Is it theft if you steal from yourself? The most recent demo of Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night certainly begs the question. If there was ever any doubt in your mind, dispel it now: Bloodstained IS a classic 2D Castlevania in anything but name, brought to life through the vision of longtime series torchbearer Koji Igarashi.
Yes, the graphics are 2.5D and yes, nobody’s a Belmont. But from level design to weapon structure to character customization to monster behavior, Bloodstained bleeds pure Castlevania. And that’s a very good thing.
The E3 demo picks up where previous slices leave off, starting at the end of a sailing ship battle and progressing through a village and into a castle setting. Conversations pop up occasionally as several new NPCs appear, fleshing out some parts of Miriam’s story, but I spent the bulk of my time exploring as monstrous flying beasts, skeletal dogs, demonic archers, and various other cannon-fodder-of-the-damned tried their best to kill me.
Source: IGN.com Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is the Castlevania Game You've Been Waiting For