Back in October (2020), NetEase caught everyone by surprise by announcing that it would bring ArtPlay's indie Metroidvania title Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night to Android and iOS. In the following week, the game landed on the Play Store for pre-registration, with an iOS listing hinting at a December 4th release. Well, it would appear the game has arrived a little early, which means you can already grab Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night from the Play Store for .99. Of course, I've taken the game for a spin to offer my thoughts, which you can read in full after the break. But for now, let's just say the game performs just about as well as expected.

For those that haven't been following Bloodstained's development, it started as a Kickstarter project from a well-known Castlevania producer (Koji Igarashi), and it was designed to serve as a spiritual successor for the languishing Konami series. Sadly, like many Kickstarter projects, this game had its fair share of setbacks, as well as a lackluster port that was released on the Nintendo Switch. So seeing that a mobile version of the game already has a history of suffering from a multitude of issues, I was a little wary that the Android and iOS ports would also see similar problems upon release. Sadly my fears have been confirmed.

Before I jump into the nitty-gritty, I'd like to detail the settings available in the game. There are four options available for picture quality, which range from Low to Epic. You can also choose to turn VSync on or off. There's even an option to archive your saves in the cloud, plus you can choose to turn off vibration. Physical controllers are supported out of the box, though there are zero options to adjust the gamepad's layout. I'd also like to remind everyone, this is a premium release, and even though the Play Store states there are in-app purchases priced at $0.99, there are none to be found right now (though they will most likely be added at a later date).

Game options

After testing Bloodstained on my OP8 and RM5S, it would appear the game runs at 30fps and often lags, dropping frames like crazy, on both High and Epic graphical settings. Seeing that these are top-end phones, and one is explicitly made to tear through demanding games, Bloodstained's performance is extremely disappointing. While I expected as much since the Switch port of the game is also atrocious, I'm sure plenty of fans were hoping for an optimized release. Sadly this is not the case. The title is clearly lacking in the polish department.

Character screen

As an example, if you choose to play with a controller, you'll quickly notice that the intro tutorial won't allow you to advance without tapping buttons on the screen even though they are mapped to the controller, which means the game only offers partial controller support, seemingly at random. Sure, you can platform around each stage with ease, but if you'd like to save, well, you're going to have to put down that controller to tap on the screen. Worse yet, you can't hide the on-screen controls either, so they are always there covering the screen even if you're not using them. That's poor design right there, and there's no excuse for it beyond sheer laziness. For a game priced at $9.99, it seems clear NetEase has cut corners. Par for the course in the mobile gaming world, but disappointing all the same for anyone looking for a quality title.

Save screen and combat, High graphics setting

Now don't get me wrong, if Android is the only platform you can play Bloodstained on, sure, it's playable, and the touch controls are solid, which means you don't even need a controller, but overall this port is far from the best experience. After all, I'm simply here to nitpick to ensure people know what they are getting into, so if you don't mind low framerates that stutter and partial controller support, you'll probably have an alright time with this release.

As I said, I fully expected poor performance from the Android port of Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night when NetEase announced it. Now that my fears have been confirmed, I suppose things could be worse. Still, it would be nice to see NetEase throw some updates the game's way to smooth out the experience. Controller button mapping is desperately needed, and it sure would be great to see a 60fps option, even if that means the graphics have to be cut down further. While it's unknown if NetEase will actually bother to update the title, I'd like to remain hopeful improvements will come.

More gameplay screens, High graphics

So if you'd like to take a look at the game for yourself, you can purchase Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night through the Play Store widget below. And remember, you have a forty-eight-hour window to request a refund if you don't like what you see, which may very well come in handy.

Bloodstained:RotN Developer: Exptional Global
Price: 9.99
3.8
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