I had a hankering on the weekend for some Castlevania action (and I still need to play through Symphony of the Night!) ... and it got me thinking, what's the modern equivalent of those gothic horror platformers?

Dark Souls/Demon Souls and Bloodborne seem to get mentioned a lot. I found I had Bloodborne as a freebie from PS Plus a few months back so gave it a go ... and gave up after forty-five minutes. The game gave very little context for the story and even less instruction. I honestly didn't know what the hell was going on.

Does anyone have any experience with these games? Or can recommend anything else modern that invokes the old Castlevania spirit? ...

[Edited 11/30/20 5:40am]

Had to consult an expert (well, my brother) but there's a game called Bloodstained which is similar to the old Castlevania games. I just googled it there and it doesn't look like my cup of tea but the reviews are quite good.

Also, speaking of my brother, the very first game he ever worked on just came out a few weeks ago. Three years after he got the job but better late than never, I suppose. Assassin's Creed Valhalla. He only did "art assets and stuff" but I still get a kick out of playing a game he worked on. Although apparently most of what he did isn't actually in the game and will only appear in the DLC but still. I'm proud all the same.

EmmaMcG said:

Had to consult an expert (well, my brother) but there's a game called Bloodstained which is similar to the old Castlevania games. I just googled it there and it doesn't look like my cup of tea but the reviews are quite good. Also, speaking of my brother, the very first game he ever worked on just came out a few weeks ago. Three years after he got the job but better late than never, I suppose. Assassin's Creed Valhalla. He only did "art assets and stuff" but I still get a kick out of playing a game he worked on. Although apparently most of what he did isn't actually in the game and will only appear in the DLC but still. I'm proud all the same.

Thanks for the tip ... just gave that a quick Google and it looks really good! Might have to get on that tonight.

Must be awesome to actually get a job in the industry. I went to school with a guy who went on to be the editor of the Official Playstation Magazine. Talk about a dream job! He was a borderline genius though so shows you actually need skills to get on, even in that industry. Must be super cool knowing your brother has worked on a game you're playing. Must admit, I've never tried any of the AC games, but I'll keep an eye put for this one.

DaveT said:

My brother used to buy all those magazines. I think he still has a big pile of them. Playstation, Xbox, Nintendo, the lot. Gamesmaster was another one.

I was never really interested in the Assassin's Creed games or any non Mario or Mass Effect game until my brother started working for Ubisoft. Then he got me loads of free stuff LOL. The AC games are really fun but they're so long. I played through Origins (the one in Egypt) but it took me the best part of 2 years to do it. I just skipped the last one entirely and started Valhalla because I wanted to play something my brother was involved in. But it's tough going. It's really fun but I know it will take me another 2 years to finish. And the worst part is that most of what my brother did will be in the DLC (set in Dublin) so I'll have to finish the main game before I get to that. And by then the game he's currently working on will be out and the whole cycle starts again.

I would still recommend Valhalla though. Especially seeing as it's set in England. You might get a kick out of that. I'm personally looking forward to the Ireland bit. If for no other reasons, the accents should be worth a laugh

Definitely play Hollow Knight. Check out this video on it.
[Edited 12/7/20 16:00pm]