Lets evolve the Save Room into something more

Or statues after each time you defeat the bosses, you walk up to them and enter the "memory" to combat them again, a combination of what I wrote.

It could be random 4 statues in each room, spreading them out across the map. The statues could be stone until beaten, and then turn into... bronze if done good, silver in defeated better and of course gold if defeated flawlessly.. Having also some kind of score / time in these save rooms for you to beat again, and again.

The Statues would not represent the evil monster itself, but the Boss it WOULD be minion out of.

This would be a game within a game, and a way to actually expand the main game and NOT a mode. Boss Rush would still be viable as a different mode, as well as the time attack mode (can't remember exact name). Just, different kinds of rules. These bosses, in the save room style, would be affected by the type of weapon and level you are in, and scale with that somehow, while the modes have hard rules with your hero having always same level and same strengths and attributes...

?

I like the idea of lore books or wall hints, but I'd take it a step further and make them insane ramblings from someone that sounds like they've been snorting ground-up shoggoths. Hahaha, or what if they disappear after you read them, then at some point you learn that the messages are put there by souls of other adventurers trapped in the walls, complete with one that you might not have understood the first time you saw it where the message is begging you not to read it because that will cause it to cease to exist.

I wrote this on Reddit: www.reddit.com/r/Bloodstained/comments/6vb6ap/saveroom_being_multipurpose_rooms/

I just feel like sharing with you guys. TL;DR at the end.

With todays technology in gaming development it is possible to fit many aspect of features in smaller areas. Back in the day, the mecahnics and the programing were more simple and more minimal. While I still love the "minimal" design overall, both in real life and gaming, I just can't shake away the idea of Bloodstained - Ritual of the Night could use its space "more useful".

Save Rooms

In the E3 alpha 2016 build we found out that we had save rooms AND teleportation rooms along with some special backer rooms. These rooms would be designed to hold one feature and only one. The subject of this post is to combine at least the save room with the teleportation room since we have the engine and knowledge to do so in this age of gaming.





Main Idea

Each room where you can save (Save Room) also have one to two other features, these are encountered random in ever New Game. Which means, everytime you save and get back in, these features are still there and will not go away until you either create a new game or a new game plus.

Since we are now using a wider screen to fill each and every environment, it would be nice to see variation based on a random generated code to spread things out, so every aspect in this feature are represented, but we never know where. How about each feature (see below) have a number, this would indicate how many of these features will spawn in every new game. A number that is locked. The save feature would be the exact number in how many "multi rooms" we actually have, to make sure we can save in each one of them. The rest however comes with some rules. Like for example, how about have a few of these rooms have a teleportation? These would be less in number but also set and not random, leaving just one open placeholder to generate one of the random features below.

Features

Bestiary Book Idea 1: Every monster we meet are written in a alchemy tome with information about the enemy, even those we have yet to kill, but have either seen or been hurt or killed by. This book would be available in the Multi-Room, this along with a feature to actually see it's attacks and such.

Bestiary Book Idea 2: We have the book in our settings, but by visiting this room, we find chapters with more enemies. These chapters can be useful to collect or upgrade after you reached a % of the castle. Unlocking secrets on what their weakness and strengths are, bosses included. The game would know how far you have progressed - and giving you hints along the way in this book. Next time you meet that giant bat, you would know a frost attack would give it more strenght and instead use something with holy magic or fire.

Teleportation: We should not forget that teleportation rooms and save rooms are two different ones, why not combine them? Of course, the save and teleportation features would be "locked on" in special spots across the map(s) so you always find them at the same place.





Gramophone: Activate by putting records on it that you have found across the map. Each record unlocks a new piece of music. This room could also have a chair, a sofa or a bed to rest in while listening on your favorit tune.

Librarian's Return: A man with white beard, offering you some odd items. Perhaps those backer weapons that are hard to find, but at a high price! Things you usually can find along your adventures but given to you if you have enough money to make the trade.

Fountain of Ether: Taking a bath in this will replenish your full magical bar to cast more alchemy.

Portrait of Secrets: Wall mural or a painting with secrets in it. At close inspection you might find a silly cheat code for your next run, or a combination to unlock something visually estetic, like a new costume, hat, scarf or even sound effects along your quests.

Memory Fragments: When entering, a small piece of fragments about her story is unveiled, either in text or in the form of a cutscene, perhaps images. Things that she starts to remember comes back at her. This feature would of course include a way to skip if needed. And not something for every save room, only a few. There could be a rose on a table, to indicate "this room had the memory fragment feature!" if you ever think about what it actually had in the first place. *Based out of an original idea by Arcueid Brunestud*

Throne: Seems empty, but the wineglass is almost full. Hmm..

