Koji Igarashi, mastermind behind the timeless classic Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, turned heads back in 2015 when he announced his next project, Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night.
People had to take notice of the announcement. Castlevania is one of the most beloved franchises in video game history, but the "classic" style of the series ended in 2010/2011 with the release of Castlevania: Harmony of Despair. Since then, the series has seen an assortment of changes, the most important of them being that Igarashi was no longer in charge of it, with it being handed over to Hideo Kojima, former producer of the Metal Gear Solid series, and development outsourced to Spain.
Now, with Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night announced, fans had an opportunity to go back to the classic "Metroidvania" feel, as opposed to the new direction introduced in the Lords of Shadow saga. Naturally, they leapt at that opportunity. The Kickstarter campaign, launched to help finance the title, reached its goal of $500,000 in only four hours and now currently resides at over $5.5 million — well in excess of the $850,000 needed to get added bonuses such as a hardcover artbook, second playable character and voice acting from David Hayter, the man behind the voice of Solid Snake from MGS.
Though certainly an exciting moment, there hasn't been too much to see about the game outside of some brief updates. However, that changed overnight when the Kickstarter blog announced that fans would be able to get their hands on a Bloodstained playable demo.
There's one catch, however. The demo will only be accessible to people who have pledged at least $60 dollars in the Kickstarter campaign. If they've pledged any less than that, then they're out of luck. Of course, this means that getting access to the demo is simple: either pledge more money so the $60 threshold is either met or surpassed, or become a backer and pledge the aforementioned amount of money. Just be sure to do so before June 13, because that's the cutoff date. There's an added bonus to pledging, too, since $60 automatically nets you a special backer edition physical copy.
This demo, which is Windows PC-only and distributed digitally through Steam, will also be playable at E3.
What will be included? Here is what Igarashi had to say:
"... is simple playable demo and tutorial of this Minerva stage. The lesser demons we've introduced in the last update (Morte, Seama and Dullahammer) will appear, and the magi-crystals players will obtain from enemies, also known as 'Shards,' will also be included."
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is set to release early next year on the PC, PS4, Xbox One, Wii U and PS Vita.
Check out a video where you can see Miriam and her new scarf in motion below:
