Thirsty Castlevania fans propel Koji Igarishi's Bloodstained: Ritual of the Knight project to Kickstarter success

"Well met, my son! It's been a long time."

If you needed any proof that gamers have been desperately clamouring for a new Castlevania in the vein of 2D classics such as Symphony of the Night, Aria of Sorrow and Order of Ecclesia, look no further than the Kickstarter page for Koji Igarashi's new project Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night. The project blew past its $500,000 funding goal mere hours after going live and, at time of writing, is sitting on a pile of pledges worth a whopping $1,241,209.

A spiritual successor to the sprite-based Castlevania games of yore, Bloodstained will be a sprawling, exploration heavy action game with a smattering of RPG and crafting elements. As yet, no actual in-game footage has been shown, but there are a few pieces of concept art on the game's Kickstarter page that give backers a taste of what to expect. Unlike the artwork, the finished game will not be 2D, opting instead for a 2.5D aesthetic similar to recent retro remakes like Strider and Bionic Commando: Rearmed. 

The game's storyline revolves around Miriam, a woman labouring under a curse that is slowly turning the blood in her veins to crystal. Seeking a cure for her affliction, Miriam journeys into a creature-filled castle that might just hold the key to her salvation. If you don't fancy braving the perils of the castle alone, you're in luck, as Bloodstained allows players to explore with a buddy by their side in co-op mode. If teamwork isn't their thing, players can also test their skills against one another in PvP.

All of the game's current stretch goals, which include a hardcover artbook, access to a second playable monster-slayer, Nightmare difficulty mode, cheat codes, local co-op, and voice acting by David 'Guyver: Dark Hero' Hayter, have been funded. Inti Creates, the studio behind the Mega Man Zero games, Azure Striker Gunvolt, and fellow Kickstarter project Mighty No. 9 , is handling development duties while Skullgirls and Super Smash Bros. composer Michiru Yamane will be responsible for the game's soundtrack. 

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night will be available on PS4, Xbox One and PC. Understandably, Wii U owners are a little upset at being left out in the cold, but if the following quote from producer Iga is to be believed, there's still hope: "Our budget left us with two options: Build the biggest, most beautiful game we can, or make sure it runs everywhere from the start. As things stand today, we can't afford to create the two separate versions of this game that would be necessary to make it run on every console. That said, we've heard legends about a remarkable treasure hidden in the castle basement..."

Seeing as all of its stretch goals have been funded, all that's left to do now is wait for the game's Kickstarter page to get updated so we can find out just exactly what the basement holds. As soon as we find out, we'll update this page.