#101 (Patreon)

Bloodroot By stDoppel

[Summary]

A challenging 2D pixel Metroidvania that expands over a large castle with sub-areas, plenty of secrets, enemies, and unique bosses to find!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Review:

Yes, this is the one officer, this is the chosen one that will lead us towards a brighter future of H devs that actually give a damn.

What a bloody good experience!
You could've had me fooled that this is even an adult game. A true action metroidvania through and through, with familiar motifs from the souls series.

It has all the elements needed to make a kickass game:
- Plenty of gear and items.
- Highly skill based. (Tight dodges, many skills and weapons movesets)
- MANY secrets!
- Unique bosses with ultimate moves + hard mode: adds hp, aggression, and new patterns!
- Combat resources management. (Not a braindead swing to kill)

And of course - it has H content. But I'd like to elaborate on that part before I continue:
Be warned that the lewd content is rather minimal for a game of this size, it has 14 "restrained animations" (monster grabs) and 4 Futa animations with the girls (including main character).
I highly recommend the game nonetheless just for the gameplay!
It's so well-made that it'll probably find its way eventually to Steam.

So Bloodroot is basically a soulsvania of sorts. As mentioned it has all of the souls elements, with new skills that you unlock to help you reach new areas as you keep progressing.

Right off the bat you're introduced with a user friendly tutorial that lets you test all of the relevant prompts. Already a plus in my book, the way every tutorial should be made.

You continue your way into the castle, where you'll soon encounter the first "optional" boss.
It will very likely kill you on your first encounter, but totally killable with rather simple patterns once you get to know it.
Regardless if you win or lose, you'll continue to the main hub, where every solid metrodvania lets you freely explore wherever you please, until you get your face melted by enemies that you probably shouldn't have fought yet.

The game, at least in its current state, is harder to explore than the usual metroidvanias, because, well... it doesn't have a map for some reason. I'm not sure if that's by design, but if it is, then I hope the dev will consider adding one.
Unless you have a good memory, then it's easy to get confused between the rooms, and forget where you could use the new power you just obtain in order to progress.

But that's honestly the only bad thing I can say about this beautiful game.
The pixel art is sweet and a joy to look at. The models quality doesn't fall fall short from Touhou Luna Nights, albeit with less animation frames.

Even after hours clocked in with better stats and gear, I could still find myself randomly dying when I don't pay attention or try too hard to rush through. Bloodroot is tough, and it will show you no mercy if you don't stay alert.

However, some of you may be pleased to hear that you lose nothing upon defeat, and it even offers "casual mode"! (named by the dev)
Hard, easy, the game got you covered, so you can focus at a relaxing exploration, or test your skill until the end.

My most favorite parts are absolutely the wide weapon variety movesets and skills, and of course the bosses.
When I first saw the screenshots I was still skeptical knowing how jank many of the titles in the H scene are, but to my very positive surprise I found myself playing nonstop trying everything, and legitimately shocked at how well designed the bosses were, to the point that they'll even put to shame some of the popular titles designs.

You get fast weapons, slow, long, short, combo skills, magic, magic that interacts with other skills, cancel movement. Rings that give you special effects that change your playstyle even further.
Everything was thought of, and the best part is that most of it is HIDDEN!

That's right - breakable walls on left and right, and you'll need to use your mobility to reach secret areas that require a keen eye and a good sense of exploration, to get rewarded with special gear that will spice up your gameplay even further.

All of the H content is the usual "get grabbed" type. There's a gallery mode after you defeat the Succubus boss and interact with her at the hub. She'll show you everything you've unlocked, and will also let you into another area where you can have your way with the girls.

Admittedly, the lewd aspect isn't as strong as the rest of it, but appreciated nonetheless, and is still considered an H game regardless.
There also appear to be future updates with even more lewd content, but to be fair I have to treat it as fan service, even as explicit as it may be, because throughout my entire playthrough it wasn't really highlighted at all.

Between us? I wish every decent game out there had fan-service, lewd or not.
It just lightens up the experience and gives you an extra reward to wash your eyes a little every now and then.

To me it's just incredible that we actually received such a complete experience without a "roadmap"™ and "dev diary"™. stDoppel had a goal and a vision. They knew exactly what they wanted to create and went balls deep with it within the limits of their budget.

Yes, you can tell some areas could've looked better with more detail and color, and some of the animations could use a couple extra frames, but you know what? the amount of soul pouring out of this project simply overshadows everything.

Bloodroot is a MUST play for any fan of the genre. It's just too good to ignore, even if you're not looking for an H game. A solid soulsvania that stands above many titles that you can find on mainstream platforms.

Bloodroot is available on DLsite.

❤️ For relevant H content of this title you may contact me in DM for referrals.