Dcubed Posted June 24, 2019 Author Posted June 24, 2019 (edited) My copy is here! 4 long years after I Kickstarted it! It's finally real and in my hands! (not that I'm gonna play it for a little while until the bugs and kinks are worked out. 13 hours ago, Hero-of-Time said: After 25 hours over two days I've nabbed the platinum. I had a real hard time putting the game down. The 100% completion of the item list is a bit of a killer. Having to craft, pick up or buy EVERY item in the game took some doing. I was having to farming items and money and then make and dismantle items in order to save materials. It was easier to grind the cash to pay for dismantling rather than go after another set of items from a low percentage drop. It got to the point where I had to whip out a notebook and start making checklists of things I needed to collect and dismantle. There was so much to keep track of. Having never played Symphony of the Night, l'm going to assume it plays like this. If so, then I will be certainly picking it up sooner rather than later. Actually, I'm pretty sure it's on sale on PSN at the moment. Again, brilliant game and certainly one of my favs of the year. If the port is stable enough then I highly recommend the game to those who are waiting for the Switch version. The game has so many different weapons and shards to play around with and I imagine anyone will be able to find a play style that suits them. Symphony of the Night does indeed play like Bloodstained (as do all of the GBA/DS Castlevania games). I actually think that SOTN is one of my least favourite of the Igavania games personally (Aria of Sorrow is my favourite), but definitely play the Igavanias! You'll love them! The three GBA Castlevanias are all available on the Wii VC BTW! Unfortunately, the DS Castlevanias were not released on there; and might be a bit hard to track down now (especially ones that aren't bootleg copies - DS game bootlegs are utterly rampant now unfortunately), but you should absolutely get all of the Igavanias on PS1/GBA/DS without hesitation! (Even though Harmony of Dissonance is a bit rubbish). You will absolutely love them to pieces! Edited June 24, 2019 by Dcubed 1
Hero-of-Time Posted June 24, 2019 Posted June 24, 2019 24 minutes ago, Dcubed said: The three GBA Castlevanias are all available on the Wii VC BTW! Unfortunately, the DS Castlevanias were not released on there; and might be a bit hard to track down now (especially ones that aren't bootleg copies - DS game bootlegs are utterly rampant now unfortunately), but you should absolutely get all of the Igavanias on PS1/GBA/DS without hesitation! (Even though Harmony of Dissonance is a bit rubbish). You will absolutely love them to pieces! I have all the GBA ones that they released on the Wii U. I bought them ages ago when they were on sale but I never got around to playing them. As for the DS games, i've already been eyeing them on ebay this morning. 1
S.C.G Posted June 24, 2019 Posted June 24, 2019 I just loaded up the game just so that I could see the title screen and listen to the music... ...I've just made thw wait so much longer for myself now. 1
Dcubed Posted June 24, 2019 Author Posted June 24, 2019 Just now, S.C.G said: I just loaded up the game just so that I could see the title screen and listen to the music... ...I've just made thw wait so much longer for myself now. I was doing that with the Kickstarter E3 backer demo all those years ago. I know that feeling all too well... 1
Jonnas Posted June 24, 2019 Posted June 24, 2019 I kinda like Harmony of Dissonance. It feels eerie, otherworldly and alien like no other Castlevania game. I recognize the flaws, it's just that I respect how distinct it is, visually. As for Bloodstained... I already have a lot on my plate, but I'll keep my eye on it.
