ever hear of with most KS projects is people ran out of money.
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Are you asking if Inticreates can mange money? They aren't exactly neophytes, they've delivered many successful games in the past. Or are you talking about someone else involved in this project?

Pyrrhus said:
Well, here we have it. I will admit, I am disappointed to learn it's 2.5D but I understand that modern resolutions and budgets tend to make it difficult to do otherwise. Inticreates handling dev duties after the bland look MN9 ultimately came to embody is likewise something that gives me pause.

Much worse is the lack of Ayami Kojima. This art they have instead is doing nothing for me. A generic, big titted anime girl in a gothic lolita fetish costume is not what I wanted. The artist's drafting style is too obviously generic anime rather than influenced by classical Western composition and the shading style is digital painting trying to look like water colors rather than going for the dark and somber oil painting look that made Symphony and its progeny feel so regal and ancient. These new characters look like they belong in a third rate modern jRPG rather than the Baroque and Medieval figures like Alucard and Simon everyone remembers best.

All that said, I'm still on board even if my enthusiasm is dented. At least it doesn't appear to be Freemium or F2P focused. And if nothing else, it's absolutely great to have Iga back in the saddle. It's been far too long.
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I would have loved/preferred Kojima to be on board but I just have to roll my eyes at this. This isn't so far off (like a Dawn of Sorrow/Portrait of Ruin downgrade) from previous post SOTN Castlevania to be worth this sort of scorn. I also feel like you're throwing around buzzwords when you call this generic or Miriam "big-titted" and shit since that isn't even true LOL.
 
Robert at Zeboyd Games said:
Shovel Knight got $311k from Kickstarter, they used their own money as well, and they were basically broke & racking up debt for about a half year after the KS funds ran out and before they finished up.
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Wow, so the stretch goals are kind of reasonable I suppose. I hope it hits at least 700k so we can have a vampire killer character.

Crocodile said:
They asked for 75k and got about 310k. However that game was clearly aiming for NES style graphics. If this game were to be full 2d, I think everybody would be expecting 16 bit or higher which would obviously be more expensive.
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I wouldn't mind Castlevania 3 graphics to be honest. Even Castlevania 4 looks dated nowadays yet oozes style.
 
Almost 250k already and well deserved. To be a legend like him and be told by big companies your game type is no longer wanted by gamers is a joke. This should hit well over the strech goals easy. Watching the Kinda Funny interview right now and it's been a bumpy ride for him and his family.
 
Yeah....probably gonna drop a hundo for this. If anything, it will help with the pain konami has caused. Would love to see a Kojima enemy or prisoner NPC somewhere just for kicks. Im sure he would like that too.
 
Frumix said:
Meh, what does that even matter?
You know THESE were the Rondo of Blood cutscenes?
4bb224156aeafdf36ac22adc2c14fc42.jpg
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I have to admit, my favorite Castlevania games are Symphony of the Night, Dawn of Sorrow and Portrait of Ruin.

But I'm a relatively "new" Castlevania fan.
 
Formless said:
"WHAT ABOUT NINTENDO?

Our budget left us with two options: Build the biggest, most beautiful game we can, or make sure it runs everywhere from the start. As things stand today, we can't afford to create the two separate versions of this game that would be necessary to make it run on every console. That said, we've heard legends about a remarkable treasure hidden in the castle basement..."

What is that last part about
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Probably the other stretch goals are going to be below the castle in that stretch goal image they posted
 
I have no idea if it will look any good, but UE4 can handle cartoony visuals.

RIME, Street Fighter V, and Fable Legends are all using it, and we should see what Kingdom Hearts 3 looks like on it soon.
 
Crocodile said:
Are you asking if Inticreates can mange money? They aren't exactly neophytes, they've delivered many successful games in the past. Or are you talking about someone else involved in this project?
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Yes, I am curious about Inticreates' financials and how they manage money over a multi-year project, as it appears this would be. I've seen a lot of "responsible" KS things run out of money.
 
I'd love for Ayami Kojima too, but honestly, if we're asking for a different artist representation, off the top of my head, I can think of some other talent capable of capturing a similar vibe as her :

- Thores Shibamoto
- Masaki Hirooka
- Hoshino Katsura
 
Firemind said:
Wow, so the stretch goals are kind of reasonable I suppose. I hope it hits at least 700k so we can have a vampire killer character.


I wouldn't mind Castlevania 3 graphics to be honest. Even Castlevania 4 looks dated nowadays yet oozes style.
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Yeah, personally, I'd love it if they went full on nostalgia and went for a retro presentation. SotN style visuals with a few million dollars in their budget & a talented team would be very doable.
 
Toxi said:
The one thing we can be thankful for: At least the character design is better than Castlevania Judgement.
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Low bar there :P

Though to be fair, some of those were so LO-worthy that they kind of looped back into being awesome. Some of them :P I wouldn't wish them on this sort of game though.
 
Backed, like a champ. I'm just going for the $28 tier, but I kind of suspect they would have much better success if they'd lower the entry price to $15. $28 for a digital download of a 2D side-scroller is a bit pricey (although entirely worth it for this project I assume).

Robert at Zeboyd Games said:
Yeah, personally, I'd love it if they went full on nostalgia and went for a retro presentation. SotN style visuals with a few million dollars in their budget & a talented team would be very doable.
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I was hoping ti would be full 2D as well, Iga doesn't have a great track record with 2.5D games. Even Dracula X Chronicles just felt sluggish compared to the original, but I'm more than willing to support him making more Metroidvanias in whatever way is possible for him. I just hope he's successful and can continue making these. Maybe you and Zeboyd should send him a message and offer to give him a hand with a future retrovania, if you are interested in doing something like that?
 
orioto said:
About GGXrd, i see two problems:

_I'm pretty sure it went through tones and tones of R&D to find the way to do that, it's not gonna be that easy.

_It's great for an anime look. It's not really organic. Now, if that game is meant to look as the animeish Castlevania on DS, why not. But again it would be a sad error cause now that you make your game for fans and with their money, you don't have to make your game so it's compatible with modern markets (and by that i mean having cosplay compatible characters with fancy outfits and pretty magics with flowers in it, which is what you see in that concept art)
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well the rnd is done, they don't have to redo it all again.
 
One question I have is about coop. It's mentioned in the video but nowhere else, as far as I can see. I'd love full coop support.
 
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