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

I'm not sure why it is important that people realize that, when it is more important for traditional publishers to realize that there is more than one business model. Of course if you limit yourself to shipping a $60 game to retail, a lot of concepts don't seem profitable. But that's also not the only way to do business. Many big publishers already realize this, which is why they diversify their portfolio between big retail titles, and a range of other sort of offerings at different pricing and distribution formats.

The problem at least that I've seen is that some publishers only want to hit the opposite extremes, either its a $60 retail game loaded with dlc out the wazoo, or its a f2p mobile game (that has recently tied into the retail game) designed to get you to spend money to get past stamina mechanics or to risk on low % gatcha pulls.

I wish more developers would explore the middle space, doing $40 dollar retail games, doing $10-$40 dollar digital games. So many of these games/genres that are "not popular enough to be profitable" have clear examples of games in the indie/smaller budget sphere that have done well.
 
Remember when Nintendo bragged that Wii U could handle UE3?

I never got into Castlevania (I always got lost or stuck) but I'm interested to see what changes Iga will implement in this new franchise.
 
Well, I'll support it if there is a WiiU version. Don't tell me an Igavania game needs the power of a PS4 to be good.

Well, the FAQ implies that one of the upcoming stretch goals will be for a Wii U version, so there's that.

That said, I don't think anyone is saying that the game needs PS4-levels of power. It's just that the X1, PS4, and PC are all equivalent enough to make it fairly easy work on all three platforms at once and since they're developing for them, they intend on fully taking advantage of the power they provide. The Wii U on the other hand is at a completely different performance tier (with a completely different architecture to boot), so it's going to take a lot more additional effort to develop for than any one of the other three platforms.
 
No it doesn't. The whole point of these games being on Kickstarter is because their genres have no commercial viability under the traditional publishing model. Konami kept the Castlevania games going on GBA and DS with an audience that dwindled to nothing. They have the data, they know how much these games sell.

The post release sales are just icing on the cake for a game that is fully funded and profitable even before development begins in earnest. Please explain how Konami can turn that into something that fits into the traditional publishing model and you might have a point.
Part of why they dwindled was likely too low of a budget (and perhaps released too frequently by the time the final DS title hit) and the fact they were on handheld; while many of us are content to play there there's a not insight if I can't portion who want bigger console releases and snub off handhelds entirely.

Of course, the bigger problem probably wasn't being profitable, but profitable ENOUGH to justify the expenditure. And for Konami that was probably very unlikely, even if it'd likely have done far better than the likes of Neverdead.
 
I'm left wondering if the budget for this game will be more or not than the usual games he was allowed to make at Konami.

Any ideas what they usually cost?
 
I'm not in love with the character designs/art direction of the game, but I'm glad to see this being made. I'm not sure if I'll back it yet since the price is a bit steep for me based on what we've seen, but I'll keep my eye on it.
 
I'm left wondering if the budget for this game will be more or not than the usual games he was allowed to make at Konami.

Any ideas what they usually cost?

It is mentioned in the interview with kinda funny games, that this one will be more expensive. Mostly because they can't use any of the assets from previous games like they used to for the handheld ones.

I've read somewhere that 90% of the backing comes from investors, wrt to the intial funding goal. So 5 MIllion for the base game?
 
I'm left wondering if the budget for this game will be more or not than the usual games he was allowed to make at Konami.

Any ideas what they usually cost?
Probably significantly less purely guessing by recycled assets.

On a similar note, I hope Inti Creates brings their A game to level design, IGAvanias were getting weak in that the castles and landscapes were kind of dull to go through, whereas Into Creates did a good job generally at least on official Mega Man titles. Heck, I imagine at their worst they were still ahead. Just spicing up level design could do a lot for the games.
 
Well, I'll support it if there is a WiiU version. Don't tell me an Igavania game needs the power of a PS4 to be good.

It will be a 2.5D game where resolution and antialiasing will be very very important to achieve a good 2d quality sprites effect using 3D models.

A port using lower resolution could result in poor visuals.
 
Remember when Nintendo bragged that Wii U could handle UE3?

I never got into Castlevania (I always got lost or stuck) but I'm interested to see what changes Iga will implement in this new franchise.
Mighty No. 9 (console version) is being built with UE3, and coming to Wii U, last time i checked. Am i missing your point (serious question)?

And all those arguments about whats best for the game, in this case (aside from the chosen engine) i think it may come down to a little laziness.
The bugdet can't be the problem because 90% of the needed budget does not come from the kickstarter-project, as stated by IGA.
Meaning that right now, the team has 1.25 million $ on top of that 90% budget range already secured from ... don't know ... publishers or whatever.
Now teamsize, i don't know how big IntiCreates is, the Yooka-Laylee doesn't seem rather big, and they can (or maybe want) to support every platform (sans handhelds).

