Today I tried starting this game. The gameplay so far is not bad. The attack magic system takes me back to an older generation Castlevania game where the player catches souls - I can't remember which game implemented such a system. While it definitely has a Castlevania feel to it, it has a different visual style from Castlevania games I've played. I'm not used to the 3D model graphics, and I'm fond of the older GBA or DS art.
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| Miriam (protagonist) speaks with Gebel (antagonist) |
Steam Game Time: 22 minutes (cumulative game time)
[20221021][20231023 Edit]
20221021:
As I played more, I began to get into the gameplay and I no longer thought about the strange-looking character model. While I enjoyed the gameplay, the narration was mildly annoying, and I wasn't a fan of the story. Also what kind of name is Gebel? (joking, but also not joking)
On a different note, I was annoyed by the collision damage from touching enemies - something I don't recall from other Castlevania games. I feel it makes sense with certain enemies but I shouldn't take damage just from touching an enemies. In other words, I think the player should take damage when attacked, and for some enemies, attacking occurs via contact (e.g., a flying ball of flame or a slime). With that being said, it's been a long time since I've played a Castlevania game, so I could have simply forgotten about collison damage.
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| Miriam collects a soul (Dantalion) |
By the end of the session, I was stuck at a boss who uses a sword [Zangetsu]. I would keep misreading his moves, and the misreads would cost me HP. For example, with a certain move of his, it is important for me to jump up and get behind him. However, if I incorrectly read it, and he jumps, I'll jump and attempt to get behind him. Without a double jump or backdash, I would end up landing next to him and taking damage. [Actually, I learned on 20221029 that the character starts the game with a backdash.]
Steam Game Time: 86 minutes (cumulative game time) / 64 minutes (session game time)
[20221021][20231023 Edit]
20221025:
Steam Game Time: 98 minutes (cumulative game time) / 12 minutes (session game time)
20221028:
I was having trouble with Zangetsu. I eventually got to his second phase with the flame blade. In general, I figured two main things: jumping away and back in is best. Most of his moves safely allow for two hits from my choice of blade which is about 40 damage per move he makes. The exception is when he taunts and holds his blade up to block. Then 3 attacks can safely be made. It's possible some situations when well timed can be 3 attacks, and possibly 4 attacks can be executed against his taunt, but I learned to be conservative because I lost a lot of health whenever I tried to be aggressive. I sometimes used the flail in combination, both because it deals more damage only at the cost of some MP but also there might be an animation cancel that makes it quicker to use (I didn't experiment fully).
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| Miriam at a save point |
Despite the extensive breakdown, I happened upon the identification of a cheese strategy. Running to the stairs seems to reliably get him to use his taunt. As such, I would run to the stairs on the left, wait for his taunt, jump behind him and strike. Then I'll run to stairs on the right and repeat. Sometimes he'll throw his dart, but I just make sure to position myself on the stairs to where I can jump over it. Sometimes he'll run up the stairs a bit but back up to taunt (which leads me to guess that his taunt is triggered by the distance he travels). On the much more rare occasion, perhaps when he has not reached the taunt quota, he'll jump and slash. It is possible to dodge or just get hit, but regardless that interaction allows some free hits. Continue with the cheese strat.
When he goes into his secondary flame stage, the dart explodes early which is convenient. The cheese strat remains the same, if anything easier. Very much cheese but I'll take it.
[20221028][20231023 Edit]
20221028:
I upgraded the arrow attack the other day. It's pretty handy.
Note that I previously made the complaint/remark that it wasn't possuble to switch setups easily. However, the other day I came across a pickup that unlocks shortcut setups. Initially it allows for 2 setups. Then in this last session I got another which makes for 3 setups.
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| Mirium using Bunnymorphosis (transform into a Lili) |
Steam Game Time: 5.2 hours (cumulative game time)
[20221029][20231023 Edit]
20221029 (Part 1):
Today I finally found the necessary progression by searching various uncovered map portions. The encounter was with a boss [Andrealphus] that is necessary to defeat in order to unlock the double jump. It was easy to defeat compared to other bosses thus far. Perhaps I was overleveled. Also using all of the MP bar to deal damage with arrows takes a chunk out of the boss. In combination with the arrow, I used the weapon where the sword is thrown and returns.
By comparison, Zangetsu was super hard compared to either the hand boss or this bird creature [Andrealphus].
Steam Game Time: 6.9 hours (cumulative game time) / 1.7 hours (session game time)
20221029 (Part 2):
I learned during this session that the backdash is available from the start. Huh. Not too important but probably would have helped against Zangetsu (without the cheese strat).
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| Valac |
This double dragon [Valac] in the tower wasn't too difficult of a boss. I died once to them but their pattern was clear enough to take less damage and find times to simultaneously attack while dodging. That is, I could dodge many attacks and only sometimes get hit.
Steam Game Time: 8.6 hours (cumulative game time) / 1.7 hours (session game time)
Rating: 4.0/5
https://store.steampowered.com/app/692850/Bloodstained_Ritual_of_the_Night/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloodstained:_Ritual_of_the_Night
