Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon isn’t just a random Kickstarter reward — it’s a full (and fully-priced) indie pixel platformer. It’s a loving tribute to the Castlevania series, complete with four playable characters you can switch between at any given time, each with their own health bars and special abilities.
There are alternate paths to take, and choices to make — the most important choice of all is which characters you’ll actually bring with you into the end-game. There are lots of different endings to earn, and all of them depend on characters. You start with a single swordsman, and depending on how you react to the three incoming characters, you can totally change the outcome of the game. I’ll explain everything you need to know in the guide below.
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How To Unlock All Endings
As you progress in the main story, you’ll unlock additional characters — usually at the end of certain levels. You can’t miss the extra characters, but you can decide to bring them with you or not.
- Those Left Behind Ending
- Get this ending for recruiting all characters (Miriam, Alfred, and Gebel) and defeating the last boss. For completing this ending, you’ll earn Nightmare Mode.
- This is the standard ending, and most likely the ending you’ll get on your first playthrough.
- Each character has their own unique life bar and special abilities. If one character dies, you’ll switch to a different character and return to an earlier checkpoint. If all four (or however many you currently have unlocked) die, you’ll lose a life and restart at a checkpoint.
- Fallen Moon’s Requiem Ending [TRUE ENDING]
- After getting the “Those Left Behind” ending, you’ll unlock Nightmare Mode. In Nightmare Mode, you’ll begin the game with all three unlockable heroes (Miriam, Alfred, and Gebel) and have access to every power-up and alternate path at the start of the game.
- You need to complete Nightmare Mode to unlock the true ending. There is a new final level, and a new final boss for your team to defeat.
- Emperor of the Dark Ending
- As Zangetsu, instead of recruiting all characters, you’ll need to kill them and absorb their unique powers. To kill a character, attack them a few times with your sword. Kill all three and then defeat the last boss with Zangetsu solo. Complete the game this way to unlock Ultimate Mode.
- Kill Miriam to gain the Crescent Moon Power — A special jump-attack that attacks in all directions.
- Kill Alfred to gain the Blood Power — Unlocks a double-jump for Zangetsu. Jump twice while in mid-air. Probably the most useful unlockable power.
- Kill Gebel to gain the New Moon power — Unlocks a dash sprint for Zangetsu. Double-tap left or right for a quick dash.
- Nightmare’s End Ending
- As Zangetsu, simply do not recruit any of the adventurers to your party. Do not kill any of them, either. Just walk past them. That means you’ll have to complete all levels and defeat all bosses with Zangetsu solo, and with no special unlockable powers.
- This challenging ending run is required to unlock Boss Rush mode.
- Blade Gleaming at Sunrise
- This is considered the “normal” ending. To get this ending, you must recruit at least one hero, but don’t recruit all three. You can choose which of the three heroes you want to recruit — just remember, you have to leave one of them behind. Finish the game with only two out of three heroes to get this ending.
- This ending doesn’t unlock any special modes.
- That Man, Zangetsu
- Very similar to the previous ending. For this ending, you need avoid recruiting any heroes, kill at least one hero, and ignore at least one hero. You can kill two of the heroes, but don’t kill all three. Don’t recruit any of them, either.
- This ending doesn’t unlock any special modes.