If they downright don't want to support additional hardware, just say that. Excuses about the scope of the game are (imo) false, as i don't see this game having AAA assets/graphics/resources, and therefore i can hardly see a resulting downgrade on any non-handheld platform.
But here they are, throwing cryptic statements about the possibility.

In the end, it is just my preference. If there won't be a Wii U version, then i get the PS4 copy.
 
Remember when Nintendo bragged that Wii U could handle UE3?

I never got into Castlevania (I always got lost or stuck) but I'm interested to see what changes Iga will implement in this new franchise.

Yeah, so? This game runs on UE4 which doesnt work on WiiU.

I am a very happy owner of a WiiU and have yet to purchase a PS4 and even I can tell you the downport to WiiU is not worth it. Remember this is coming in 2017! Who's to say the console will still be relevant by then at all? Especially knowing the NX is going to be announced in 2016!
 
I want to go for the $125 tier.
Has anyone already done this? Just curious if you can get say a retail copy of the PS4 version and a digital copy of the Steam version.
 
It will be a 2.5D game where resolution and antialiasing will be very very important to achieve a good 2d quality sprites effect using 3D models.

A port using lower resolution could result in poor visuals.

Also 2D assets do not scale upwards nicely unlike 3D does.

There is a reason why Harmony of Despair despite releasing on the PS3 and 360 in-game assets were ridiculously tiny res. Symphony of the Night on Playstation had a internal resolution of 256x240. Nintendo DS has a native res of 256 × 192 which isn't much better.

When at the maximum zoom level the character sprites were still somewhat pixelated due to their native low res origins.

Using a higher baseline to work with via the PS4 / XB1 and PC, it should be interesting to see what kind of sprite detail they may work with.

Remember just because the game is 2.5D doesn't mean sprites wont' be involved. It could be 2D foreground objects and sprites with 3D rendered backgrounds, This would qualify the definition of a 2.5D game.

Look at Strider 2 for example

strider-2-rom-1.jpg


It's 2D sprites layered on top of 3D backgrounds.

Bloodstained could have a similar approach at a higher res and still would be a 2.5D game.
 
Barely 15 hours after the KS campaign started, there is a German PS Blog entry "by Igarashi" online promoting the game now.

Sounds planned/preproduced.

Sony are definitely in some kind involved to promote this game.

http://blog.de.playstation.com/2015/05/12/bloodstained-ritual-of-the-night-auf-dem-weg-zur-ps4/
Of course it's planned! The guy is kickstarting his game and he already announced retail copies of his game for PS4! You bet your ass Sony was in the know for a long time before this. You don't announce console physical copies of your game without first talking to the guys responsible to make it happen.
 
Characters will almost certainly be 2d.

Wouldn't mind 3d cel shaded like Guilty Gear Xrd, though.
Almost certainly you have your facts wrong. Iga already went on record on this being polygonal 2.5D with shader effects to make it look as close to 2D as possible. And yes he mentioned Guilty Gear Xrd as an example.
 
When you have a couple of platforms close together on capabilities and another that's quite flexible, asking for another platform to be considered that would require not only having to consider its capabilities when factoring in development, but also extra QA, time, time and money for platform specific certification and considering there are physical copies, platform holders production and manufacture process, that's an awful lot of work and possibly compromise you're asking to happen.

I know this obviously won't be anywhere near a appealing if it's not on a platform you own but as of now there isn't anything tangible as a proof of concept demo and by having a focus on platforms very close together on capabilities, development can be lazer focused to play to their strengths and power celling without having to factor in other hardware at a higher or lower end.

If you care about the development of a new IGAvania and want it to be the best it can be you might see this in a different light. But if you're only interested in it being on a platform you want at the expense of others and what a tight group of platforms could bring to development then maybe this isn't the crowdfunding project for you.

Iga already has wiiu planned as a stretch goal btw
 
Of course it's planned! The guy is kickstarting his game and he already announced retail copies of his game for PS4! You bet your ass Sony was in the know for a long time before this. You don't announce console physical copies of your game without first talking to the guys responsible to make it happen.

welp, makes sense. Please disperse, nothing special to see here :P
 
Also 2D assets do not scale upwards nicely unlike 3D does.

There is a reason why Harmony of Despair despite releasing on the PS3 and 360 in-game assets were ridiculously tiny res. Symphony of the Night on Playstation had a internal resolution of 256x240. Nintendo DS has a native res of 256 × 192 which isn't much better.

When at the maximum zoom level the character sprites were still somewhat pixelated due to their native low res origins.

