Bloodstained

Former Castlevania Producer (and possible vampire) Koji Igarashi has been creating some sinister headlines recently, as word of a new project whipped fans up into a frenzy of speculation. The prophetic Kickstarter reveal on Monday has indeed come to pass, but alas this new project won't be coming to Nintendo consoles any time soon.

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is the suitably dark title given to this new side-scrolling platformer from Igarashi and his team, aiming to re-ignite fans' love for classic Castlevania-style exploration, while telling a completely new story. Don't worry though; there's definitely a castle.

Players will take on the role of Miriam, who seeks to put an end to a bizarre alchemist's curse that slowly turns flesh into crystal. You'll have to level up and craft new weapons RPG-style in order to navigate a demonic structure, created in all its sprawling glory by your former friend Gebel.

After all the mystery and anticipation preceding the announcement, it's disappointing to hear that Nintendo consoles won't get bitten by the latest 2.5D adventure from Igarashi. An informative FAQ does provide an explanation however, referencing the immediate limitations of developing with Nintendo hardware.

Our budget left us with two options: Build the biggest, most beautiful game we can, or make sure it runs everywhere from the start. As things stand today, we can't afford to create the two separate versions of this game that would be necessary to make it run on every console. That said, we've heard legends about a remarkable treasure hidden in the castle basement...

While a port is always a possibility in the future, we doubt that treasure will amount to much more than a nice easter egg. That being said; it's still an ambitious and detailed Kickstarter pitch, with plans for physical releases and backer-exclusive content - such as the swordwhip - that you can check out right here.

Are you tempted to invest on a different platform? Or has your blood run cold at the thought of missing out on a gamepad map? Be sure to let us know with a comment below!

[source kickstarter.com]