Bloodstained's $5 Million Stretch Goal Has Been Canceled

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night will no longer be getting a new rougelike mode, despite it being a reward for a stretch goal that was met during the project's initial Kickstarter funding run.

In an update to the Kickstarter page, Jason Ryan, senior community manager at publisher 505 Games, explained that the mode was simply not possible anymore due to incompatibility with some of Bloodstained's coding. "Unfortunately, the code that was created early in the game’s development is not currently compatible with this type of gameplay (especially a procedurally generated castle)," writes Ryan. "Due to this, we regret to announce that we will not be developing Roguelike as part of the project's planned stretch goals."

Instead of a roguelike mode, Bloodstained will be getting a Randomizer that attempts to bridge the gap by introducing some elements that would've been included. This mode will change up the locations of items, randomize where save points and warp rooms are, and change which boss ultimately ends the game. Up to eight parameters can be edited before starting a new campaign to create a unique run, which can then be shared with other players via a generated seed that can be used to spin up custom games.

This new mode will be included in the upcoming Zangetsu patch, which will also introduce a new main character to play as. Although it was previously thought to also include another mode called Boss Revenge, 505 Games has stated that this was previously communicated in error and that this content will ship at a later date.

Although it is disappointing that backers are missing out on a promised feature, this spiritual sequel to Symphony of the Night still has a lot to offer. In our 8/10 review for Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, critic Steve Watts praised its smart design, saying, "With more flexible combat and level design that always beckons to check just one more room, Bloodstained shows that a modern Metroidvania can stand alongside its predecessors as an equal."