Bloodstained at E3 2018 - Destructoid hands-on

The "slow, clunky gameplay" critiques are still the same ones that were tossed around last year. I do not care for them, because the very first demo definitely felt right. It's okay to feel disappointed for the absence of particular innovations to the formula, maybe someone expected those. I didn't. The formula is exactly what I backed the game for.

The point about the designs is completely a matter of preference. I dig most of the monsters and bosses seen so far, with only some of them being a bit underwhelming. But I feel like it's the most subjective point.

As far as the visuals go, I wouldn't call the game ugly, but it's not great either. I expect the overall presentation to benefit a lot from the last tweaks that are usually made near the release date, but I came to terms with the fact that for me personally Bloodstained won't be the prettiest game or even the prettiest metroidvania I own quite some time ago. I do understand very well the complaints someone may have, nonetheless.

I have a thing or two to say about this.

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That coment i simply gave up on trying to debate or discuss. That complaint exists since the first pre-alpha footage of the game and it is not going to change now. The transition from pixel-art to 2.5d using more or less the same gameplay of other Igavanias made the game look slow, although it has the same pace of Symphony of the Night and others (several videos on youtube can confirm that).
There isn't much that it can be done about this. People complaining the game is slow will not change their minds anymore.

LACK OF COMBOS and METHODICAL GAMEPLAY

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This is a rare complain that was made by few people and media and it's just a matter of preference. IGA himself responded to that, by saying that in a 2d plataformer, you can ONLY add combos if you greatly increase the enemies's health and the game easily turns into a mechanical chore of hitting enemies countless times to kill each one of them. As IGA said, his games are more focused on methodical gameplay rather than fast-pace. It baffles me that the Destructoid writer complains about the game being methodical, since that is one of the main attributes of Igavania games.
That methodical gameplay, where you have an arsenal of weapons / powers / magic to use and must pick and choose what you are going to use at each situation, learning enemies's patterns and slowly crawling around the scenario is EXACTLY what the backers wanted. I'm not saying they can't complain about that, but that is lack of research. People wanted a Symphony of the Night 2, a game with a HUGE METHODICAL and slow-paced gameplay. And that's what people are getting.

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That is another complaint that isn't going to change. Bloodstained Kickstarter offered backers to choose some graphical options and people decided something along the lines of "semi-realistic backgrounds with thick-washed almost cartoonish enemies". And that's what people are getting.
The graphics aren't going to receive any drastical improvement on release, but they can have a huge impact if few bits, like lightning placement, are done right. 
I always remember this specific picture from E3 2017, from a place that wasn't on any demos (the picture above).
If you consider that to be a ugly graphic then...nothing Bloodstained can do NOW will convince you otherwise.

purifyweirdshard it does feel kind of malicious, especially because it's a hands on of sort, not a piece of news. It's about the playable build of the game at E3 so making the entire title on the thing that, if true, would be the most negative of the article makes the writer seems like he wants to shovel some dirt on the game for views.

Also reminds me how I never received that print Destructoid magazine they did for Bloodstained with GameFan. Anybody else remember that? lol
That's $12 gone forever

Ron Gilbert once famously said, although I can't locate the exact quote:

"If I were to make another point and click adventure, people would complain it's not on par with Monkey Island. But what they really mean to say is, it's not on par with their own fond memories and nostalgia of Monkey Island. I cannot compete with that: no one can."

And that's what's happening here to a degree. People are just too enamored with SotN, or rather... their fond memories of it. The revealing passage in Destructoid's piece: "With pixel graphics of those previous games, everything looked fine".

You know....been thinking. With the recent heat up over what Konami is going to pull, really wonder if they paid this guy off. Wouldn't be unheard of in the industry for a dev to pay off a reviewer. Not saying that's for sure what's going on, but sure as hell keeps seeming more likely, personally.

Again, it's not like it's unheard of and I did kinda state Not saying that's for sure what's going on, but sure as hell keeps seeming more likely, personally. So, was just my opinion on it, wasn't to be taken as fact.

That being said, I agree with the more likely scenario more, just wouldn't be surprised if Konami tried dirty tactics. Hell, look at what went down with Kojima after PT happened.