Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon 2

***Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon 2*** is an 8-bit style game developed by Inti Creates and is a sequel to *Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon*. It was released on July 10, 2020.

## Synopsis

When a mysterious tower appears, seeming to summon the demonic castle once more unto the world, Zangetsu teams up with a church exorcist named Dominique to investigate it.

## Plot

### Episode 1: The Demon's Crown

Dominique and Zangetsu glide through the night sky toward the tower. Upon reaching it, Dominique drops Zangetsu off at the top of the tower and he makes his way down it, eventually being confronted by the Drago-Symbiote. Despite besting the creature, before Zangetsu can finish it off, Dominique beats him to it. Going forward, the duo decide to travel together.

Making their way through a swamp forest, a tree branch gives way, dropping the heroes into the lair of Lubius. Upon defeat, the demon attempts to explode itself, but it is instead torn apart by a Drake Cannon blast.

Enter Robert, alongside whom Zangetsu once fought in a war. Seeing as they have a common enemy, Robert offers to join Zangetsu, but nearly balks when he sees Dominique, due to an unexplained enmity he has toward the Church. Zangetsu convinces him that her skills are needed, but he says he'll shoot Dominique if he ever finds cause to suspect her.

As they move through the next area: a waterfall cave that leads to an abandoned mine, they find flatbed mine carts, that are suddenly pushed along by the Gladiator Dozer. When defeated, it attempts to make a final ramming attempt on the platform, but then a mechanical construct appears and punches the demon off the railway into the lake below.

With danger averted for now, the construct opens... and out leaps a corgi. Zangetsu recognizes the dog from a past incident, but Robert takes aim, noting that the machine is a product of alchemy, which cannot be trusted. Zangetsu, remembering Alfred, points out that not all alchemists are evil, not to mention the dog came all this way to reunite with himself, so he's going to let it accompany them. A displeased Robert seethes that this is a mistake and they will come to regret this decision, but ultimately is forced to drop the matter.

The rail car comes to rest at a village frozen over due to attacks from Vepar. Destroying it causes a sword to be expelled from its dying body. When Zangetsu tries to walk away and continue forward, Dominique stops him and says the sword may be of use against the enemies ahead. Seeing as the exorcist will not budge on this matter, Zangetsu claims the Soul Eraser. This sword is capable of vanquishing souls, but is incapable of distinguishing from friend or foe.

The quartet's journey takes them across the sea through a volcanic area and into the castle itself, which has taken on a suspiciously different appearance compared to previous journeys within its walls.

Atop a machine tower, Zangetsu is surprised by the return of Gremory, thought to have been banished during the castle's previous appearance, but he and his allies waste no time putting her down again.

Upon reaching the castle's top floor, Beelzebub begins pursuing them, surrounded in the Dark Swarm that he created, but is forced to actually battle them as they continue to push him back and evade him. However, not even utilizing his larger, stronger appearance grants him success, as though the heroes are exhausted from fighting him, they managed to defeat him, prompting a large hand to impale him from behind before a giant dark energy mass tries to possess the heroes, only for Dominique to leap in front of it and absorb it into herself, becoming possessed by the demon while her allies are launched out of the castle.

Regrouping, Robert is overcome with remorse as he realizes what had been right in front of him throughout his time traveling with this team. A portion of this remorse hardens into resolve as two men and a dog vow to rescue Dominique from her situation or perish in the attempt.

### Episode 2: Unbreakable Bonds

Zangetsu and his remaining companions set out toward the demon's castle once again, determined to save Dominique's life.

Along the way, they may encounter various swords, and if they find the hidden room within the frozen village, are able to use those swords along with the Soul Eraser to unseal the Zanmatou. While the sword itself is weaker than the Soul Eraser, its soul-rending power can differentiate between souls of good and evil.

Eventually, Zangetsu and his allies manage to reach the summit of the demon's castle, where they find Dominique being used as the host for Mephisto. After an arduous battle, the stained glass containing Dominique shatters and Mephisto is stunned, leaving an opening for a finishing blow. If Zangetsu is wielding the Zanmatou, he performs the finishing blow without hesitation, slaying the demon while leaving Dominique unharmed. Some time later, Dominique reveals that while she was under Mephisto's possession, she learned where the demons are preparing to invade from: the moon. Miriam, Alfred and Gebel arrive to lend their aid for the final battle. The Final Episode immediately becomes available.

If Zangetsu did not collect the Zanmatou and instead wields the Soul Eraser, he hesitates when faced with the prospect of vanquishing Dominique's soul. His slash avoids Dominique, but due to his hesitation, it is not a fatal blow to Mephisto. The demon gravely injures Robert and Hachi, forcing the group to retreat from the castle. Zangetsu must once again begin his journey anew, leading to Episode EX.

### Episode EX

With Robert and Hachi too injured to continue the journey, Zangetsu begins to depart for the castle on his own. However, his companions from his previous adventure, Miriam, Alfred, and Gebel, intercept him and give him the Zanmatou. Then, they join Zangetsu's quest to save Dominique and make their way to the castle. Joined by his old companions, Zangetsu faces against Mephisto once again and manage to incapacitate him once more. Now armed with the Zanmatou, he slashes through the demon without hesitation, leaving Dominique unharmed.

### Final Episode

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## Gameplay

The gameplay remains relatively the same as it does in the prequel except for several major changes. For example, in addition to Miriam, Alfred and Gebel, there are three new playable characters that possess new abilities and sub-weapons. The storyline is divided into episodes, allowing players to select levels whenever they wish, provided that they complete them first.

