Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night pulls a trick on players pretty early in the game. You can actually find and fight the last boss very quickly — but there’s a twist. Defeating this ‘final boss’ just earns you a bad ending. If you want to get the best ending and fight the real final boss, you’ll need to unlock an ancestral weapon and solve a well-hidden puzzle. I’ll explain everything you need to know to progress to the true end of the game.
This should be familiar to fans of Symphony of the Night. Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is a spiritual successor to the legendary Castlevania franchise that spawned the term ‘metroidvania’ — a genre that’s only gotten more popular with indie developers. In that game, you could find and defeat Richter Belmont pretty early. It wasn’t until later that you could reveal the true villain. You’ll need to fully traverse the castle and reach a very particular boss fight to acquire the weapon you need.
More Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night guides:
- Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night – How To Collect Every Movement Power | Progression Guide
- Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night – How To Find The Secret 8-Bit Nightmare Level | Easter Egg Guide
How To Get The Best Ending | True Final Boss Guide
Early in the game, you can travel to the Hall of Termination and defeat Gebel, the former ally that appears to be your enemy in the game. To reveal the true final boss and explore the rest of the map, you need to acquire the Zangetsuto.
The Zangetsuto can only be acquired in the Oriental Sorcery Lab. To get there, you’ll need a multiple hidden powers and items.
How To Reach The Oriental Sorcery Lab: To reach the Oriental Sorcery Lab, you need to travel to the top of the vertical room in the Entrance area. It’s the very first room of the castle. You’ll find a hallway full of spikes at the top. To pass through the Entrance, you need three powers; Craftwork, Invert and Spike Immunity.
- Craftwork: To move iron maiden, collect the Craftwork shard from the Dian Cecht Cathedral boss.
- Invert: Defeat the boss of the Inferno Cave. To reach the Inferno Cave, you need to be able to sink and walk in water. You can get that power from the boss in the Hidden Desert — when you defeat Alfred.
- Spike Immunity: Get the Aegis Plate from a treasure chest in the Towers of Twin Dragons. Take the elevator down to the bottom, and invert to fall up right of the tower.
After reaching the Oriental Sorcery Lab, fight through it until you encounter Zangetsu. Defeat him a second time to acquire his blade — the Zangetsuto.
How To Reveal The Demon Gremory: Travel to the Hall of Termination and fight Gebel with the Zangetsuto equipped and attack the moon when it turns red. Slice the moon with the Zangetsuto to free Gebel from the power of Gremory. The demon will disappear, you’ll need to find her again.
How To Find Gremory (Again): With Gremory gone, go to the Garden of Silence and enter the red hallway above the carriage. Slice the red moon to create a portal to the Den of Behemoths — now you can enter a zone full of giant enemies.
Find Alfred in this alternate world — he’s lost the Liber Logiath. Speak with Alfred and Zangetsu to learn that Dominique has been manipulating you. Keep going to find the entrance to the Glacial Tomb. This final location is where you’ll find the true final boss and earn the good ending.
The bosses waiting at the end of the Glacial Tomb are very, very difficult! If you’re having trouble, you can easily grind for XP near the save point in the Glacial Tomb. The enemies there give lots (and lots) of XP.