LogFAQs > #966858593

#26: Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon 2

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Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon was a very pleasant surprise when it came out a few years ago. I presumed, going into it, that it was going to be a kind of low effort 8-bit pastiche meant to promote the main game they really wanted to sell, Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, sort of in the vein of when Inti Creates also made Mighty Gunvolt. Curse of the Moon, however, ended up being a loving tribute to Castlevania III that ultimately builds upon and surpasses it; it is more Classicvania than Classicvania has ever been. It's a genuinely great work of retro-revival gaming.

I expected it to be a one-off. Of course, the sort of middling Mighty Gunvolt did actually give way to a sequel, Mighty Gunvolt Burst, that I consider a good game and genuinely worth playing despite its questionable pedigree. But I kinda figured that Ritual of the Night (albeit not developed by Inti Creates) was kind of the main focus here; Curse of the Moon wasn't supposed to spin off into its own series. Apparently, I was wrong. The announcement and release of Curse of the Moon 2 came as a huge surprise to me.

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I'm a big fan of retro-revival stuff. I've long been a staunch proponent of bringing back the late 80's and early 90's into modern games; delving into the alternate history of gaming where we never figured out how to make 3D games, or where we couldn't make 3D games look like more than a collection of polygons. It's not merely a matter of nostalgia for me, though I imagine that plays into it somewhat; I think that these art styles and game philosophies still have something to add to the medium, and that there's still tons of ways to build upon what was made in those years. Mega Man 9 was still the most mind blowing example of this philosophy being put to work; the decision for Capcom to make a new mainline Mega Man game that looked like the NES classics that I hold so dear is still one of the best things that's happened to me in my life. Mega Man 10, however, was even better; a statement that Mega Man 9 wasn't merely a one-off gimmick, but something that they were willing to repeat, to build on the retro-revival style itself. Mega Man 10 is one of my favorite games of all time for a reason; I think it's exceptionally well-polished, built on decades of understanding of how to make that style of game, and it sheds the gimmicky nature of MM9's back-to-basics formula to take on a new identity of its own.

This is why Curse of the Moon 2 was such an exciting sequel prospect for me, and it delivered. It's hard for me to say if I prefer the first or the second, because I think both are pretty comparable games, but I do think CotM2 builds on the first in some great ways. The new cast of characters all feel more differentiated from each other in this game than in the first, and all of them kinda feel more powerful to use, in their own ways. The different story modes in this one have a lot of new ideas that feel less like they're thrown in there at the last minute, too; the last act, where it kind of turns into an adventure game where each character goes to different levels and you have to find secrets, is especially fun.

As I probably said in my review for the first game, I just really enjoy the Classicvania mechanics. The characters in this game have sluggish movements, and I like it that way; every jump is a commitment, and every attack comes at a potential cost. Of course, I've said that I don't like Dark Souls, and I'm basically describing Dark Souls, which is sort of hard to square; I guess it's because I'm not very good at 3D action games and 2D platformers are kinda my native tongue, so to speak, so I'm just more used to this kind of thing. I like that the subweapons in this game feel powerful and wise usage of them is key to winning. I do feel that this game is a little too hard at times; some of the bosses feel like they require a great deal of trial and error and some of the levels (the volcano level comes to mind) are a bit on the overwhelming side. I played a lot of this game in co-op mode, which I think made the game a little easier to handle; the co-op mode is surprisingly fun, having a friend helps a ton and being able to stand on each others' shoulders is cool.

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The game is, of course, stylishly presented; the pixel art in this game is superb while also remaining true to what was in style in 1990. I feel like the soundtrack was better in the first game, with generally more memorable melodies, but this game really goes heavy metal with the VRC6-style chiptunes and it's a really interesting listen - probably a little too experimental and baroque to be a crowdpleaser for most, but I enjoyed the intracacy and the pushing of boundaries it's going for; this game is trying to be heavy and dirty, like an old Grunge album.

The most important reason Curse of the Moon 2 is good, though, is that it has the two most important features in a game; a Zelda 2-style downstab, and a corgi who drives a tank. What's not to love? Curse of the Moon 2 isn't gonna be everyone's bag; it really specifically appeals to people who like old Castlevania games and wants one that will really properly kick them in the ass. That's me, though, so this game feels like it was made for me. And, I can play it and pretend that the dreaded 3D revolution of the late 90's never happened! It's like seeing a movie with a lot of practical effects. It's a state of 'state of the art' that I can really get behind.

Next up: There's a little black spot on the sun today. It's the same old thing as yesterday.