Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night

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zaratustra
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Re: Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night

Postby zaratustra » Sun May 10, 2020 1:33 pm

i finally got this game two weeks ago so here are the notes no one will care about:

1)

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2) Overall enemies felt big and hard to dodge. I will not use the backdash button I refuse to.

3) Struggled against the final boss rush until I realized there was a Crissaegrim equivalent because of course there is.

4) I like the new recipe bonus system that adds flavour to the food items. I like the general gist of the shards, how sometimes they're like items but not always, and how even utility shards can have upgrades put into them. I don't like that the shards are, in general, not very creative (didn't use the "summon generic enemy" shards even once)

5) maybe the most blatant sign of this is finding Doppleganger and having her entire moveset be composed of very cool things I never bothered to do because I just went with the most generic projectile spell in the game

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MarsDragon
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Re: Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night

Postby MarsDragon » Sun May 10, 2020 10:53 pm

The Summon Generic Enemy shards are actually really fun.

I'm not sure you can blame the game for you not taking advantage of all the fun things you can do in it.

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beatbandito
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Re: Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night

Postby beatbandito » Mon May 11, 2020 7:37 am

MarsDragon wrote:I'm not sure you can blame the game for you not taking advantage of all the fun things you can do in it.

Which is why God of War and Bayonetta both have completely equally crafted and balanced combat systems.
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Friday
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Re: Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night

Postby Friday » Mon May 11, 2020 12:26 pm

So I started over Randomized mode (on Hard this time) and got a pretty interesting seed. The way the castle is set up, you never quite know what path the game will force you to take as endgame mobility options are given to you early, but certain ones are denied, so you end up able to go to advanced areas earlier than usual but are also barred from normal progression.

Like I have accelerator and double jump, so I can do the sequence break to get to Blood Lady early (who, by the way, has an amazing Japanese VA if you haven't fought her with those on) but I still don't have High Jump, Inverter, or Hand, so I can't get through the garden guy who jumps over the big gap and breaks the rock for you. So actually the game forced me to go to Blood Lady and then back around and down through the library looking for more key movement shards.

I assume this is fairly standard with Randomizer modes in most games, but this is my first time experiencing it. Combined with "literally any chest could be a massive gear upgrade, and who the fuck knows what shard this guy has, up to and including things like High Jump or Inverter or Dimension Shift" it's pretty engaging.
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nosimpleway
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Re: Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night

Postby nosimpleway » Tue Jun 06, 2023 3:35 pm

Like I said in Whatcha Playin' I picked up Bloodstained: Heavy Is The Chest That Breasts Boobily Down The Stairs for the first time.

Impressions:
wow this sure is Soma Cruz but as a girl huh, at least Soma didn't freeze the entire game for a second when he picked up a soul. Sometimes I am trying to do other things, game!

First subweapon soul you get is "Cerulean Splash", which I thought of as "Boobs Flash" because that's what it sounds like Sypha calls out when she uses Blue Splash, but then I used Cerulean for the first time and found that it throws a little bouncy water ball. So now it's "Cerulean Orbs" forevermore.

oh sure the people I'm avenging for what's-her-name's quests are Simon and Lisa and Annette and Rosaly, real subtle

lol the warp points are stained glass windows of Link playing a flute, real subtle

shards have both a Rank and a Grade, so mental note: figure out what the shit Rank and Grade do and what the difference is

This is called the "Garbo Hat" but it's an upgrade to what I've got so far, not sure why they call it that (yes I know why they call it that shut up)

If they're going to justify Miriam's skimpy outfit with how she has to keep the crystal formation on her back out in the open, maybe show the crystals to the player before she starts cooking in an optional side mission, eh? (Also "wardrobe justified by abilities rooted to a part of her body" I guess she is also Shanoa huh)

I have found the "have you got good yet" boss who is a playable character in Richiter Mode, so, okay, guess I'll go see if I can find some equipment or souls that make me super better. Or does he join me when I beat him so I can go through the rest of the game switching back and forth and having the two of them shout each other's names Charlotte!-Jonathan!-Charlotte! style since Miriam is a conglomeration of other Castlevania protagonists

Flame Cannon was one of the better moves I had so I powered it up a bunch, then the very next soul I got was True Arrow which seems like an overall upgrade. That's what I get for powering up one of the first abilities I found, huh

Got a Spiral Sword, which looks like a spinning baseball bat with a bunch of razorblades glued to the outside. It hits three times when it makes contact, which means bleeding enemies emit a massive gout of blood three times over when I hit them. Which... okay, that tracks, given that it's a spinning baseball bat with a bunch of razorblades glued to the outside.