Sofiz Posted June 24, 2019 Posted June 24, 2019 I've been so busy playing Bloodstained that I completely forgot I had cosplay stuff to make for this weekend. OTL Curse you, Miriam!!! Curse you and your addictive game!!! *shakes fist* Now I have to be the stern adult and not play it until I'm done ;_; 3
Dcubed Posted June 25, 2019 Author Posted June 25, 2019 (edited) 13 hours ago, Jonnas said: I kinda like Harmony of Dissonance. It feels eerie, otherworldly and alien like no other Castlevania game. I recognize the flaws, it's just that I respect how distinct it is, visually. As for Bloodstained... I already have a lot on my plate, but I'll keep my eye on it. I do appreciate what they were going for with HoD. It’s rare that a game completely embraces its title as an underlying theme (the game is dissonant in every sense!); but its reliance on aping SOTN (and its worst aspects) ends up being its undoing. The level design is utterly lowsy, with no sense of pacing or flow; and it simply just doesn’t have many new gameplay ideas to call its own, outside of its overarching theme. Aria of Sorrow is such a monumental improvement from HoD, it’s hard to believe that it came from the same team! It’s definitely in the running for Most Improved Sequel of All Time. It takes one of Metroid Fusion’s best concepts and absolutely runs with it; and I was thrilled to see Bloodstained ROTN continuing with what it and DOS started! Edited June 25, 2019 by Dcubed 2
S.C.G Posted June 25, 2019 Posted June 25, 2019 Well it appears that due to some confusion and generally fudged messaging regarding updates... Version 1.01 on the Switch is the equivelant to Version 1.02 on the other versions! So, I could have been playing it all along! If anyone else is checking the thread and wondering when they can play the game, you can do so now if you have the physical version. And obviously if you have the digital version you can as well, assuming it's even out yet as I know Nintendo like to make us wait until the afternoon for game releases. Just make sure you have version 1.01 and you're good to go! You would think that knowing this, I'd be on the game like a shot but... Nope, at this point I've gone past the rush of excitement as the game hit followed by disappointment of thinking that I wouldn't be able to just play it. I should have just trusted my insinct, as I thought it odd that the game went from version 0.1 to 1.01... Anyway, I will play it... but later today as I'd resigned myself to that in any case, plus I have other stuff to do, but once I do start playing, I doubt I'll stop until I finish the game. Expect a review... sometime between now and when the next inevitable update hits. 1 1
Agent Gibbs Posted June 25, 2019 Posted June 25, 2019 1 hour ago, S.C.G said: Well it appears that due to some confusion and generally fudged messaging regarding updates... Version 1.01 on the Switch is the equivalent to Version 1.02 on the other versions! So, I could have been playing it all along! If anyone else is checking the thread and wondering when they can play the game, you can do so now if you have the physical version. And obviously if you have the digital version you can as well, assuming it's even out yet as I know Nintendo like to make us wait until the afternoon for game releases. Just make sure you have version 1.01 and you're good to go! You would think that knowing this, I'd be on the game like a shot but... Nope, at this point I've gone past the rush of excitement as the game hit followed by disappointment of thinking that I wouldn't be able to just play it. I should have just trusted my instinct, as I thought it odd that the game went from version 0.1 to 1.01... Anyway, I will play it... but later today as I'd resigned myself to that in any case, plus I have other stuff to do, but once I do start playing, I doubt I'll stop until I finish the game. Expect a review... sometime between now and when the next inevitable update hits. Other buckets! It had arrived when i got home and i just left it waiting for 1.02! Thanks for the update because i'd have been very confused later if i couldn't update it and probably would have left it longer
Hero-of-Time Posted June 25, 2019 Posted June 25, 2019 With people now getting their Switch copies, more impressions of the game have started to pop up and it's sounding pretty rough. By all accounts the game looks bad when played on the TV, there's input lag and the frame rate seems to be all over the place. How are you finding the Switch version, @S.C.G?
S.C.G Posted June 25, 2019 Posted June 25, 2019 15 minutes ago, Hero-of-Time said: With people now getting their Switch copies, more impressions of the game have started to pop up and it's sounding pretty rough. By all accounts the game looks bad when played on the TV, there's input lag and the frame rate seems to be all over the place. How are you finding the Switch version, @S.C.G? I'll let you know when I've played it. At this rate, with the way things are sounding I might just wait for the real 1.02 patch. 1
Hero-of-Time Posted June 25, 2019 Posted June 25, 2019 9 minutes ago, S.C.G said: At this rate, with the way things are sounding I might just wait for the real 1.02 patch. Haha. Yeah, you may be better off. I mean, the other versions had a few technical issues as well but with the visuals taking a big hit in the Switch version, I thought at least the game would run steadier. Sadly that doesn't seem to be the case.
