Bloodstained will launch on June 18 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC (via Steam and GoG), and the Nintendo Switch version is set to launch the following week on June 25.
The spiritual successor to the Koji Igarashi Castlevania games, dubbed IGA-vania by fans, is also the sequel to last year’s Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon. Set in the 18th Century, it follows Miriam on her journey to save her body and the rest of the world from certain ruin at the hands of an evil force with powers beyond this world. To make matters worse, the force has summoned a castle full of demons — and mysterious crystal shards full of power.
Thanks to a curse (which probably happened on a horrible night in the past), Miriam’s body is slowly becoming crystallized as well, making her journey a race against the clock.
Previous info releases, including the Nintendo Direct trailer from February, stated these shards give Miriam her powers. They are similar to the souls system from Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow and its DS successor, Dawn of Sorrow. They are how Miriam will learn new skills and craft and wield a wide variety of weapons throughout her journey.
They are also designed to make each player’s experience completely different since they open up customization options for Miriam. That is supported by reports that the crafting and weapons systems are very deep.
However, Miriam won’t be the only playable character; there are several secret characters to find and unlock as well. How they make use of the shard system isn’t yet known, though.
Bloodstained boasts the biggest castle Igarashi has designed. Despite the new features and greatly expanded settings, it’s also a love letter to earlier Castlevania games and what made fans enjoy them to begin with.
One aspect of that emphasis on nostalgia is the soundtrack, with music written by Michiru Yamane, of Symphony of the Night fame, and Resident Evil’s Ippo Yamada.
Bloodstained’s journey has been a rough one, with plenty of delays and some hiccups with the Switch version at PAX East. The changes made from the game’s early days to now are evident, though, and fans don’t have long to wait to see how it all plays out.