"I know what you are -- that ghastly air about you. You reek of sorcery, Shardbinder." oh hey David Hayter is in this and is just using his Solid Snake voice huh
Guy's got a move where he beckons you forward and takes a clearly defensive stance, ha ha no thanks I don't think I will

"We'll put a picture of you in the game" is a typical Kickstarter thing, sure. I wonder what the donation tier was for "We'll put your picture in the game and it'll be a poltergeist."

...I wonder what the donation tier was for "We'll put your cat in the game, with a pair of demon horns, as a fightable monster."

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hngkong
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Re: Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night

Postby hngkong » Tue Jun 06, 2023 3:57 pm

nosimpleway wrote:Got a Spiral Sword, which looks like a spinning baseball bat with a bunch of razorblades glued to the outside. It hits three times when it makes contact, which means bleeding enemies emit a massive gout of blood three times over when I hit them. Which... okay, that tracks, given that it's a spinning baseball bat with a bunch of razorblades glued to the outside.


I used Spiral Sword basically through the whole game.

nosimpleway wrote:"We'll put a picture of you in the game" is a typical Kickstarter thing, sure. I wonder what the donation tier was for "We'll put your picture in the game and it'll be a poltergeist."

$1500

nosimpleway wrote:...I wonder what the donation tier was for "We'll put your cat in the game, with a pair of demon horns, as a fightable monster."

$3500

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nosimpleway
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Re: Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night

Postby nosimpleway » Tue Jun 06, 2023 7:41 pm

Miriam: "And then I found myself in a great clockwork tower, surrounded by giant cogs, made of some alloy I'd never seen before..."
Zangetsu: "...?!"

oh god when you do a parry counter Miriam even says "Predictable!", although I guess the reference might not be apparent if she doesn't pronounce it "Pwedictabowl!"

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Friday
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Re: Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night

Postby Friday » Tue Jun 06, 2023 8:42 pm

...I wonder what the donation tier was for "We'll put your cat in the game, with a pair of demon horns, as a fightable monster."


When you walk through those long ass hallways at the start of the castle with all the pictures of nerds who paid money to have their portraits in the game I was rolling my eyes until I got to the one that's just a tuxedo cat like hello little buddy or lady you don't know this but your human spent a lot of money for me to snortlaugh when I saw you for the first time also I love you

however nothing can compare to Celeste's room
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atog
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Re: Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night

Postby atog » Wed Jun 07, 2023 1:52 pm

Friday wrote:
...I wonder what the donation tier was for "We'll put your cat in the game, with a pair of demon horns, as a fightable monster."


When you walk through those long ass hallways at the start of the castle with all the pictures of nerds who paid money to have their portraits in the game I was rolling my eyes until I got to the one that's just a tuxedo cat like hello little buddy or lady you don't know this but your human spent a lot of money for me to snortlaugh when I saw you for the first time also I love you

however nothing can compare to Celeste's room

How much was the donation for "you play as a cat and cheat code the entire game arc by peeing or pooping in the end boss' coffin and covering it up with their handful of ginuwine Transylvanian soil
Asking for a fiend
Placeholder for something witty that doesn't make me sound like an asshole

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nosimpleway
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Re: Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night

Postby nosimpleway » Wed Jun 07, 2023 5:09 pm

me, early on: well at least the game is a little more generous with drops than Dawn or Aria were. This... is not to say that the drops are particularly common, more of an indictment of those other games. Maybe it's the exact same mechanic and they just fixed it so that Luck actually works, idk

me, now: holy fucking balls it's a good thing drops are a little more generous because this is grindy as hellllllllll

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nosimpleway
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Re: Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night

Postby nosimpleway » Thu Jun 08, 2023 2:31 am

Not sure what Celeste's room is, I haven't used the keys I've found yet, but I have a suit of armor that turns me into Shovel Knight so I'm putting even odds that Madeline is in there.

Early on you pass through a room with a big red orb in it and the lighting is all weird so you go "huh, okay, put a pin in that I guess" and then you go back later and the orb is gone but you go back again after the Richter* fight where you beat up Shaft** with the Holy Glasses*** equipped and the orb is back again. It's a moon; it goes through phases like that.

Everything is big, the game also borrows from Monster World IV I guess

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nosimpleway
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Re: Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night

Postby nosimpleway » Thu Jun 08, 2023 5:23 pm

this game: rare crafting items include the Imbrued Skull, Imbrued Fang, Imbrued Bone...
me: they need to do way imbrue mother

It was kind of funny, once I found the book teaching me how to make pasketti I fed some to what's-her-name, she asked for a different food, already had one. Asked for a different food, had that one too. Asked for a different food, here ya go. Asked for a different food, GEE HAVE YOU CAUGHT ON THAT IT TOOK ME A WHILE TO FIND OUT HOW TO PUT RED SAUCE ON PASTA YET. She's offering a Recycle Hat for her next meal but I don't have the recipe for that either, and I've already made nearly everything I have a recipe for yet.

