A discussion about Familiars

First of all, I think that rather than being called familiars, they should be called homunculi, which have more presence in alchemical lore rather than magical. And in keeping with that, I think that they should be crafted in a more refined version of what we had in Curse of Darkness. Maybe form them from inert shards or something similar. Additionally, I think they should have a bit of personality, interacting with background elements(imagine a homunculus that sets every clock you pass by to 12:00) and running commentary in various situations such as if you stand idle for an extended period of time.

SOTN's system with a bit more of the usage and practically of curse of darkness. Nothing like the sorrow games.

SOTN kinda had a little bit of a playstyle in terms of it's familiars. Which ever one you wanted was going to be the one with the most exp since that is the one you've used the most. Not to mention some familiars in SOTN helped you find secrets and goodies or sometimes they'll hit an enemy that is out of your reach which is great.

If bloodstained had to choose, it would be SOTN for me.

Giving us a variety of active and passive ones would be pretty darn cool.

By active I mean familiars that openly engage enemy and perform actions on their own, so you could have a bat or bird types that go after the enemy, lesser demons that shoot spells and stuff like that.
They could also offer support by healing or collecting enemy drops for you.

Passive ones would be those that complement your actions, being akin to Nero's DT in DMC4 or the Shaman King ghost possession thingy. So, basically, when you attack, your familiar will follow suit. A knight could make a large sword swing after you damage the enemy or a quick spear jab at the same time you attack. It could pull up a shield as you backstep/dash and do a spinning attack as you double jump.

Now, to not make either of these broken (or useless by minimizing their damage output) there should be something to limit their summoning and actions.
A familiar magic bar that would decrease whenever the familiar performs an action would be for the best, I believe. Summoning the familiar itself would use up a chunk of your MP bar, with the consumed MP being transferred to the familiar bar and the player having the option to refresh the familiar one at any given moment.

The reason I'm suggesting a familiar bar instead of just sharing the MP bar with the familiar is so that the player has more control over the situation. Having the familiar spend your MP in a crucial moment would be pretty bad.
Additionally, this allows for the player to prepare for a battle beforehand, as they can summon backup and then wait to recover their MP without suffering any negative side effects.

I'm always amused by the tiny fairy from Harmony of Dissonance ... who clobbers the enemy with a huge mallet! Gets me every time

Pure Miriam Actually, I have something to add about how Familiars worked specifically in Dawn of Sorrow.

While Familiars were indeed all relegated to Soul powers in that game (mostly Guardian Souls and a couple Bullet Souls), there was another way to strengthen their attacks besides just collecting more of the same Soul (until it capped at 9).

Dawn of Sorrow had "Soul Combinations".  You had to equip certain Bullet, Guardian, and/or Enchantment Souls together to achieve added effects.

Just a few examples.

Skull Archer + Amalaric Sniper = While charging an arrow, an Amalaric Sniper appears behind the player to give support fire.

Slogra + Gaibon + Skeleton Ape = Gaibon will appear to throw spears alongside the player at a further distance than normal.  (The "Skeleton Ape" Soul increases the distance of many, if not all, projectile-based Bullet Souls)

Mini Devil + Guillotiner = Both monsters will attack together on either side of the player (essentially summoning two Familiars at once).

Une + Alura Une = When you summon Alura Une to defend you, it will also throw Unes to damage enemies (yet another double-summon).


Basically, aside from their own unique abilities, I'd personally like it if the Familiars were able to complement and/or provide support specific to attacks from certain Shards that Miriam will gain from her demonic enemies.

Although, I do agree that Miriam's Familiars should function more like SOTN's, instead of taking up slots in Miriam's basic Shard abilities.  I especially agree with @nyahahaha on the ratio of active and passive Familiars and the separate Magic bar for them.

I really like the "Homunculi" name idea from Scars Unseen .  It seems like a more fitting name for them, given the story of Bloodstained and the basis of Miriam's magical abilities.

(EDIT):  lol, I seem to really like making Miriam's name stand out.

I mean, it wouldn't work in the sense that Familiars may not simply be Shard powers.

However, I'd still like to see Familiars be able to add onto the effects of certain Shards that Miriam can use, similarly to DoS's Soul Combinations.

Are Familiars in Castlevania analogous to Espers in Final Fantasy VI?