Using a higher baseline to work with via the PS4 / XB1 and PC, it should be interesting to see what kind of sprite detail they may work with.

Remember just because the game is 2.5D doesn't mean sprites wont' be involved. It could be 2D foreground objects and sprites with 3D rendered backgrounds, This would qualify the definition of a 2.5D game.

Look at Strider 2 for example

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EKLnLZ0UlpI/To8hws5Sg4I/AAAAAAAAAKw/eXWnLBxvJIg/s1600/strider-2-rom-1.jpg

It's 2D sprites layered on top of 3D backgrounds.

Bloodstained could have a similar approach at a higher res and still would be a 2.5D game.
Characters will almost certainly be 2d.

Wouldn't mind 3d cel shaded like Guilty Gear Xrd, though.
Yup, this is what I keep hoping for as well, but never happens. :(
You guys are in luck since Iga already confirmed it will be a polygon game and that what they are trying to emulate is Guilty Gear Xrd.
 
You guys are in luck since Iga already confirmed it will be a polygon game and that what they are trying to emulate is Guilty Gear Xrd.

Yeah, some people don't read good enough :P

That's why I said resolution and AA is very important. A change in resolution/AA will break the illusion.
 
I absolutely adore the character designs and art style. It's as if the game was tailor designed for me.

The anime designs are like the perfect balance between not too realistic and not too 'kawaii' for my tastes.
 
It is mentioned in the interview with kinda funny games, that this one will be more expensive. Mostly because they can't use any of the assets from previous games like they used to for the handheld ones.

I've read somewhere that 90% of the backing comes from investors, wrt to the intial funding goal. So 5 MIllion for the base game?

Don't worry, later games in the Bloodstained series can easily recycle assets and thus be made for a budget closer to what IGA is used to back at Konami. =P
 
Iga already has wiiu planned as a stretch goal btw

Not likely.

Bloodstained is on PS4/Xbone/Steam because it's being made on UE4. Wii U can't handle UE4.

The question "What about Nintendo" (not "what about Wii U") was answered saying that they can't afford to make custom versions of the game for whatever platform someone might want it on. But they've heard "legends" about a "remarkable treasure" in the "castle basement".

The castle is Nintendo HQ. The treasure is Nintendo's next console. Iga has heard legends saying that it will be able to run UE4, just like PS4/Xbone can.
 
Iga already has wiiu planned as a stretch goal btw

Where did I mention WiiU? And going by the FAQ description that's a bit of a guess to say what's actually planned and how things might play out unless something has explicitly been said elsewhere. So far there have been posts asking for WiiU, Vita and 3DS versions. I'm sure there will be some PS3 and 360 requests from others at some point as well.
 
Fuck it, even if this disappoints like all my other adventures on Kickstarter, I think I can more than make my money back on a physical PS4 copy should that happen. In.

Hayter sold me.
 
Not likely.

Bloodstained is on PS4/Xbone/Steam because it's being made on UE4. Wii U can't handle UE4.

The question "What about Nintendo" (not "what about Wii U") was answered saying that they can't afford to make custom versions of the game for whatever platform someone might want it on. But they've heard "legends" about a "remarkable treasure" in the "castle basement".

The castle is Nintendo HQ. The treasure is Nintendo's next console. Iga has heard legends saying that it will be able to run UE4, just like PS4/Xbone can.

The "castle basement" refers to...the castle used for illustrating the stretch goals. So, that means that there's a good possibility a Wii U stretch goal could appear once we reach the basement of the stretch goals castle.

Btw, when will they update with new stretch goals?
 
Not likely.

Bloodstained is on PS4/Xbone/Steam because it's being made on UE4. Wii U can't handle UE4.

The question "What about Nintendo" (not "what about Wii U") was answered saying that they can't afford to make custom versions of the game for whatever platform someone might want it on. But they've heard "legends" about a "remarkable treasure" in the "castle basement".

The castle is Nintendo HQ. The treasure is Nintendo's next console. Iga has heard legends saying that it will be able to run UE4, just like PS4/Xbone can.
UE4 has no Wii U support, not from Epic, not officially, not from some third party devs that tried to use it.

The Ouya (yes, you read that right) has support for UE4. So i guess it is really a question of the support, and not the handling.
 
Ah... $28 for the lowest tier, was ready to throw like $15 on a copy.

I'm not familiar with anyone making this so I'll just wait until it releases.
 
The "castle basement" refers to...the castle used for illustrating the stretch goals. So, that means that there's a good possibility a Wii U stretch goal could appear once we reach the basement of the stretch goals castle.

Btw, when will they update with new stretch goals?


hmmm, makes sense. Will be interesting to see.
 
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