VGChartz's Evan Norris: "It's not Ritual of the Night, the much-anticipated Metroidvania from Koji Igarashi, but Curse of the Moon is a lot of fun regardless. While the game is relatively short and sticks too closely to the NES Castlevania mold, refusing to summon many new ideas or mechanics, it's undeniably entertaining and challenging. Its action-platform gameplay is satisfying, its boss battles engaging, and its opportunities for exploration and rewards for repeat playthroughs refreshing. The wait for Ritual just got a heck of a lot easier."
Inti Creates is hosting a new January 2023 sale on the Switch eShop, and it includes the lowest prices ever for Blaster Master Zero 3 and Gunvolt Chronicles: Luminous Avenger iX 2. Other titles like the Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon titles are also discounted.
For the remainder of PAX Online East, Inti Creates is having a Steam publisher sale with steep discounts, as well as a demo for BMZ3.
Bloodstained first made a name for itself with the Kickstarter campaign created by Koji Igarashi. After the Castlevania series languished for many years, fans were interested in seeing Igarashi do something new with the genre.
I haven't gotten to this yet but Bloodstain: Ritual of the Night is really good!
I bought the original when Curse of the Moon 2 came out. I've been waiting for performance improvements for Ritual of the night, but it sounds like they never came, so I just bought Curse of the Moon instead. I'll be picking up #2 at some point in the future.