Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night unveils June release date, revamped art style
Their efforts weren't in vein.
Dealing with criticism - particularly from random people on the internet - can be difficult for anyone, but the developers of Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night seem to have responded to some scathing comments in a pretty spectacular way: by mocking their own game, of course.
Following the first delay and negative feedback during the beta backer demo, designer Koji Igarashi delayed Bloodstained's planned release a second time, stating additional time was required "to raise the quality level". It seems like that extra time has paid off, as the game is looking much nicer in its final version, with clear outlines, improved lighting and a more vibrant colour palette.
Bloodstained is now due to arrive on 18th June for Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC. The Switch version lands a little later, on 25th June.
"With the support of the Bloodstained community, 505 Games and ArtPlay have taken the extra time and care to ensure they're doing things RIGHT," the trailer description reads. "Check out some before and after comparisons in this new video to see all the hard work they've poured into Bloodstained over the last year."
In the video itself, Igarashi can be seen moodily slurping a glass of wine while reading negative comments, before dramatically smashing the vessel and declaring he will "prove them wrong". What follows is a fairly hilarious comparison of the old versus new art style - although I do have some sympathy for the poor art department, which gets thoroughly dragged throughout the video.
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is Igarashi's much-anticipated Castlevania spiritual successor, and achieved a whopping $5.5m in pledged money on Kickstarter (placing it just behind Shenmue 3 in the record books). When it does arrive this summer, it launches on Switch, PC, Xbox One and PS4 - but sadly the PlayStaion Vita version got the chop. A sacrifice that had to be made, I guess.