Miriams Room: One of these could be Miriams room. Sure you can save, but you could also decorate the place with stuff you find on your quest. The room would have the save feature like anything else, but it would be empty compare to the other save rooms, this because Miriam knows it's her room, given by Gebel.

Wardrobe: If we get a Miriam Room, she might have a wardrobe there, wouldn't it be cool to change costumes from it? If there is no Miriam Room, perhaps some of the save rooms could have this wardrobe. And if this would not be a thing in either of those two ways, how about just have the costumes in the settings all the time, to change clothing whenever you feel like it?

Orbs: Paying homeage to both previous Castlevania games and Metroid, how about finding orbs with a boosting effect that lasts for a few seconds or minutes? It could rest in the firm grip of an gargoyle, similar to Alucard. After taking the orb, it would not respawn for at least an hour - giving you more power in the short term. Which kind of boost could be up for the development teams imagination, or yours, ideas? It could also "just" have a special shard you need, from one of those pillars we have seen in the 2017 E3 demo play. If this would be the case, this feature needs to always be at the same save room in every new game.

Random Chest: Once opened it stays open, it could contain a bunch of money or potions, perhaps materials or items. Who knows?

Sealed Iron Maiden: Upon open it, you will unleash a monster that actually have way more experience than usually. Just a bonus fight you can have if you want it. The Iron Maiden however can only be opened once and thus not being exploited. *Based out of an original idea of Galamoth!*

Exotic Animal: An exotic animal, attack it or watch it flee in fear! This animal doesn't attack you, but gets hysterical when you get close to it. We have seen similar animals in the past IGAvania games, and Bloodstained will probably not be an exception.

NPC: Special guests (!) or NPCs with a bit of information the first time you enter this room. Perhaps with hints or just as to pay homeage to older IGA titles somehow. Maybe even commenting on something you did previously or read your saved data (console) to see what kind of other games you like, similar to Metal Gear Solids. *Based out of an original idea by Rigel*

Fearsome Crystalization: For each save you make, the crystals on Miriam would grow. On other playable characters curses would grow upon them. This feature would be something for The Nightmare Difficulty, where you actually just get a few allowed saves before Miriam becomes "weaker" or even dies. It would be a hardcore experience, and make saves less frequent. If this is too harsh, it could just keep a count on how many times you actually have saved and shown to us once we finished the game, as a fun but useless feature except for leaderboards of any kind. *Based out of an original idea by berenkaneda*

Boss Gateway: Previous defeated boss during same game, can now be fought again. This time you should know how the boss works, and you should be stronger. The fight will actually not give you anything (XP, gold, items) instead you would only have a fun time, or perhaps death, which would just pull you out from the gateway, not lead to a game over. Excellent way to show them whos REALLY the boss! The gateway itself would open up a list of which boss you wanted to fight and you could only select those you already have defeated. This feature would be a light boss rush mode, but inside the actual main story.

Wine Toss Championship Mini-Game: This one is a longshot, but a funny one. How about a mini-game in one of these rooms with simple mechanics, bash buttons to gain speed, stop, choose angle and throw the glass. In co-op this could be fun. Idea from "Bishi Bashi: Wedding Cake Toss" (google / youtube it!).

TL;DR

Each "Save room" have other things in it that makes exploring these rooms a bit more fun, everything from combining teleportation and save features to listen to music or meet previous defeated bosses in a light boss rush mode. There could be shops, hints and fountains that could restore your MP and a wardrobe to change your costumes from. Some rules would apply - all rooms would have a save feature, and some would always have the teleportation feature.

Thanks for reading. - Enkeria Gin

Just wanted to focus on the ideas provided by the poster here that sounds valid

-The idea of a save room doubling as a travel aka teleport room would make a lot less hassle and hence I am all for the idea
-The Idea of being able to relax and read some lore on various monsters,people,and locations while being able to change a music selection,Yes that sounds grand
-The idea of cursed and or blessed items placed in the room which have a chance to grant temporary buffs or debuffs or maybe a combination of both (Lower one stat and raise another stat) sounds like an interesting idea

Maybe not quite on topic but I would like the ironic twist of Miriam adding in the heads of bosses she defeated as optional wall mount trophies

Or enter a gala for moths.

...I'll excuse myself now.

Mr. Welldone I see you have a new profile pic, Gandalfred! Good thing it's not off-color.

Back on-topic; Yes, it would be a welcome surprise to actually have to fight hidden background enemies (similar to secret enemies in the Sorrow games).

You might could be a bit late for any changes to occur, here.

Ever the optimistic voice of reason. Well put.