I have been an avid Castlevania fan all of my life since The first game released on NES. I have played almost every game in the series, (including some of the unmentionables like on N64.) Symphony of the night was one of my favorites and Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night provided a very similar experience. The visuals, audio, and game play are all top notch and tight. I feel that not only did they make a game in the same vein as the classics I still enjoy from the days of youth past, They exceeded my expectations and created something even better.

The overall appearance and theme of the game are wonderful, the vivid and imaginative level design, gothic feel, and dark setting all weave together to create a very visually pleasing experience from start to finish. The voice acting cast was good and the conversations didn't seem forced or too hard to swallow. The story was enough to keep the pace going without interrupting the exploration and action too much. The cutscenes all looked good and fit well with what was going on in the story. I was very pleased with the way the game presented it self visually.

The OST for the game was AMAZING! It really allowed the atmosphere to come together with the satisfyingly varied and thematically wonderful sounds as you traversed the environs. Not many games have scores this good! Really want these tracks to listen too even when not playing.

The game play was nice and reactive. Didn't notice any lag or weird delays in the controls at all. Everything seemed pretty polished and worked well. The action and feel of combat was super diverse with all of the different options available for building out your character the way you want. I love games that give the player the options to play the way they want, whether it be a magic user, hand to hand combatant, or long range gunner. All of the different options kept me experimenting and playing to figure out what i wanted to focus on and push my characters abilities to the max.

Some of the items in the game are not easy to find, which is not a bad thing in my opinion as it keeps you searching for the next big score. The feeling of achievement when you find a special ability or item in the game is what keeps the power fantasy alive and makes dispatching all those pesky foes so much fun!

If you are looking for a good game to play that has depth, good story elements, and (if you are like me) harken back to the best games of yesteryear all while providing the polish, style, and tight controls of a modern platform adventure, This game is for you. I look forward to the next installment in this series and give my thanks to all those who had a part in creating one of the best games have had the joy of playing in a very long time.