Castlevania’s godfather hits Kickstarter with Bloodstained

Koji Igarashi, one of the “godfathers” of the Castlevania series, has gone to Kickstarter to make Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night.

Bloodstained is a classic 2D Metroidvania game (or Igavania, as the Kickstarter is trying to push). You play as Miriam, a cursed orphan whose body is slowly turning to crystal, and who is exploring a demon-filled castle summoned by an old friend of hers. Expect exploration, levelling, crafting, all sorts of weapons and abilities, and pretty much everything else you’d expect from a decent Metroidvania/Igavania.

The Kickstarter is asking for $500,000, and is currently nearly 4/5 of the way there, with $386,506 pledged at the time of writing. As you’d expect, though, there are stretch goals.

$600,000 upgrades the art book (a reward for the $150 tiers and upwards) from softcover to hardcover, which is maybe the least exciting, but things get gameplay focused from then on. $700,000 throws in a second playable character; $800,000 adds a Nightmare difficulty mode; and $850,000 brings on Metal Gear Solid‘s David Hayter as the voice of Gebel, the guy who summoned the castle in the first place.

There are also “backer achievements”. As people back the game, follow it on Twitter, make fanart, and the like, “inventory items” are unlocked which will change the campaign and reveal more. At 10 achievements, two more stretch goals are revealed. At 35, all backers get an 8-bit remix track. Etc.

There’s currently an eight-hour livestream going on with Igarashi talking about the game and playing through a number of games inspired by his past works, including Rogue Legacy, Shadow Complex, and Shovel Knight, with others chipping in to play titles like Guacamelee! and Ori and the Blind Forest. You can watch that here, if you’re so inclined.

If you want to back Bloodstained: Ritual of the Knight, $28 will net you a digital copy of the game, while $60 offers a physical copy with some “exclusive backer-only content.”