Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night E3 trailer showcases amazing animation

While people debate the merits of backwards compatibility, Koji Igarashi and his team at ArtPlay are looking to bring a spiritual successor to Castlevania to life in the form of Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night. Today we get our eyes on a new trailer for the game, as well as some awesome high-res artwork for the 2018-slated title. But what’s Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night all about?

It’s the late 18th century England, an era when people’s lives changed dramatically with the ushering in of the Industrial Revolution. You are Miriam, an orphan scarred by an alchemist’s demonic curse, which is slowly turning her skin to crystal. As the curse matures, Miriam drifts into a mysterious coma and awakens ten years later as a castle appears and Hell is resurrected. Now, she must travel to the castle to hunt and kill its summoner, Gebel, battling his demons as she searches for a way to stop the curse.

This imaginative, side-scrolling game is the latest opus from the renowned Koji Igarashi, godfather of the “Igavania” genre of gothic, exploration-focused action platformers. Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is a spiritual successor to his much-loved and highly acclaimed Castlevania series. Initially revealed on Kickstarter with a goal of $500,000, Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night went on to become one of the most funded games on the platform, with more than $5.5 million pledged by fans eager for its creation.

The game has been universally loved at every hands-on opportunity I’ve seen, and I suspect we’ll feel the same way when we get our hands on it in a few days.  I know one thing for sure…it has some of the best damned animation and graphics I’ve ever seen in a sidescroller. Paired up with Igarashi-san’s tight gameplay demands, I have no doubt it’ll deliver on its promise.

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is coming to Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Nintendo Switch, Linux, and PC at some point in 2018.