One addition is local multiplayer, in which a second controller can be connected and two players can play through the game. A blue Zangetsu clone is added as a playable character (to compensate for the instances where Zangetsu is the only playable character). This clone plays identically to his red counterpart. Either player can switch between characters like in singleplayer, although both players can't select the same character at once. A player can stand on the other's head to use as a platform, potentially making certain paths much more accessible. Either player has the option to "tag out," which makes one player inactive. This is useful if one player is more proficient in a specific section, tagging back in once the danger has passed.

## Stages

### Episode 1: The Demon's Crown

1. The Dragon's Silhouette
2. Enchanting Deception
3. Raging Chariot
4. The Queen's Dirge
5. Chains of Fire
6. The Titan's Sarcophagus
7. Muted Cries
8. The Demon's Crown

### Episode 2: Unbreakable Bonds

1. Hearts Ablaze
2. The Sanguine Blade
3. Mark of the Sniper
4. Full Metal Destroyer
5. Blood Hotter than Flame
6. Eyes on the Prize
7. Together As One
8. Unbreakable Bonds

### Final Episode: Cleave the Moon

The player initially can play every previous stage in any order they please, obtaining a piece of technology and, with one exception, re-recruiting one of the other party members. The stage each party member is assigned to is random, and is set upon making a new save file. At any time, between stages, the player may converse with recruited party members at the hub area, or speak to Alfred and depart for the final stage. With each party member recruited, the subweapon arsenal and base lives the player has increases in the intermediate stage before the finale.

1. The Moon's Lament / Luna Secare

As with the previous game's example, the final stage's title is changed depending on whether or the player re-recruited any of the other party members before departing for the final stage. To clear the game as Zangetsu only and see the alternate ending, the player must clear only the stage with no partner assigned and then skip straight to the final stage. Due to stage assignment being randomized, the difficulty of clearing the Final Episode as Zangetsu only can vary greatly. Before going to the final stage alone, Alfred will grant Zangetsu the Daizangetsuto, a sword which grants the same abilities as the Soul Eraser (unless the save file is set to Static mode).

## Development

*Curse of the Moon 2* was first announced by Inti Creates as a sequel to the first on June 23, 2020 due to its prequel being well-received by fans and backers of *Ritual of the Night'*s successful Kickstarter campaign. Dominique as well as two new characters, Robert and Hachi, were confirmed to be playable alongside Zangetsu on the same day the announcement trailer was launched.

On June 27, 2020, the original heroes of *Curse of the Moon* were confirmed to be playable. On the same day, July 10 was announced to be the game's release date.

In an interview on *Nintendo Everything*, Takuya Aizu revealed that once the development team was officially formed, the game's development took about five and a half months to finish. However, they had been brainstorming ideas for the game before its approval.

In regards to the possibility of a sequel, director Miyazawa comments that the story comes to a decisive end in CotM2, so any sequel will not continue directly from the events of that game. However, when asked about the possibility of a 32-bit game, he says it may be possible if CotM2 had enough sales to account for it.

### Scrapped designs

In wanting to create a power-type character for *Curse of the Moon 2*, many ideas were considered. At first, a generic monster, such as a golem, was considered, but was dropped due to the lack of originality and surprise factor. Then, it was decided that a robot-type character would be suitable for the role, piloted by a young girl, baby, or small animal. In the end, the dog that would become Hachi was decided upon because of the potential interactions with Zangetsu.

Other scrapped designs/characters ultimately ended up influencing the abilities of the final characters. Robert inherited the wall jump from the designs of ninja and thief characters, while Hachi gained the defensive abilities of what was the paladin. For the latter, they note among the designs, there was a paladin who was completely naked, save for the giant shield wielded.

## Reception

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## Physical releases

On September 2021, Limited Run Games gave a limited time release for physical copies for *Curse of the Moon 2*. In addition to regular physical editions, they also sold a limited classic's edition which featured a box with unique art from Tom duBois, a reversible poster, and the game's soundtrack.

In 2023, Inti Creates announced *Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon Chronicles*, a Japan-only physical compilation of *Curse of the Moon* and *Curse of the Moon 2*. It was released on July 13, 2023.

## Gallery

### Characters

ZangetsuDominique BaldwinRobertHachiMiriamAlfredGebel

### Limited Run Games classic's edition

Limited Classic Edition.Artwork by Tom duBois.
## Videos

Bloodstained Curse of the Moon 2 - World Premiere TrailerOfficial first trailer.Bloodstained Curse of the Moon 2 - Official 2nd TrailerOfficial second trailer.【公式】Bloodstained- Curse of the Moon 2 紹介映像Official first trailer (Japanese).【公式】Bloodstained Curse of the Moon 2 - 第二弾 紹介映像Official second trailer (Japanese).Bloodstained- Curse of the Moon 2 - Update Ver.1.2.0Announcement v. 1.2.0.Bloodstained- Curse of the Moon 2 - Update Ver.1.3.0Announcement v. 1.3.0.
## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Part from the official character description.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 http://curseofthemoon.com/en/2/characters/
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Inti Creates on how Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon 2 came to be, series' future, more at Nintendo Everything.

## External links

* Bloodstained: Curse Of The Moon 2 To Bring 8-Bit Castlevania Vibes To Switch "Soon"
* Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon 2 announced for PS4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC