Finished BLOODSTAINED: RITUAL OF THE NIGHT!

It took me four months, but I finally beat BLOODSTAINED: RITUAL OF THE NIGHT!

Great game. Though I totally beat it through exploiting the rules. During the battle with the Final Boss (who, in grand Castlevania/Metroid tradition, transformed into a new and monstrous form halfway through) I kept running out of hit points, and you can only carry so many potions in the game. But! There are no limits to the number of food items you can carry, and prepared food items restore hit points as well.

So I used my entire game’s accumulation of gold to buy like 40 Pork Cutlets, and every time I ran low on hit points during the battle with the Final Boss, I ate a couple of them, got my hit points back up, and pounded on the Final Boss with a magical super-katana and the maxed-out Welcome Company shard until I won.

That said, it would be an extraordinarily difficult game to beat without a guide. For just one example, you need an item called the Aegis Plate to continue the game, and it’s almost impossible to find it without a guide. I used the guide at NintendoLife.com, which was really helpful.

But if you enjoyed the Castlevania and Metroid games back in the 90s, then you’ll definitely enjoy BLOODSTAINED.

I haven’t decided what game I will play next. Maybe it’s time to finally, finally finish the main plot of SKYRIM. I’ve been playing SKYRIM on and off for nine years, and I still haven’t finished the main plot. Perhaps the time has come at last.

-JM