Curse of the Moon Stage 1

Moonlight Temptation is the first stage in Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon.

Overview[]

The stage’s setting starts off in a dense, cloudy pinewood forest in the middle of the night. There are no enemies to face at the moment and there are lanterns dispersed across the linear path, allowing Zangetsu to stock up on a small handful of collectibles. All is calm briefly before a mysterious ghostly train, thinly veiled by the pine trees, passes by the demon hunter. While it bears no harm, for the time being, it is clear that its presence is ominous for what is to come along the way. Afterward, Zangetsu comes across an entrance to what appears to be a desolate Victorian-style train station. Its ground floor is littered with several roman numeral clocks that are scattered across the sickly brown brick walls. There also appears to be a hydraulic system installed as indicated by the pipes on the wall next to the staircase. Zangetsu will take the opportunity to collect more items from the lanterns, yet he is not alone. Morte emerges from the ground to attack the demon hunter, but he makes short work of them, collecting more items in the process. The lesser demons will nevertheless respawn occasionally, but they can only harm Zangetsu as long as he is on the ground floor below the platform accessible from the staircase. Two ghosts will spawn in that section and follow him around until they either self-destruct upon touching him or are defeated. Afterward, he is then free to proceed downstairs toward to the station’s subway.

A rat-like demon greets Zangetsu the instant that he enters the subway. Save for the entrances and the exits of that section, a huge chunk of the midground contains a pattern made up of arches placed in front of a pitch black background. Before Zangetsu jumps over the first abyss, the previously seen train reappears behind them before it disappears off-screen to the left. Every two minutes and seven seconds that he sticks around, the train will pass through the subway again. Before Zangetsu can exit this section by going back upstairs, he has the option to use his sword to destroy a couple of bricks on the wall to his right simply for kicks. Breaking open another wall back on ground level, however, will reveal an enormous heart that can help restore Zangetsu’s health. To his right, a semi-sentient skeleton can be seen pointing to a nearby sign. Reading it will reveal basic information about how to acquire sub-weapons and where to find Weapon Points. Items can continue to be collected from lanterns while Zangetsu makes his way through the remainder of the station, although some of them possessed by demons will breathe fireballs in his direction if he jumps toward their height. Zangetsu will eventually hitch a ride in a first-class cabin on the train, which will leave the station if he manages to board it.

The cabin contains a fine dining area and a gothic bar counter on its right. Each table is generally decorated with wine bottles and one or two cocktail glasses, but two skulls can be found on two respective tables, presenting a subtle, but disturbing atmosphere to the deserted lounge. The demon hunter is not the only passenger on the train, however. He will have spawning Morte and a pouncing wolf-like Gieremund to fend off before he can climb up to the roof. Other additional dangers while in the passenger cabin are four swaying chandeliers that mysteriously fall the ceiling if he walks underneath them. The cabin’s roof offers a constantly panning view of the pinewood forest, but at the same time, Gebel’s castle can be seen past the horizon. Cannon Mortes are also first encountered by Zangetsu on that rooftop. Unlike the demons encounter earlier in the train station, these particular types take three hits to destroy through normal means and they will launch fireballs toward Zangetsu regardless of if he is near their height or not. He navigates his way to the other side of the area by jumping across two bottomless pits that separates the three visible cabins and fighting off the tougher Cannon Mortes and one Ghost in the process. The demon hunter then proceeds to walk downstairs to a somber-looking room where the walls are made up of rotting wood and sickly-colored wallpaper. There, he is greeted by yet another rat-like demon and a robust stone golem whose hammer-like punch causes the ground to shake. A second semi-sentient skeleton points at the golem to indicate that the door it is guarding is where Zangetsu must proceed to open. He destroys it, opens the door, and exits the room. He finds himself back outside where a coal barge and supply crates can be found. The last of the items can be gathered from breaking the lanterns in the area before he navigates to the other side of the barge to face the Glutton Train. At this point, the luscious green pine forest previously explored has been reduced to a near-monochromatic color scheme save for a few brownish-yellow highlights on the trees. In Nightmare Mode, the moon in the night sky is full because the plot picks up where Regular Mode left off.