Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night
Andy and I got into a rather heated debate while taking a look at Ritual of the Night. Previously I have expressed my distaste for games that trot out a new installment every year such as Assassin's Creed, Call of Duty, Sports Games, etc. Generally speaking, I prefer games that try new and interesting things. Sequels can be good to refine mechanics, to update a series to the latest technology, or to continue a multipart story, but I think several IPs have gone beyond that. They put out roughly the same game with roughly the same story every year or two to cash in on the popularity of their product.
Because of this stance, Andy called me out on playing Ritual of the Night. He stated that it was basically a sequel or remake of the previous Castlevania titles, albeit with a new cast and story. There are tremendous similiarties--the 2D Metroidvania-style map traversal, the setting of a big, scary castle, the abundance of similar enemies like the dullahammer heads that mirror the medusa heads from Castlevania.
I argued that this is a completely different IP. Yes, the genre is the same, and a lot of the mechanics are refinements on those established in previous games, but we have a whole new cast of characters and a new motivation for the villain. His counter was that games like this tend to be story-lite, with the focus mainly being on the gameplay. In his opinion, the story is more of a premise to set the action in motion.
One point we both agree on is that Bloodstained has greater legitimacy as it comes directly from Koji Igarashi. It is entirely possible that he would have wanted to make a new Castlevania title but could not secure rights to the IP, so he had to spin it off into his own project for legal purposes.
I think Ritual of the Night is significantly different to be considered its own thing. While it is part of the Metroidvania genre, there is a ton of levity to the game and interesting characters. I love all of the little easter eggs like the !>EX Shovel Armor and Bunnymorphosis that let you play as different characters<!. The story is completely different in the sense that we are trying to rescue a hamlet from a demonic threat using our shardbinder powers, instead of being a vampire hunter/disenfranchised family member trying to take down Dracula once and for all.
What do you think? Is Ritual of the Night unique enough to be considered its own thing? How do you feel about sequels and spiritual successors in general?
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