Dcubed Posted June 25, 2019 Author Posted June 25, 2019 (edited) Backer codes are out now for the Switch download version. Just got mine! Edited June 25, 2019 by Dcubed
drahkon Posted June 25, 2019 Posted June 25, 2019 Shame about the Switch port. But should be fixable with some patches. Hopefully it'll be fine sooner rather than later. It's a great game that people definitely should play
Hero-of-Time Posted June 25, 2019 Posted June 25, 2019 1 minute ago, drahkon said: Shame about the Switch port. But should be fixable with some patches. Hopefully it'll be fine sooner rather than later. It's a great game that people definitely should play Hopefully. I'm still tempted to cancel my Mario Maker 2 order and pick this up again. 1
drahkon Posted June 25, 2019 Posted June 25, 2019 33 minutes ago, Hero-of-Time said: I'm still tempted to cancel my Mario Maker 2 order and pick this up again. 1
S.C.G Posted June 25, 2019 Posted June 25, 2019 (edited) Switch Release Day Notes! Posted by Koji Igarashi Jun 25, 2019 It's Switch release day in most territories! Bloodstained is now 50-100% more portable than it was last week, depending on how small your gaming laptop is. Switch digital download codes in the North American, European, and Australian regions are now available on your survey page—if you don't have your survey/backer management page handy, you can have the link resent to you from our survey support page. Physical Switch games in the US and UK were expected for delivery yesterday and today. Switch games in the rest of Europe were delayed due to shipping issues between the facility that produced the games and the warehouse that's shipping them out to backers, but they've arrived and have been processed—shipping confirmations will go out soon if you haven't received one already. If your game is coming from those European or Australian warehouses, you'll be receiving your slipcase in a separate shipment—either with your other rewards if you're at a $100+ tier, or by itself in a separate shipment if you backed at $60.) Hello everyone, Bloodstained is now live on Switch! Today’s launch marks the completion of a long journey that we’ve all been on together, and now we see Igavania making its triumphant return! However, the journey hasn’t been without its share of challenges along the way, and as Iga said, we still have a lot of work to do. Regarding the Soundtrack specifically, we’re pleased to announce that as of today, the soundtrack on PC (Steam & GoG) as well as any future sales portals that support it, will include high quality FLAC files for all tracks. We heard your feedback on this (no pun intended) and appreciate your patience while we got this implemented. Below are some patch and general notes for everyone to be aware of in light of recent bugs that in some cases caused progression to be lost: With the Switch launch, to avoid issues with treasure chests we recommend everyone with a physical copy update their game with the 1.1 build (which has been live since Friday) before playing. 1.02 Chest Bug - Some players on PS4 who began a new game before downloading the 1.02 update have run into an issue where crates appear in the wrong open/closed state resulting in blocked progress. A new save is not affected. We are currently looking into solutions that will allow affected players to keep their progress. Since this bug would have affected Xbox One users when the update went live, we are holding off the Xbox One update. (FYI, a small localization update, 1.004, is coming for Xbox. This is not connected to the current issue). Current build status: Steam/GOG: 1.03 (1.03 is a localization fix) PS4: 1.02 Xbox One: 1.003 (Upcoming 1.004 is a small localization fix) Switch: 1.1 - This update was published on Friday June 21st. All players should download it before playing to avoid the Chest Bug. That’s it for today’s update, thank you to everyone for your support and patience and we can’t wait to announce more cool stuff soon! Roberto Piraino “Angel-Corlux” Global Brand Manager 505 Games Edited June 25, 2019 by S.C.G 1
S.C.G Posted June 25, 2019 Posted June 25, 2019 Switch Release Update We have been listening to the feedback regarding Switch performance. Our goal is for everyone, regardless of platform, to be able to enjoy the game and have it run smoothly. We want to live up to your, and our, expectations. Throughout the QA process we have been addressing performance issues in the game. Update 1.01 was published to Switch prior to launch to add content and improve performance. It did not accomplish as much as we had hoped and we need to do more. To address the concerns brought up by the community we are immediately shifting resources to improve performance and stability for the Switch. You can expect a number of small updates that will improve different areas of the game rather than waiting longer for one big update. We will have more details as we dive into the work. We thank you for your patience and apologize for the inconvenience. Jason “Question” Ryan Sr Community Manager – 505 Games
Ike Posted June 25, 2019 Posted June 25, 2019 Hi, might wait abit and see if they can fix the issues before jumping in then.
