Appreciation Thread - Things you like and want more of

A few months ago, I watched a video that praised Kirby 64's frequent curved paths, citing that it made the game world feel more believable.  Ever since I watched that video, I've paid more attention to when other 2.5D games do it, and I agree, it's really darn cool.

- Even with so many roads blocked off, the castle still managed to feel relatively non-linear, which makes me happy.

- There are some pretty memorable environmental details.  I don't think I'll ever forget about the blood fountain.

- In Symphony of the Night, when I found the sunglasses, I was bummed to learn that they don't actually appear on Alucard's face.  The accessories in Bloodstained fulfill a dream I've had for years.  Furthermore, I was surprised by just how many there were, especially since the Beta Backer Demo is presumably a fairly small slice of the final game.  I also like how the game encourages you to switch between several accessories instead of just picking a favorite.  For example, if you enter a boss fight with a lot of gun ammo, you might want to put on the cowboy gear until you run out.  If you're low on HP, you might want to put on some accessories with high Intelligence boosts so you can keep your distance with magic.  Et cetera.

- I usually prefer synths in my video game soundtracks, but this real orchestra almost made me cry at points.

- It's hard to quantify, but I thought the enemy diversity was handled pretty well.  If there were too many monsters, none of them would have made an impact, but if there were too few, you run the risk of the player getting tired of them.  I didn't feel that the demo leaned too far in either direction.

I'm collecting praise just as much as feedback and bugs. Let us know what is working!

THIS, this is a beautiful design, the lighting is superb and it has this wierdly exaggerated 2dness to its coloration and movement that just works really well, its also appropriately annoying as hell to hit and avoid

the different specials are a treat to play around with, only suggestions i have there is please keep the katana dash in as much as possible, its absurdly epic at times akin to moonjumping as wolf in sotn, and perhaps add in a special for those types that dont have one like a dagger throw or a wild swing with a great weapon that leaves miriam wide open on the recovery but deals massive damage, or a flurry of weaker stabs with a rapier?


i found the stone mask, made a joke about never having posed so hard in my life before, died, found the red room, FOUND OUT MIRIAM COULD POSE THAT HARD, i then made it a mission to see just how deep the meme could go, found the mask, posed in the red room, sad it didnt go even further beyond, JOJO/10 would pose again

I LOVE the special attacks, especially the shoe one since it "bounces" off of what it hits, giving it much more usage.

I also like the cutscenes in between the dialog and hope there are more of them. Makes me wonder what a storyboarded cutscene would look like, though, since talk and action are done separate.

Miriam changing poses at the pause screen is the BEST! I hope they add to that or give her poses depending on her status.

Multiple people have already said this, but I love that curved path leading to the castle. More clever Kirby 64/Klonoa-style use of the 2.5D, please!

*I like how many options there are for the map screen/active map and that it shows exactly where you are in the room by a yellow dot. I also was impressed how you could activate a yellow dot-trail to show your path.

*The swirling calligraphy-like graphics for when you level up are amazing and very empowering.

*I really like how there is visual foreshadowing in the game, like Zangetsu’s cameos in the sea by the Minerva and in the Castle Entrance.

*The clouds move at a better pace on the ship than they did before in 2016.

*I love the 3D rotation effect on the bridge.

*I liked how you could create a shortcut through the village by breaking the brace holding a door shut.

*The Castle Entrance music is much better than I originally thought. The Garden of Silence is very good so far, too...Great boss music all around!

*I like how much variance there is in the backgrounds of each area, and how there are various set pieces, like the fountain, chandeliers, broken stairs, etc in the Castle Entrance. It makes each area feel alive rather than cut-and-paste.

*I really like the trimming design on the bow of the Minerva.

*Barbatos bow enemy is well done.

*The new Vepar is very much improved overall!

*Vepar’s death animation is really cool how it crystallizes.

*The lion knight enemy’s death animation and attack animation are really cool.

*The Zengetsu fight was very well done.

*I like David Hayter’s performance a lot.

*I like that items pop out of chests now when you open them.

*I like the Mana Flowers idea and how they appear.

*I still like the rocking effect of the boat, and the swaying lanterns help it.

*I like the effects of enemies flinching or losing parts of their structure depending on how you hit them. It seemed to me the Bone Morte were vulnerable in the legs.

*The Shard attack visuals have gotten better since 2016.
*I like the name loader that breaks into stained-glass petals upon entering a new area.


*I like that enemies come from foreground and background on the Minerva.

*The Alfred story cut-scene is the most interesting development in the story so far to me.

*Gremory turning into the moon was an interesting effect.

*Puzzles are interesting with stuff like the iron maiden.

*I like the look of those axe enemies.

*I like how the HP/Mana Max items are hidden in walls (and above the bridge) and such rather than always being on defined pedestals in rooms.

*I think Miriam’s animation and movement feels right on target.

*The circular-symbol loader graphics for the demo are really cool.

I was out for some days, but i couldn't let this one go without giving my shard of praise (ah, i made a lame pun).

I'm really  LOVED the shards. I wasn't able to see a single shard that i didn't like it, or it was useless (with the only exception being Sword Mastery, but the shard is known to be bugged, the idea behind it is good). They are useful, have varying effects and the MP cost is balanced. How you enhance them and the effects of enhancement are also good.

THere are other things i liked about the game, such as the gameplay, the enemy design and variety, the scenarios and soundtrack, but i wanted to give my praise to the shards. Even the overuse of Summon Shards are okay because they are different and unique one another. Keep up the good work.