What started as an accompanying piece to Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night for exceeding the Kickstarter goals for that project, Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon has taken on a life of its own. After positive fan response to this Kickstarter bonus, Koji Igarashi and his team are now revisiting Curse of the Moon with a sequel. Bloodstained:Â Curse of the Moon 2 generated enough buzz to make lists of games to be excited for in July. It seems that excitement is justified, as reviews of the homage to classic Castlevania titles are heaping praise on the title.
Bloodstained was one of the most successful Kickstarter projects ever, and the support for the core game, Ritual of the Night, has continued since its release last year. New DLC for Bloodstained has just dropped, allowing players to more fully customize the main character, Miriam, among other things.
Curse of the Moon 2 takes what worked about the first game, refines it, and then gives the player even more. The story is centered around Zangetsu (who appears in Ritual of the Night) but introduces new additional characters Dominique, Robert, and Hachi each of whom bring different abilities to the table. The 8 stages have multiple paths to explore so replayability is king here. Now to the reviews for more details.
Destructoid (Jordan Devore)
"Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon 2 isn't the kind of modernized retro game you'll tear through once or twice only for it to slip out of sight and out of mind, never to be touched again. Over the weekend, I happily cleared the sequel four times – twice alone, twice in local co-op – and it's still calling my name."
Score: 9/10
Venture Beat (Mike Minotti)
"Curse of the Moon 2 didn’t need to innovate on much. The whole point of the series is to give Castlevania fans an experience similar to those classic 8-bit adventures. And Curse of the Moon 2 does that well, offering a fun and challenging sidescroller with beautiful pixel art and tons of replayability"
Score 8.5/10
Nintendo Life (Kurt Kalata)
"Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon 2 could've easily fallen into the Mega Man 10 trap – that is, another retro-styled follow-up that fails to make much of an impression since the gimmick has lost its lustre... ...But thanks to its somewhat higher difficulty level and a wider cast of characters, Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon 2 is an extremely solid game that very slightly edges out its already excellent predecessor, and old-school Castlevania fans will absolutely love it."
Score 8/10
Siliconera (Lucas White)
"Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon 2 is a superb sequel. It has everything that made the first game a surprise hit, but expands and adds to it with a level of care that shines through the whole thing. It’s one of the meatiest games of its kind, and it has more story and character weaved into the retro-style play than I ever would have expected."
Score 10/10
NintendoWorldReport (Zachary Miller)
"I really enjoyed Curse of the Moon 2, especially once things opened up in the third run. And don’t take that the wrong way--I also had fun with the first two runs--but the game really turns into something ridiculously wonderful in that third run."
Score 8/10
Games that harken back to that "Golden Era of Games" from the early 90s can sometimes miss the mark in their attempt to capture what made those titles work. Updating mechanics and adding modern touches like the recently released (on console at least) CrossCode is key. Curse of the Moon 2 seems to take the best of classic Castlevania and make it fun and exciting to play in 2020 while scratching that nostalgia itch.
Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon 2 is available now for PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.