Developer: Inti Creates Publisher: Inti Creates Release: 07/20/20 Genre: Platformer Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PS4, XBox One, PC
Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon was a nice callback for fans of old school Castlevania and an awesome complement to Ritual of the Night. It made no attempt at hiding its clear inspiration and was better for it while at the same time offering something new. If Konami are going to sit on the Castlevania IP I will take what I can get. It was a roaring success and Inti Creates has returned with a sequel. Curse of the Moon 2 is everything you want in a sequel: more of the same great gameplay with fresh ideas and a much more involved quest.
Curse of the Moon 2 picks up after the first game. Dominique, an exorcist from the Church discovers a mysterious tower that is summoning demons. The demon hunter Zangetsu is sent to investigate but he is not alone. In addition to Dominique, former soldier Robert and a steampunk suit of armor piloted by a corgi join his quest.
Like the first game you have multiple playable characters. Zangetsu remains unchanged initially. He has the shortest attack range but quick attack speed and the second largest health pool. Dominique leaves the shop and is your second hero. Her spear has medium range and she jumps the highest. In addition some of her sub-weapons can heal or even revive all of your dead allies. Robert is the first long range character in the series. As a sniper he can hit distant enemies, crawl along the ground and wall jump like Mega Man. To offset this he has low health and defense, sometimes dying in two hits. Hachi breaks all the rules. He has the largest health bar, can hover for a few seconds, and walk on hazardous terrain. Most importantly his “sub-weapon” makes him invincible as long as you have skill points. He makes the worst sections trivial.
Curse of the Moon 2 has a similar flow to the original in terms of level design. As you assemble your party new paths open up that are either easier or shortcuts to the end level boss. Of course you must keep them alive to access them but that goes without saying. The level design is strong and varied with each level presenting unique challenges that almost seem tailored to specific characters. While Bloodstained does not hide the fact that it is inspired by Castlevania I feel Curse of the Moon 2 goes a long way toward giving it its own identity with cool new enemies that have no similarity to Konami’s title. The boss battles are fantastic, with easy to recognize patterns that still test your skills. Even with four characters you will still die repeatedly. As a refinement of the first game COTM 2 succeeds on all fronts.
Technically Curse of the Moon 2 is longer than the original but with a caveat. Once you complete Episode 1 you gain access to the 2nd episode. For story reasons you are replaying game again but with the full party available from the start. With their abilities you can reach previously inaccessible shortcuts and hidden areas. These new routes have new enemies and power-ups and make the second trip faster. The final episode is nonlinear as you can play the stages in any order to assemble the full party, including the cast from the original. Surprisingly even on the third run there are still new areas you could not reach before, a testament to the level design. You can access the final level at any time but let’s just say it will behoove you to gather everyone as some like Gebel and Alfred have broken abilities.
Curse of the Moon 2 mimics the brutal difficulty of the Castlevania games of old but like its predecessor has options that make it accessible. The enemies are ruthless and taking advantage of the party’s strengths and weaknesses is key. Switching characters to avoid death or to cheese boss mechanics becomes critical. If you lose Dominique or Hachi the platforming sections become rough. But the game is fairly generous with checkpoints and life restoring hearts. The boss battles are epic in scale and can be frustrating initially. But once you recognize their tells it becomes manageable. I will admit their suicide attacks got me more than once. I would place the difficulty on veteran at the same level as Castlevania III.
Casual mode might be a little too casual in my opinion. Not that it makes the game a cakewalk but its conveniences are a little too good. Infinite lives ease the frustration of death as you will never have to replay the entire stage to try again. Damage is significantly reduced and some boss attacks are slower. You still have to work for it but as a Castlevania veteran I was breezing through the game. Personally all I wanted was no knockback. As someone who nearly broke controllers playing Castlevania III I have little desire to go back to that rigid experience. While I found casual a little too easy I will take what I can get. If you truly crave a challenge there is a legendary difficulty mode. But you will have to read about it elsewhere. I’ll be god damned if I will ever try it.
In Closing
It is hard to believe but Curse of the Moon 2 is better than its fantastic predecessor. Inti Creates dug deep and crafted a winner. The quest is longer, the smart refinements to the mechanics make gameplay better and even the two-player coop is surprisingly fun. Outside of going for a different art style (maybe 16-bit) I cannot think of what else they could have added. I want another sequel.
