Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night (Post-Release)

[Reprise]

I had some major framerate issues this evening in handheld mode, with the game going into slow motion. But as soon as i docked the console it was fine.

[noiseredux]

I put in a solid hour last night. I've played exclusively handheld. I haven't hit any slowdown or anything weird yet. I mean, visually it's noticeably blurry compared to video I've seen of PS4 version, but to me - whatever. The way games fit into my life lately, I play 99% of everything away from the TV. So the fact that this game is even an option for me in handheld mode is awesome. I'll take whatever hits in performance I have to if it means I get to play the game. That's sort of been my stance on the Switch in general for the past year. I mean, I played through Skyrim on Switch and loved every single moment of it just as much as when I had played the remastered version maxed out on a gaming PC. Just keep bringing every game to Switch so I have the option of docked or handheld and I'll be happy.

Now as for ROTN... about an hour and a half total playtime so far, so this is still early impressions. But dammit, great game. I worried that I wouldn't be into it as much as Curse Of The Moon, but ROTN is awesome. I'm really taking my time with it too. I just got into the castle not long ago, and am lvl 10 and found an awesome pink sword. Between this and COTM, I really hope this series continues on.

[MrPopo]

I've gotten a few bosses in and have started unlocking the movement abilities. Early on the difficulty is a bit inconsistent, and the castle can be pretty deadly. But now I've got enough tools that I don't get nervous going from save point to save point. I've also found myself bouncing around between weapons a lot; the varying attack speeds, ranges, and damage types makes a noticeable difference and different ones are better against different enemies.

[marurun]

SotN often had trouble with some weapons feeling largely identical except slightly different damage numbers. Does RotN wrestle with that, too?

[MrPopo]

I'd say no; basically every weapon class has a unique hurtbox and swing time that makes them all feel very different. There's a few instances of weapons sharing a class; long swords and maces, for example, but that also carries over into the passive shards that buff that weapon; there's one for katanas, for example, and then one that affects both swords and maces. The classes, if I remember right are:

Boots
Whips
Dagger/Epee
Longsword/Mace
Great Sword
Katana
Spear
Gun

I might be forgetting one, but that gives you eight unique weapon types. Within a weapon type yeah, they're pretty interchangeable outside of elemental types and base damage numbers. There is one boot that has an extra extension on the end, but it does scratch damage, so it ends up mostly being an aesthetic thing (it's blade that comes out the toe).

[Sarge]

I'm holding off playing more of this until some of the performance issues get ironed out. I can deal with the smudginess, but the sluggish controls are really dragging it down for me.

[Ziggy]

OK, I hate to do this...

I'm at 31.9% map completion. I just beat the Twin Dragons and got my picture taken. Now where am I supposed to go?

[MrPopo]

OK, I hate to do this...

I'm at 31.9% map completion. I just beat the Twin Dragons and got my picture taken. Now where am I supposed to go?

Did you find the bridge to the train? It was the other path once you crossed the gap with the carriage. That's the next location, and through talking with the primary NPCs you should have gotten breadcrumbs on how to unlock it.

[Ziggy]

Damn. I must admit, I haven't been putting my all into this game. I really want to play it, but haven't had much opportunity to. So I play it a little bit at a time, mostly after work. But I don't have much time before I start to doze off so I've been powering through NPC conversations and even skipping some.

[MrPopo]

I'm at the same point, actually. I had followed those breadcrumbs and I knew the Twin Dragons were going to give me the item I needed to take the photo (thanks to the threads about the treasure chest bug). I just finished them last night and got the picture, but it was too late to move on.