One of the best Metroidvanias gets DLC based on one of the first Metroidvanias, straight from a legendary Castlevania dev

A screenshot from Bloodstained — (Image credit: 505 Games)

Bloodstained: Ritual Of The Night - a spiritual successor to the classic Castlevania games - shows no signs of slowing down after the indie topped two million in sales. To celebrate, former Castlevania producer Koji Igarashi detailed a bunch of upcoming additions to the smash hit, including two multiplayer modes and an epilogue that riffs on one of the oldest Metroidvanias ever made.

In a video update embedded below, Igarashi and director Shutaro Iida revealed another look at the game’s upcoming VS and Chaos modes. Chaos seems to be a co-op mode that restricts special abilities and throws monster hordes your way. VS mode, on the other hand, puts you up against one other player as you compete for the highest score - which in this case can be won by slicing baddies as fast as possible.

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“First, we apologise for the long delay between updates,” a blog on the game’s website states. “The development team has been busy working on the new VS and Chaos modes, both of which include online multiplayer play for the first time. This has resulted in some challenges and delays that we did not expect, but we continue forward.” The note ends by saying the new content is “nearing completion,” but the team will show more from the two modes on September 14th.

An arguably more exciting mode is still forthcoming in the further future, though. Bloodstained’s second classic mode - called Dominique’s Curse - was teased at the end of the video update and it seems to be taking inspiration from the beloved Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest. The mode serves as an epilogue to the main game and casts us as Dominique, who you might remember as a major villain in Bloodstained.

Overall, the storied developers behind the indie hit don’t have plans to stop development. As we previously reported, a sequel to Bloodstained: Ritual Of The Night is currently in development while a smaller portion of the team works to mop up the remaining Kickstarter stretch goals. More Bloodstained can only be a thing, as we previously ranked the dark fantasy gem very highly on our Best Metroidvanias List.

For more, check out the upcoming indies of 2023 and beyond.

Kaan freelances for various websites including Rock Paper Shotgun, Eurogamer, and this one, Gamesradar. He particularly enjoys writing about spooky indies, throwback RPGs, and anything that's vaguely silly. Also has an English Literature and Film Studies degree that he'll soon forget.