Man, this game is fun, a little adventure worth the price, fun characters, platforming and level design.
Gameplay - It is precise, simple but demands attention since you can't move your character mid-air. I played in veteran mode which plays like the old castlevania games, with knockback and lives, but there's a mode for players that want a more casual playthrough without lives and knockback, but the game was not hard at all in veteran mode, so I recommend you test veteran and change later if you dislike it. You begin the game with Zangetsu, a Demon Hunter, but later unlocks three more characters to play: Miriam, Alfred and Gebel, and I gotta say, it's very fun switching between characters to do a certain function/attack only one of them can do, it includes variety in the game.
Graphics - So, they got the NES aesthetics so well here, that sometimes I'd think: "damn, this game could be played on the NES". I think this style of graphics is not that hard to replicate, but still, they did an amazing job here.
Music - Michiru Yamane worked here, I mean, that's all I gotta say right? She's one of the GOAT's of video game OST’s, the levels have such good music.
Story - Once again comparing this game to Castlevania, they have pretty much the same stories, a threat you gotta stop, so a whole adventure begins, defeating the bosses and enemies till you conquer that final boss, but it just doesn't have that weight of being a Belmont, a literal member of a family destined to save the world from the evil Dracula, but still Bloodstained has a lot of charm.
Bosses - They are great, not a single time I died to them and thought the game was unfair, they are based in learning their attacks, and coming back each time stronger because of your knowledge, and again the mechanic of switching between each characters has such a positive impact in the bosses, it is very fun choosing to attack with Gebel because of his upwards attack and then when you gotta jump to dodge switching to Miriam because she has the highest jump of all of them.
Hard mode - When you begin the game the only difficulty selectable is normal if I’m not mistaken, and you unlock the hard one only when you beat the game, but it is totally worth to go to that second playthrough in hard mode because you discover secrets and power ups you couldn’t even get to in normal mode since you are more wise about the game, and it’s a bonus for you that wanted a more challenging game like me, the hard mode was the perfect difficulty. And it has the best boss.
Ending - So, the hard mode ending is the best, ending in a cliff hanger and gets you wondering “Why did that happen? What’s gonna happen now?” I’m telling you man, you gotta at least try the hard mode =)
Conclusion - if you are a fan of the old style Castlevania, you gotta play this, 100%, and if you’re not, play this open-minded since it doesn’t have a conventional movement. I recommend to everyone who plays the game in normal mode and finds the game too easy, beat the game, then beat again in hard mode, it’s so great.
