More crystal shards than bloodstains so far but I expect the name will become clear later

[schneefink]

What I meant to do (or at least start) this evening:
- the vacation write-up and photo book
- decide on Yuletide nominations
- tidy up my room because oof
- prepare things for tomorrow and then go to bed early because it will be a long day (physio in the morning, a lot to do at work, then choir practice in the evening.)

What I spent the majority of the evening doing:
- playing Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night. It's so pretty! I have a purple lightsaber now and I'm having fun. I'm getting quite good at killing demons: the first boss took me several tries, the second two, and the last two I defeated on the first try. I just got the double jump (not marked as a spoiler because it's pretty much apparent from the beginning that at some point Miriam will get a double jump ability) and now I'll go back through the early areas to see what I missed.
...and by "now" I mean tomorrow. Or the day after, because tomorrow will be a long day, but probably tomorrow.

Comments

[myrdschaem]

I haven't 100% that yet, but it's sooo fun! You can feel that it was made by the original Castlevania makers and they clearly still have it. Idk why the normal videogame industry refused to make more of them. You should try holding down when not around enemies for some nice poses. There are fun easter eggs everywhere, too. ^^

[schneefink]

So much fun!
Unsurprisingly I did play more today - I even made it past the next boss (in only two tries.) Now I just need to figure out where to go next, but I have ingredients I need to farm anyway, and new weapons to try out.
I'm sure there are plenty of easter eggs - most referencing older games I don't know, like obviously Castlevania, so they elude me ^^ I did recognize the shovel knight.

[myrdschaem]

I honestly don't know much about Castlevania besides the reputation, but the concept is just solid. I think my favourite easter egg is that they were told when pigs fly about making a new game at some point, so naturally there are flying pig enemies. :D

The boss I struggled with at the beginning was Zangetsu, I think! But it is just a joy to play with plenty of new areas everywhere.

[schneefink]

I looked up videos of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night and I could barely believe how familiar it looked xD Twenty years earlier but apart from that, many similarities. If it was available for PC I'd be tempted to try playing it myself ^^

I just discovered the first secret boss fight behind a locked door and that, uh, did not last long, I'll need some more training first and stock up on food... I'm still having a lot of fun :D

[myrdschaem]

Even when it got hard, I never not had fun playing. I think I played SotN at least partially totally legally on PC, but don't have that anymore. It might be on steam! I don't understand why they would shelve a series that is that well known and still brings a lot of fun.

[schneefink]

I really appreciate that when it gets hard or I can't beat bosses, I can grind until it's easier. (Unlike e.g. Hollow Knight, which I tried before and then stopped because it was no longer fun.)

There definitely are Castlevania games available for PC, just not SotN last I checked. But before I think of other games I should finish this one ^^ I hope to get to the True Ending before Yuletide nominations end. I found two bad endings so far, I'm hopeful I'm fairly close.

[myrdschaem]

I have Hollow Knight lined up after Hades. In that game, I have romanced Thanatos and Meg completely, only missing one for Dusa, did 175 escape attempts... and still only gotten half through Hades second health bar. XD I will be here a while. I guess I still haven't used God mode, but at this point I get reliably to Hades and even mostly through the first bar but take too much damage and die. Hope your Bloodstained exploration keeps going well!

[schneefink]

If you have the patience for 175 escape attempts without turning on god mode, I'm sure you'll be fine playing Hollow Knight ^^ Fingers crossed you'll make it past Hades soon!

I'm still having a lot of fun with Bloodstained. I got to the credits, fought all the extra bosses, got to 100% map completion and 100% of shards, and just crafted the Eternal Blue greatsword :) I don't think I'll try for all items, but maybe for every food item, and there are a few more weapons I'd like to craft and try out before playing as Zangetsu.

[myrdschaem]

I know comparing with others is not healthy, but damn you are fast! So, is it going into the Yuletide nomination list? :D

[schneefink]

Yes! I nominated Miriam, Johannes, Gebel, and Zangetsu (but will probably only request the first three), and the nomination has already been approved. I'm glad I managed to get to the credits before nominations ended, otherwise I probably would have nominated Dominique instead of Zangetsu. I wrote a fandom promo post too, so now I just need to prepare my letter :)

[myrdschaem]

Oh, where does that promo post live?

[schneefink]

Here.

[myrdschaem]

Thank you!