Bloodstained will not blow you away with breathtaking visuals, it may leave you groaning in contempt with its character design. The story is terrible with uninteresting characters that feel like a child wrote them. Despite this, against my better judgment, Bloodstained is a very well-designed, very fun, game. The boss fights are mostly a good time while the more mundane enemies are diverse and satisfying. The weapon design and abilities system progress well throughout.
Bloodstained won't move the earth in terms of innovation but it's tightly wrapped around a solid framework with only some technical issues and the atrocious writing distracting you on a semi-regular basis. I deduct an entire point for having such an offensively drawn protagonist.