Everyone paid for a rougelike mode in Bloodstained but that doesn’t mean you’re getting it

Despite the miracle that was Bloodstained, considering absolutely no-one thought it would be as good as it actually was, the game hasn’t exactly had the smoothest post-launch road. The biggest issue the Symphony of the Night inspired Metroidvania needed to overcome was an absolutely abysmal Switch port and while ArtPlay worked tirelessly to actually fix it up (the game actually works surprisingly well on Switch right now) they’re not out of the woods of controversy yet. Backers of the game have become more than a little annoyed to discover that the rougelike reimagining of Bloodstained, what was to be an extra mode in the game itself, has been cancelled despite the necessary stretch goal of $5 million dollars being met.

“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). Due to this, we regret to announce that we will not be developing Roguelike as part of the project’s planned stretch goals,” confirmed publisher 505 Games.

We know this is a mode that many of you were eagerly anticipating and we apologise that we will not be able to make it happen as planned.

It’s a pity because a rougelike mode in a game like Bloodstained would have genuinely been a great time. However I do understand how the mechanics of a rougelike would have been very difficult to implement with a map that’s been so intricately designed. Randomising those locations would probably have resulted in a huge mess of a game. Still, not a good look to go back on stretch goal promises.

A Randomiser mode will instead be implemented that kind of acts like a rougelike? This mode will constantly shuffle item spawns, enemy and boss encounters and map locations. It’s a popular mod that’s been used to enhance the replayability of games like Dark Souls and The Legend of Zelda. I guess it’s a nice consolation prize but I know I was very excited for a full-blown rougelike experience in Bloodstained. Them’s just the breaks, kid.

Last Updated: March 4, 2020