Review #674: Bloodstained - Curse of the Moon

 Alright, we don't need Konami anymore.

 Alright, I'm gonna cut right to the chase here: Bloodstained - Curse of the Moon is amazing. Not only did Igarashi create one of his best Metroidvanias with Bloodstained, he also produced one of the finest Classicvanias out there. Seeing how we've got both fronts covered, I think I can safely say that we can officially forget that Konami exists.

 Curse of the Moon is a weird 8-bit demake/alternate take on Bloodstained, here you play as Zangetsu as his curse drives him to slay a lot of demons. On his journey he'll join up with Ritual of the Night's protagonist Miriam, Alfred and Gebel, the main antagonist of said game. Or you can just kill them. That's right, you can kill them. The game is made up of 8 different stages, and on the first three you'll meet up with your potential allies, then you can either talk to them, and have them join you on your adventure, kill them, and have Zangetsu earn a new move, or just ignore them. You can get slightly different epilogues depending on what you do, but the real kicker is that you can unlock different modes on either 'Everyone joins' or 'Everyone dies' routes. Ignoring characters unlocks nothing, but it's easily the hardest way to play the game. Killing everyone unlocks 'Ultimate Mode', which let's you play as the powered up version of Zangetsu AND recruit the other characters, while allying with everyone unlocks 'Nightmare Mode', in which you play as a party made up of Miriam, Alfred and Gebel from the start, and they get an alternate eight stage.

 The game plays just like any classicvania, you move from left to right, slaying enemies and clearing platforming challenges. There are two different styles: Veteran and Casual. Veteran plays like any Classicvania: Getting hit pushes you back, often to your doom, health pick ups are extremely rare and live can run out. Casual, on the other hand, is much more lenient, getting hit won't ruin your jumps, you'll come across health pick ups often and lives are unlimited. I found it a great way to please everyone, want the hardcore experience? Go with Veteran. Would you rather have a much more pleasant cruise? Casual is for you. Regardless of which style you go with, the game offers a decent, but fair, challenge. Depending on your the decisions the game might get a bit tougher, for instance, throughout every level you can come across permanent power ups, but these require having allies to reach, as even a powered-up Zangetsu can't reach most of them, and if you decide to ignore everyone, you'll have a weak Zangetsu all the way through,

 As for the game itself, it plays like a dream. Controls are responsive and simple: A jump button, an attack button and a subweapon button, you can also use L and R to switch between your characters on the fly, each one having their own lifebar. Subweapons can be found inside purple candles, and each character has their own set of subweapons, these consume 'magic points' which can be replenished by finding magic pick-ups, usually hidden inside orange candles. Each character also have their own stats and abilities: Zangetsu has the highest life bar and attack power, but he has a short reach and limited subweapons(One that buffs him or an ally for a while. an upwards chain attack or a downward tag-bomb), Miriam can jump higher than anyone else and slide, has the second largest lifebar, long reach thanks to her whip and the most versatile subweapons... although who needs versatility when her ax subweapon is the biggest damage dealer in the entire game? Alfred is slow, has the shortest reach and shortest lifebar, but has very useful spells, it's a good idea to cast something and then switch to another character so that him or her can make use of it. Gebel is a bit more unique, his basic attack sends three bats flying upwards, but he has a single subweapon: Bat transformation, allowing him to reach higher places... or skip a ton of hazards! Killing everyone earns Zangetsu a special jumping attack, a double jump and the ability to dash.

 I can't stress this enough, Curse of the Moon is immensely enjoyable. Each playthrough should last about an hour, but thanks to its many modes and variations you can get a pretty decent replay value out of it. While it looks, sounds and feels just like a Castlevania of old, it doesn't fall into older tropes of making the game cheaper and harder just for the sake of it... or for the sake of trying to get people to buy games instead of renting them. As a side note, I'm glad I waited to play this game until after I played Ritual of the Moon, because I think this game works great as an 8-bit demake, since a lot of stages are inspired on zones from the main game, and it uses a lot of the same enemies and bosses from said game, even if the patterns and gameplay are completely different.
 8.0 out of 10