Finding familiars (Homunculus) would be part of the whole journey from start to finish. You need all of them to get across the map. My idea of these are not only for show, but to actually aid us getting deeper into the Castle. All of them will be needed!

Devil
A red devil having a chaotic pattern across the screen. Small enough to be in Miriam's lap when she sits.

Passive Skill: Releases fireballs at enemies at random, doing fire-damage.

Active Skill: Puts a circle of fire around you, which does fire-damage to enemies, bosses and walls of ice.

Angel
Passive Skill: At death, she will give you replenished health if you have an alchemist stone (another item needed) Cool-down until next heal: 45 seconds.

Active Skill: Make you featherlight in falling unless you deactivate the skill, which will be needed to enter some areas.

Gnome
Tiny, fuzzy, round dwarven-like creature that digs below your feet. Pops up when you need him.

Passive Skill: Can find hidden secrets within walls, crates, vases, pillars and such.

Passive Skill 2: If you have become stone (or frozen by ice) the Gnome will release you instantly from the imprisonment. Cool-down until next release: 20 seconds, so you can't spam it.

Death / Dark Vessel
An object which seems to hover in a perfect alignment. Could be made out of some pure dark energy. Looks like black glass.

Passive Skill: If frozen (by time) the Dark Vessel will release you instantly from the imprisonment. You also become immune to void and black magical attacks (enemies, not bosses).

Active Skill: Stops time for x seconds, and during this you are able to actually cross some areas where time is corrupted. Bosses will not be affected by it, nor some enemies.

Templar Knight
Are next to you, but got no visible legs. Could be that he is a descendant from Sleipner, the 8 legged horse.

Passive Skill: A follower that attacks when you attack right beside you, adding bonus damage to enemies as physical.

Active Skill: Charge in a straight path if activated, can break stone walls if stone walls have a path leading up to them.

Sylph (Spirit)
Resembles a blue semi-transparent fairy that are very quiet in nature. The wings leaves blue particles after her.

Passive Skill: Floating around in own pattern, doing spectral / cold damage to enemies that are standing still for at least 2 seconds.

Active Skill: You stay in vulnerable trance and control the spirit to bring objects to you. Can go through walls, but can't bring objects through them, only across bars, steep ledges and such. Will nullify if enter another room or area without reach.

Goofball
Needs no introduction, we all know this one!

Passive Skill: Floats around Miriam like a loveable puppy with heart emotes coming out of him. Makes invisible traps and monsters visible.

Active Skill: Can also hit buttons that might need to be pressed.

Golem
Face attached into the torso of the Golem itself with eyes and a stone smile. Makes the beholder slow. Loves Rock 'n' Roll.

Passive Skill: Can protect you from wall/floorspikes (always active) since he is a part of your armor, neck down.

Passive Skill 2: No knockback animation can be applied on Miriam while having Golem attached. Miriam can't jump very high.

Undine
A mermaid, blue/green with red deep eyes. Have only been spotted by a few Sailors during her journeys in the ocean.

Passive Skill: Lets you breath underwater and jog at a normal speed. Undine swims along your side, as an companion.

Active Skill: Only on land - Holy Rain!!!11 She doesn't like land, so we do only hear her. Holy Rain can only be triggered 50% of the time, other times she just ain't happy and tell you so. Annoyed perhaps that she feels you are just using her! lewlz. Cool-down to use these, or by ether?

Arcanian
A short figure with pointy hat and robes. Revealing only glowing eyes and hands while putting out spells. Does often say "hmm".

Passive Skill: At every teleportation-room (?) you gain restored health and alchemy "magic", at a cost of some XP.

Passive Skill 2: Unlocks magical sealed Doors (like some boss rooms).

IGA
Finish the game with Miriam (no matter which ending you get) at least once to get this familiar. Iga is himself, with a black tunic and cape.

Passive Skill: Uses a special swordwhip to damage enemies at random.

Active Skill: Will reveal a hidden boss room, if triggered at a special location, once entered. This familiar transforms into IGA the Hidden Boss. If defeated - Swordwhip is yours together with IGA as a familiar, and IGA replace his weapon with a legendary vampire-slayer whip. If defeated as a non backer -or- a second time, you get the vampire-slayer whip. Now you can both hunt Vampires together!