The sequel to Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night

[Kishi]

Last month, the parent company of the publisher of Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night released a quarterly earnings report which off-handedly mentioned that the beloved title has a sequel in development.

Probably no one expected the news to be broken in such a dull way (and before the first game's years-long cycle of extra content had concluded), but the developer, ArtPlay, soon confirmed it to be true.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1400665003649212418

And just today, a survey has been released to gather fans' thoughts and suggestions for the now-known-to-exist sequel. You can find it here: https://tinyurl.com/RotNOtherDiscordSurvey

It starts off very standard, asking you to rate various aspects of the first game from 1 to 5, but gets around to more interesting points like whether you would prefer a map as large as possible or more unique areas, as well as which characters you'd like to see return and in what roles (I put down for playable Anne). There are also some spaces for write-in comments. I'm sure they could use the feedback from a group like ours.

 

[Gaer]

YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES

 

[gogglebob]

like whether you would prefer a map as large as possible or more unique areas

I can't say both? Dammit, this is why I don't take surveys...

 

[madhair60]

I would love this to happen

I think they went back and removed "second version in development" from the report, but that doesn't really mean anything

 

[Octopus Prime]

I’m not startled to learn there’s a sequel in the works; the original game did well enough to get several spin-offs and cameos in a bunch of other games, and it performed very well.

Im also delighted to learn there’s a sequel in the works because Bloodstained is in the upper tier of Troid-em-ups and one of my favourite games of the last decade

 

[R.R. Bigman]

I didn’t enjoy Ritual nearly as much as the majority of people here did, and even Curse 2 was a letdown after the first one was so good. I don’t know what a sequel could do to win me back. Getting a new composer and an art style that isn’t ”Early Xbox 360 Summer of Arcade Title” would help.

 

[Lokii]

Bloodstained 2: Bloodsoiled

 

[madhair60]

I didn’t enjoy Ritual nearly as much as the majority of people here did, and even Curse 2 was a letdown after the first one was so good. I don’t know what a sequel could do to win me back. Getting a new composer and an art style that isn’t ”Early Xbox 360 Summer of Arcade Title” would help.

OH FOR GOD'S SAKE WHAT IF IGA SEES THIS AND CANCELS IT

 

[Poster]

I'm interested in this.

Bloodstained didn't blow me away, but it was pretty solid, so I am down for more, whenever they get around to it.

 

[Octopus Prime]

No option to ask how much I liked to hear about killing those murderers dead.

 

[Sarge]

I am definitely here for more "EEEEE... OOOOOO" action.

In all seriousness, even with the compromised Switch port, it might be the closest Iga has gotten to recapturing all the zany stuff that got stuffed into Symphony. I look forward to eventually double-dipping for a replay on a more capable platform.

 

[Torzelbaum]

No option to ask how much I liked to hear about killing those murderers dead.

There was no specific option but you could have put that on the last page.

 

[Octopus Prime]

The burden should not be on me!

 

[ShakeWell]

Here for it.

 

[muteKi]

That's pretty cool. I should try getting back into the first one, but I don't think they ever did anything to tweak the PC version's performance. Ah well!

 

[MCBanjoMike]

I was a big fan of Ritual, and I really hope the sequel maintains its wacky unpredictability and kitchen sink attitude. The Curse games are fun too, but they’re more straightlaced affairs and they don’t quite give me what I want in the same way. I will say that I’d be happy to see them drop Yamane from the roster - as much as I love her music, the whole ultranationalist angle really detracts from my enjoyment.

 

[Tato]

I hope they continue making the Curse and the Ritual games and feel no need to tie them together in any way. My first time through Ritual was okay, but I've enjoyed it more upon subsequent playthroughs with Zangetsu and Bloodless. I would like to see less big vacant areas like the Dragon Tower in the sequel and more "outside the castle" stuff like the ship and the train.

 

[Beowulf]

Bloodstained was Symphony of the Night all over again, which was 100% EXACTLY what I wanted from it. If Bloodstained 2 is more of the same with a new castle and some new tricks/weapons/exploration items, I'm still totally sold.

 

[Issun]

Why yes I would like more lush Igavania magic thank you.

 

[madhair60]

(I like Bloodstained better than SOTN)

(because I prefer Aria/Dawn/Portrait/Ecclesia to SOTN and Bloodstained is basically a mash up of all those games)

(SOTN is great though)

 

[ghosttaster]

Make Curse 3 and 4 you cowards!

 

[Torzelbaum]

But don't make them as hard as 2 was.

 

[chud_666]

(I like Bloodstained better than SOTN)

(because I prefer Aria/Dawn/Portrait/Ecclesia to SOTN and Bloodstained is basically a mash up of all those games)

(SOTN is great though)

Bloodstained the ultimate form. It has the random everything of sotn that the above games missing. Only thing BS is missing is stolen repurposed sprites

 

[MCBanjoMike]

Only thing BS is missing is stolen repurposed sprites

But now that they're making a second one, they can start stealing assets from the previous game! Hell, throw some of the 2D sprites from the Curse games in there too, I won't mind.

 

[Torzelbaum]

Only thing BS is missing is stolen repurposed sprites

Yes but those sprites are the IP of health club operator and erotically violent pachislot maker Konami so IGA couldn't reuse those. But he did take that enemy behavior and used skins from the Ars Goetia instead.

 

[Octopus Prime]

Naturally the solution is to reuse sprites of pachinko machines

 

[Torzelbaum]

Naturally the solution is to reuse sprites of pachinko machines

So that's essentially just Millionaire's Bane, right?

 

[Octopus Prime]

Huh… Guess it is.

 

[Fyonn]

My big hope for a Bloodstained sequel is more unique / quirky weapons, and less weapon crafting
I'm fine with like armor and item and food crafting, but weapon crafting makes the process feel hollow
Unlike SOTN, AoS, DoS, and PoR, I'm only occasionally excited when I find a treasure in Bloodstained.
Like, I get that Bloodstained lets you play the whole game with any weapon type, and that's good, but it's not so good to give up pretty much the entire "find treasure" part of the genre. And no, crafting materials do not count as treasure, they count as a chore I have to go do later.

 

[Torzelbaum]

I guess that didn't bother me so much in the first game but I do agree that it would be nice if the sequel could strike a better balance between find neat stuff, get neat stuff from enemies, buy neat stuff and build neat stuff.