Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night finally arrived last year to mostly positive reviews, but the game is still haunted by its mismanaged crowdfunding campaign. The Bloodstained Kickstarter simply tried to offer too much, and now the makers of the game are reneging on another one of their stretch goals – the game’s promised Roguelike mode isn’t happening and will instead by replaced by a simple randomizer.

　　According to a representative from publisher 505 Games, Bloodstained’s code simply won’t support the Roguelike mode, which is a somewhat iffy excuse. You can always write new code, but the reality is, completely remaking Bloodstained as a roguelike probably wouldn’t be worth the effort. Meanwhile, here’s how the randomizer will work…

　　Randomizer is the story campaign you’re used to, but with a twist. Before starting a game, players can choose up to eight different game parameters to be randomized during the playthrough. As an example, “Items - Retain Method” means that items will be found in the same spawn method (chest, mob drop, etc.) as normal. Items found in chests will still be found in chests, they will just get mixed around. “Total random” means anything can drop anywhere.

　　The mode will ensure safeguards to ensure that items needed to complete the game will be obtainable, so you can’t softlock your progress. Once you make your selections, you can generate a seed that you can use for reference or to share with someone else. In addition, a timer will track your progress through the game and display your completion time at the end of a run. We hope that everyone will enjoy the new mode and work to get the shortest clear time possible for your permutations!

　　The randomizer will be part of a major content update that will also add the David-Hayter-voiced demon hunter Zangetsu as a playable character. No word yet on when that update will arrive.

　　Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is available now on PC, Xbox One, PS4, and Nintendo Switch.