Update 57: 12 questions regarding it's content

Since I don't really have an opinion on the rest of the questions, I'm gonna go ahead an answer the item-related questions, since these appear to be the most controversial anyway.

1) Do you think that fashion items will take up common equipment slots or they will just be cosmetic options at separate equipping slots (and possibly not offering any bonuses whatsoever)?


     Dunno how it's gonna work, but here's an idea of how it could work
   
     1.  All weapons have unique visuals
     2. Non-weapon equipment may or many not have a unique visual.
     3. If the non-weapon equipment has a unique visual, there's a toggle to turn it off.
     4. At some point in the game, you acquire the ability to set the visual for each slot, regardless of the equipped item.
     5. At some point in the game, you acquire the ability to set the color for each slot.



2) For now, we can assume the fashion items and common equipment are two different things (but maybe they aren't). Considering common equipment, that shows up at her graphic, such as headpieces and boots (as weapons) and also scarves, what are your thoughts regarding that, maybe, the game can have visual things that wouldn't be good looking for you, but would offer such great bonuses that you would feel forced to use it?



      If the scheme works more or less as described in my previous answer, then you might be faced with a situation as the one described in the question at some point during your first play-through, but not afterwards or in subsequent play-throughs.

3) Would you like fashion items as DLC? (Paid Downloadable Content)


     I would not mind as long as...

     1. They remain "fashion" items, i.e., do not affect gameplay.
     2. They are all priced the same.
     3. They are not released together with free DLC items (since some people could feel cheated, in that the items they are interested are paid and not free)


4) Some fashion items, like the bunny set or the maid headpiece, may be considered "too cute" for some, for a game that proposes itself to be gothic horror in nature. Do you think fashion items like that doesn't fit Bloodstained's overall atmosphere?


Maria attacked with doves in Rondo of Blood and Symphony of the Night... I mean, these games have always had these kinds of elements. As long as they're not mandatory, I don't see how they could affect the game's overall atmosphere. 


5) What are your considerations about sexy costumes (such as swimsuits, bikinis, revealing clothes)?

I don't think there's any problem with having them per-se, so long there's a reason for them and the selection is not ridiculously skewed towards them (e.g., 20 different maid outfits for each "period" outfit). When I say reason, I don't mean it in the sense of  "what possible reason you could have for wearing a bikini in a demonic castle." What I mean is that, for instance, if you were doing seasonal fashion DLC, you could have some bathing suits along with something like parasol skins for the weapons or something like that. So there's a theme and the DLC is following it.

Speaking for myself, I  would personally love to see an outfit based the succubus-like design Miriam had at some point in development.


ANYHOW...

Look guys, this game is being released on PC. There are going to be nude mods, for one, like it or not. If the team decides to release fashion items you don't like, for whatever the reason, then just don't buy them and don't use them. I can understand how some of the content can be off-putting, but what puts someone off might enhance the experience for someone else.

We need to learn to appreciate games for what they offer us, not for what they do or do not offer others.

It's the only way to live peacefully in a world with different tastes, opinions and sensitivities.

Man, I really like the Emo haircut on Miriam. If it’s an option, I’ll probably play the whole game with that do.

In answer to your questions, I guess I have this to say:

1) Possibly a mix of both? Maybe a few customization options but mostly it would be wearable items.

2) We can assume that fashion items are common equipment because the demo showed us as much, like how putting on the attack shoes (forget what they were called) changed Miriam’s physical appearance from boots to the shoes. I’m fine with them looking bad if they offer good bonuses. Appearance is not that important.

3) No. Absolutely not. This isn’t Senran Kagura, it’s Bloodstained.

4) I’m fine with their being super “cutesy” items as long as there are also gothic items. A range of different visual appearances is nice, and if there is a range it would only be weird for cutesy to be omitted.

5) Should be minimal. Again, not Senran. But also, I like the idea of Miriam as a strong female character and dislike the idea of her as an exploitation character. There are enough games that exploit their female characters. Lets have one that doesn't.

6) To hell with realism. There’s friggin’ demons walking around like it’s normal, and you’re honestly asking if we should worry about unrealistic weapon handles? Really? The advantage of video games is that they can embrace the unrealistic. EMBRACE IT!

7) The most powerful weapon should be a knife, since using small weapons is already harder to do since it should leave you more open to being attacked. So yeah, I’m all for having every weapon type be useful throughout the whole game.

8) Meh. Hardly seems important.

9) Definitely there should be at least one weapon for each status effect, but there wouldn’t need to be more than one for each. But I’m not opposed to there being more, I just don’t know that it needs to be a priority.

10) I’m fine with katana being most powerful, but I don’t like it being miriam’s “signature” weapon. I feel like that would more appropriately be a one handed sword, or, even better, a sword whip.

11) I don’t know what you’re talking about. I almost always use mostly axes and halberds in igavanias, and only other weapons when I really don’t have a good axe or halberd available.

12) MORTE DOESN’T HAVE A SHARD!?!? Nah, I’m kidding. Really, though, this I prefer to have less speculation about and more discovering as I play the game.

Hey, so in case you missed it a few days ago, this is now a feature:

ksr-ugc.imgix.net/assets/020/738/084/dea8f051f64a8c92b04b7ae945bd89f6_original.jpg?w=639&fit=max&v=1522548742&auto=format&q=92&s=bc4310fe935dd21b763799c0bd83623c

Yeah, and it was an April Fools joke, but aside from the crypto currency mining options its legit.