News – Koji Igarashi’s Bloodstained Delayed Until 2018

Originally based on the unique experiences found within the classics Super Metroid and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, the aptly named Metroidvania genre has become one of retro gaming’s most loved genres. What’s more, quite soon you may be adding Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night to that list, especially given that Koji Igarashi, developer of Symphony of the Night is the behind it. Unfortunately though, we’ll now have to wait until 2018 to see if it can live up to its predecessors.

Funded within a mere 4 hours, Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night became the most funded game in the history of Kickstarter and has so far seen over $5.5 million in pledges. Developed as the spiritual successor to the legendary Castlevania series, Bloodstained promises to be a stylistic gothic “exploration-focused, side-scrolling platformer featuring RPG and crafting elements”. Quite literally everything we know and love from the 2D Castlevania adventures.

In Bloodstained players will take the real of Miriam, an orphan who’s skin slowly crystallises as the result of an alchemist’s curse. As such, to stop this curse you must battle your way through a demon filled castle and locate Gebel, a man afflicted with the same curse who summoned the cursed castle.

What’s more, thanks to fan pledges, aside from the story players can also look forward to a dozens of added extras, including retro levels, a boss rush mode, and even star voice talent, such as the voice of Solid Snake David Hayer, who will play Gebel.

Announced via a new developer diary, Igarashi explained Bloodstained’s delay by saying:

Things have been progressing with development for Bloodstained, but between our current production setup and release deadline, I’ve realized that at this rate, the game may not end up meeting my quality standards.

As such, Igarashi went on to make the decision to delay Bloodstained until 2018 so as:

to absolutely guarantee the game is done right the first time.

Ultimately, whilst unfortunate, it does seem that this delay is in the best interest of the game. Furthermore, given Mighty No. 9’s troubled launch, this delay shouldn’t be seen as a bad thing.

All in all, the Metroidvania genre is seen as a crown treasure in the retro gaming world. It’s nice therefore to see it still in the safe hands of Koji Igarashi, Nintendo, and even the indie scene, through recent hits like Axiom Verge. All in all, if waiting until 2018 is what it takes to get a true successor to the Castlevania series, then so be it. Now just to work out how many weeks, days, and hours are left until Bloodstained arrives.