I got a medal for beating a boss for the first time. It was Valefar, one of the endgame bosses. He just kind of... didn't bother to attack? Also Shuriken are pretty darn good as subweapons go.

I think I've killed all the murderers dead because no more are appearing on the list but that seems like something I'd get an achievement for. Or need to open all of the boss key doors to do rather than two of them.
wait how many are there I've done three of them but haven't found the Celeste key for the Madeline/Badeline fight. Warhorse door, Millionaire door, Carpenter door, Celeste door... was there another one?

I have some of the Instain Fang, Instain Skull, and Instain Bone but don't have anything to do with them yet. I assume I need alchemy recipes along with the whatever-the-old-lady-is-asking-to-eat recipes.

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nosimpleway
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Re: Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night

Postby nosimpleway » Fri Jun 09, 2023 7:39 pm

Well, curse my hubris.

I'm grinding out rare drops from that one optional boss behind a couple of breakable walls, rather than behind locked doors. You know the one I mean, right? Where there's a portrait of IGA in the background in the room you warp in from? The one with the little extra level, with "we are legally obligated to make this music somewhat distinct from Vampire Killer" playing?

I'm to the point where this is just a time-consuming exercise, I've earned the guy's medal a dozen times over. Between Accelerator and my shooty-shoot rapid fire build, it feels like the longest part of the grind is waiting for the damn door to open.

So I taunt him. I equip Summon Chair, and when he's defeated, Miriam calmly sits down and waits to be taken back to the castle that's not not-Akumajou Dracula.

The game spawned Miriam one room over, in the one with the horse demon running back and forth and the sword demon running around and the three empty chests. She's invisible and possibly stuck in a wall, if not clipped outside the level entirely. I've softlocked. From sitting down.

(This also sets me back like three of the drops from that boss, son of a bitch.)

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nosimpleway
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Re: Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night

Postby nosimpleway » Fri Jun 09, 2023 7:41 pm

WAIT I HAVE WAYSTONES I CAN JUST WARP BACK TO THE SAFEHOUSE IN THE VILLAGE

lol nope

The warp works, but I'm still clipped, stuck, softlocked. Benjamin is just standing there looking at the camera like "Well I don't know what you expect me to do about this, I had enough trouble with Waystones already."

I can use Bandit Blade to do the little teleport-hop, and Miriam appears onscreen for a second to stab at the air, but then she disappears again.

whew, Suspend Save and Reload managed to get her back into three-dimensional space.

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nosimpleway
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Re: Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night

Postby nosimpleway » Sat Jun 10, 2023 12:57 am

I don't know how much patience I'll have for New Game + since there's not a ton left that I didn't do already, but I learned something important:

Tamako-Death does not immediately despawn when she kills a boss.

So at the end of the ship the cutscene went something like:
Miriam, looking pensively over the horizon: My old friend... I know I saw a glimmer of his true self in there somewhere. I will keep my promise. I will do what I must...
*sick-ass guitar solo intensifies*

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Friday
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Re: Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night

Postby Friday » Sat Jun 10, 2023 3:06 am

I will now ask you the same question I asked Niku four years ago:

who is your favorite regular enemy and why is she Tamako-Death
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Niku
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Re: Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night

Postby Niku » Sat Jun 10, 2023 12:28 pm

fuck remembering tamako-death makes me want to start a new playthrough

they've added a whole bunch of stuff since launch haven't they?
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nosimpleway
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Re: Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night

Postby nosimpleway » Sat Jun 10, 2023 3:13 pm

Anachronistic Babymetal Flamethrower is not a threatening foe or a terribly useful shard ability, but makes up for it in style on account of being Anachronistic Babymetal Flamethrower.

Starting with most of the gear in New Game + means strong guns, diamond ammo, and Recycle Hat, so much of the gameplay becomes "I'm going to stop you with the power of friendship and this gun I found". I did have to swap out since it turns out one of the cheevos I didn't get was "Blood Steal a lot" so once I found Sanguinesong again I had to use a weapon that caused blood spray sometimes.

Anyway with the "you could have gotten the good ending but didn't" ending that's all the achievements. Zangetsu mode doesn't seem all that interesting and I don't even know who Aurora is or what other game she's from, so I guess I'm done with Bloodstained until I get bored enough with other things to do Randomizer runs with it.

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