It's impossible for me to explain how much of an impact Shutaro Iida had on Metroidvania, but for the sake of a programming legend, I have to try. Though Castlevania: Circle of the Moon and Harmony of Dissonance were admirable efforts, it was Aria of Sorrow that felt like a true Symphony of the Night successor. Everything from Soma's movement to enemy behavior to all the subsystems and underlying mechanics was brilliantly adapted. Without a doubt, it was Iida's work as chief programmer that made Aria an all-time classic. The same can be said about the Nintendo DS trilogy. Rather than just repeat what worked on the GBA, Iida and his team created new, more ambitious systems. Part of what makes these games so magical is how seamlessly they weave their complex action and RPG elements. You could play Soma & co. as another vampire hunter that swung a weapon and jumped a lot, or you could transform them into the back-dashing army-summoning force of nature that makes the screen explode. Both are valid and incredibly well-realized.
While I decide on what to say next, there's an itch somewhere in the back of my mind that needs a scratch. Calling these games Metroidvanias is starting to sound... wrong. I know Igavania exists. I've used it a few times myself. I just get the feeling that we as a gaming community have stuck with what's basically the lack of a better term for decades. Bloodstained and its ilk are practically a subgenre unto themselves compared to Hollow Knight, or Guacamelee! or Rabi-Ribi or countless others. Even Team Ladybug's titles like Deedlit in the Wonder Labyrinth and Blade Chimera aren't quite the same, despite featuring level-ups and rare-drops. Of course, I say all this, yet I'm unable to come up with a term of my own one, at least not one that's respectful to some of my favorite games ever made. They're dense, comfy, effortlessly juggle a hundred moving parts, and with the tragic passing of Shutaro Iida, we may never see them again.
There's a ton to be said about Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, but I'm going to start with a few of the little things that I love. I love Miriam's dive-kick. The way she can leap off of a candle whilst collecting its contents owns my heart. My adoration for how she summons Buers to use as stepping-stones is immeasurable. Oh, and you'd better believe I love that a significant portion of the castle is filled with enough strategically placed candles and demons for Miriam to play a "The floor is Lava" minigame whenever she wants. You know what else I love? Finding that sweet spot where Miriam gets a lot of distance with her dive-kick, while avoiding the frame-wasting crouched state that occurs upon a landing from too high. There are so many details surrounding just one aspect of our heroine that it creates an irreplaceable feeling of comfort.
Much like the handful of vampire hunters that preceded her, Miriam is skilled in the ancient art of backstep-cancelling. It's her primary method for getting from one room of the castle to the next. Sure, she could jog to the next destination, eyes forward and all that, but what gives these games their enigmatic beauty is rapidly alternating between L1 and down presses to move at exceptional speed. Adding utmost execution to the most rudimentary of tasks is a great way to draw me into a game. My only complaint is that five minutes of back-step cancelling can be considered the equivalent to one cigarette... if a wrist could ever take up smoking. Let this be a reminder to everyone out there to do their exercises. Carpal tunnel is merciless.
What other talents does Miriam have besides a dive-kick and a (wrist-destroying) alternative to running? Ah right... she's a Shardbinder. The demons she destroys have a chance of (rather violently) bestowing their powers to her. Basically, it's the soul system from the Soma duology, but with some significant enhancements. Grabbing multiples of the same soul increases its power, while tossing the requisite crafting materials at it will improve its coverage, versatility, damage output, whatever. While there are some clear winners - such as Summon Hellhound and its ability to scorch everything for an instant 1200+ damage - I can't think of many losers. Oh, sure, Summon Chair might sound useless, but it's doing exactly what it's supposed to.
Part of what makes shards such an effective tool is that players don't need to invest heavily to make them useable. A Flying Dagger or Shuriken is going to kick butt even if it's rank & grade are never improved. That inclination to drop everything and bring the game to a screeching half just to get some farming done doesn't materialize as often as one would expect. Then again, I'm probably the last person who can express such a thought. Nearly seven years after Bloodstained's release, I still farm demons, their rare drops, and all things in-between for as long as it takes to transform Miriam into an incredible warrior goddess.
Though I haven't discussed it lately, I'm still a firm believer in "Making the game yours." This mantra is a perfect fit for Ritual of the Night. A Shardbinder without any shards is still a force to be reckoned with. Miriam is skilled in all sorts of weapons. Mastering the techniques hidden within them will give her even more ways to lay waste to her enemies. Gosh. I never even attempted a playthrough with just guns. It's probably because making the most of them requires special ammunition capable of exploiting weaknesses. Special, limited, ammunition that has to be crafted. Well, maybe I'll give it a shot someday.
As far as castles go, The Hellhold really isn't bad at all. It could've been a little larger, or a mix more complex, but seriously I'm glad it's neither. Each area has the expected assortment of obstacles and beasties dotting its halls. Mainly though, I'd say that the level-designer wanted smooth pacing, with a little open-endedness. Miriam is allowed enough space to strut her stuff, or wriggle around the danger and keep moving. If I had to pick favorites, then I'd go with the Sorcery Labs. There's something about the tight corridors and emphasis on nasty traps that deserved a deeper exploration. Glacial Tomb is rather weak though. Ending the game in an ice-themed area just seems anticlimactic (the last several enemies being reskins doesn't help).
Where Hellhold really shines is in Randomizer mode. Fantastic inclusion, by the way, especially for the console crowd who can't access mods. While players are free to set the ending conditions that work for them, I always go with "Defeat All Evil". Basically, Miriam has to explore the entire castle until she obtains Zangetsuto and Dimension Shift. This is a mission I've made significantly more complicated by choosing to have key items appear anywhere. Anyway, since traversal powers are randomized, the heroine's path through the castle can change. There's enough connective tissue between each area that players who end up with Deep Sinker instead of Double Jump still have access to nearly half of the castle. Also, any opportunity to test out a new shard combination is welcome.
I don't discuss traditional "comfy" games on this blog, because none of them actually interest me. Instead, I look towards games that feel comforting to play, something that Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night absolutely excels at. The way Miriam's movement evolves from simply holding the d-pad in a direction to a series of arcane inputs? That's my Animal Crossing. Speeding through the castle with a maxed-out Accelerator while trying to avoid every demon is how I get my "warm fuzzies". All the little quirks that define the rarest weapons, such as the Andromeda whip's slight homing properties, create joy out of violence. Investing so much time into building the ultimate demon hunter only to start a fresh file and do it all over again is something that I've done across three different ports of this game.
Look, I don't know the first thing about programming, so take what I'm about to say with a grain of salt; write it off as the rantings of an old man even. I can't understand why anyone would use LLMs to help them code video games. Slamming together an amalgamation of stolen data and then prying out whatever is keeping the game from functioning sounds so inelegant. My unshakeable belief is that there is a mysterious beauty found in the programming of all games, good or bad. It's the artistic contributions of the often-unsung heroes of development. We're too quick to trade away our identities for the illusion of convenience. Yeah, I said illusion, because somehow this culture-destroying, world-decaying, livelihood-ruining technology isn't really doing a whole lot to make anyone's jobs easier. Actually, let me cut this rant short, because that's not what this write-up is supposed to be about.
After all of these years spent on game reviews, I still fail to recognize the achievements of the people who are able to create magic from nothing. Shutaro Iida is responsible for creating works that I've loved and cherished for over half my life, yet I never even knew his name until after he was gone.
... I think I've said about all I can. Would you believe that my eyes are watering too much for me to continue writing? Because that's what happening right now.
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