Dcubed Posted June 26, 2019 Author Posted June 26, 2019 Probably best to just give up on the Switch version and look elsewhere. I doubt that they'll be able to get it running properly on Switch, considering that it was never originally part of their list of platforms for this game...
Hero-of-Time Posted June 26, 2019 Posted June 26, 2019 While appreciate their honesty, it's clear the Switch version should have never been released in the state it's in. From all the preview events up until release there were issues with this version and it's a shame that they haven't been able to iron them out. This is another case of a publisher releasing a game despite them knowing it runs poorly and then just hoping that patches will fix it somewhere down the line. It's a practice far too common in gaming these days.
S.C.G Posted June 26, 2019 Posted June 26, 2019 While I don't agree with the "release it as is and patch it later" approach either... I think in this instance, it was all they could have reasonably done in order to launch it with the other versions. Four or five years ago, we didn't know for sure what the future was when it came to home consoles, sure the Wii U wasn't doing well but it was still... existing. So then when Nintendo decided to Switch things up (and rightly so) the development of the Wii U version would have been partway through and even that wasn't powerful enough. Having to change over to the Switch version was their only option, I believe the Vita version was cancelled as well so that gives you an indication power-wise of what can run it. Now, after actually playing the game myself last night (finally!) for... only half an hour but even so I can say that I didn't experience all of the stuff others have been reporting. Yes, the visuals have clearly taken a bit of a hit on the big screen but it's not that bad unless you're directly comparing between versions, the framerate is fine and no input lag at all. Of course, that is while using a Pro Controller in wired mode, but for me, there isn't any other option, yes ideally it should be fine in wireless mode as well but all I'll say is that if you're relying on wireless controllers for everything... there's nearly always a wired alternative or option, it's not very elegant but I have my Pro Controller connected instead of charging in the options and I have a USB extender cable, this works for me. I'm still hopeful that the game will be improved significantly in the coming weeks and as for the gameplay, visuals and soundtrack itself? Masterful. I won't be giving up on the Switch version just yet, I've waited this long and I'm too stubborn damnit! Also, if everyone else is enjoying the game on other platforms then that's great and probably the wiser option but I'm just glad that we can all get to play it now in one form or another. 1
Hero-of-Time Posted June 26, 2019 Posted June 26, 2019 (edited) 45 minutes ago, S.C.G said: While I don't agree with the "release it as is and patch it later" approach either... I think in this instance, it was all they could have reasonably done in order to launch it with the other versions. Four or five years ago, we didn't know for sure what the future was when it came to home consoles, sure the Wii U wasn't doing well but it was still... existing. So then when Nintendo decided to Switch things up (and rightly so) the development of the Wii U version would have been partway through and even that wasn't powerful enough. Having to change over to the Switch version was their only option, I believe the Vita version was cancelled as well so that gives you an indication power-wise of what can run it. True, it wasn't a good situation to be in but they could have delayed the Switch game to give it the polish it needed and asked backers if they would like to wait or switch to another version. As for the Vita version, it was said to have been cancelled due to the platform being dead as a dodo, although i'm sure that version would have also had technical issues as well. John from Digital Foundry has been playing the Switch version and has this to say about it. Quote I only played in portable mode but the frame-rate was mostly a steady 30fps. The input lag and super low res were much more noticeable, though. Loading is longer too. Having played a chunk of it, I actually think it looks visually nice most of the time. I'd also have preferred 2D but this works for me - it's one of the better looking "2.5D" games I've seen in a while. Unfortunately, the low res of the Switch version makes for a rather muddy looking experience overall. I'm not sure how much can be done here - the frame-rate isn't that unsteady (at least early on) - it's just that it's 30fps which is always going to be the reality here. 60fps with UE4 is possible but the game would have had to be designed from the ground up for Switch taking that into consideration at all times (my guess). The lag is more of an issue for me. I suspect they might find ways to clean up slow down below 30fps but the rest remains to be seen. Edited June 26, 2019 by Hero-of-Time
Hero-of-Time Posted June 26, 2019 Posted June 26, 2019 7 minutes ago, drahkon said: Phew, so they got their work cut out for them. Looks that way. There's speculation that the Switch version was held back a week so that the other versions would be the reviews that most people would see first. Makes sense. I mean, it seems the extra week has done nothing to help tidy the game up.
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