Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night (an "Igavania")

I have no interest in CotM, but I really must get Bloodstained properly played. The performance issues were still there when I last gave it a crack, but I got past the bit that had previously crashed on me and it's still good fun!

Ritual of the Night is still very much on my to play list at some point. It sounds like it'll be on PS4 if the performance issues are still lingering on Switch though.

I’d say it had performance issues on the X1 so I can’t imagine it on Switch (I also don’t think it’s very good, just play SotN again instead)

I've picked this back up recently. I fought what I presume is meant to be the 'dummy' final boss for a pretty unrewarding time, and had to resort to a walkthrough to find out what I'm meant to be doing next.

It's fun enough, but I'd pretty much echo what Kriken said on the last page: it's a pretty good Metroidvania, but it is just another Metroidvania. It doesn't feel special really. Also, the long loading screens make navigation just a bit more frustrating than it should be. I'm still enjoying it though, and will likely go on to fight the 'proper' final boss assuming the game doesn't pull any horrible tricks (besides the one Andy told me about).

And I've picked it back up again. The thing about Bloodstained is I always have a decent time when I play it, but struggle to pick it up after a break. It just doesn't tempt me from my Switch screen, to the extent that the 6/10 Alwa's Legacy was my go-to Metroidvania over it until it was done.

I have a quick question. Is there any way to get an idea of where I'm meant to go next without looking at a walkthrough? Following the duff end, I had no idea where I needed to go next; following the boss I fought after that, I had no idea where I needed to go next. Thank goodness for GameFAQs, but is there any sort of hint system I might have missed so that I don't feel like a dirty cheater?

Nope, it's all walkthroughs all the time.

Bah.  Okay, I think I'm going to play through the rest of the game with one handy.  It's still fun, and Miriam's really nice to control, but Jesus this has a lot of flaws.  (I've just got that 'optional shard' and I do agree, that's a really bad piece of design - but once you have it it's really fun to use!)