The Brilliant Void is the third stage in Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon.
Overview[]
The stage starts off in a dimly-lit corridor made up of bricks colored in gold. Sometime into navigating through the hallway, the first demon your party will encounter is a Simian. A horde of them, some of which crawl across the ceiling before dropping down, will gradually appear the further down your party goes. Luckily, entering the next corridor right away should keep the deranged apes at bay before they overwhelm the group. Décor such as sandfalls beneath the platforms and several bricks with trapezoid-shaped hieroglyphs carved into them start to show up, creating a mysterious Egyptian vibe in the dungeon. The party will soon encounter a crossroad when they reach the end of the hallway. There, a fallen adventurer advises them to travel downstairs by repeatedly point in that direction. They are welcome to take that direction, however, getting past a rogue Barbatos defended by its shield will be no walk in the park because its endless arrow firing could easily devastate a member of your party. If it's not worth the risk, your party will be able to play it safe by entering the door next to the staircase.
The door will lead to a corridor with a row of arches in the background. Two hawk-shaped statues are located on each side of the room. In other words, there are four of them altogether. The statues' beaks spew out sand that composes an enormous sandfall that your party must cross to reach the other side. They must do their best not to dawdle for forgetting to jump every several seconds will cause them to sink down into the fall, eliminating a party member that is currently in use. The occasional Simian and a couple of Plume Parmas are encountered in this corridor. Once your party manages to get to solid ground again, they'll be free to enter the next room. A fallen adventurer in a small room beneath the door points downstairs, however, the crevice is too small for either party member to fit into for the time being so the group must take the route upstairs instead.
Several Mimics and a Plume Parma populate the corridor where the platforms are separated by four pits. Don't let the former creatures deceive you. At first sight, your party might be tricked into thinking that a Mimic is a regular chest that contains supplies needed for the road. Like an angler fish, it is exactly how the Mimics want your party to react before they attack. A chance of survival against such a camouflaged monstrosity is to attack it as soon as a member of your party gets close enough to it and it opens its mouth slightly. If you can remember that tactic for their sake, they should be able to seamlessly navigate through the corridor and make it to the staircase on the other side. The room temperature in the upper-level corridor has skyrocketed due to an open fire pit up ahead. As the party navigates their way across the platforms, it is imperative that they beware of the occasional ghost, around three knight-like foes, and leaping fireballs in between of the gaps lest a party member might unintentionally fall into the pit. The group descends down a floor in the dungeon afterward, only to be greeted by an enormous stone golem that's guarding the staircase down to the lower level. Since it is the only obstacle in that room, overcoming it should be a straightforward process. All a member of your party has to do is jump at the right time to avoid its trembling earthquake attack and strike it several times quickly before it uses this attack again. The temperatures may have mellowed down since navigating past the fire pit and the golem is defeated, but as your party descends a floor a second time, they will soon discover that their perils are far from over.
The corridor a fallen adventurer directs the party to is fraught with two giant bats and three more knight-like foes followed by an enormous pit that can only be crossed by four floating platforms. When your party reaches that point, one member of the group, preferably Miriam, must defeat the Giant Bat hanging upside down above the pit before it swoops down and sends them falling into oblivion. Timed jumps to get to one floating platform to the other must also be taken into consideration because they are constantly moving in horizontal and vertical directions respectively. The door located on the other side will lead to a corridor that contains a crossroad. Another door right in front of your party is locked and the only way to proceed further at this point is to walk downstairs to yet another lower level. The same direction must be taken when your party reaches the final crossroad in the dungeon. This will lead them to a tall, dimly lit corridor that consists of a lengthy flight of stairs to build up suspense for the danger that is up ahead. You might notice that the further down your party descends, the darker the room becomes. A couple of Dullahammer Heads that are encountered on-screen may attempt to hinder the remainder of the descent, but they will soon become the least of your group's problems. The bottom area of the corridor is littered with piles of gold coins and treasures as far as the eye can see. What may seem like a dream come true for a man yearning for riches and worldly goods is actually none other than an illusion that Valefar, the demon who resides in this dungeon, conjured up. In Nightmare Mode, the moon is in its waning gibbous phase. It can be viewed on the rooftop after getting through the first room and using Gebel's ability to take the form of a bat to reach the area in the upper-left hand corner in the second room.
Enemies[]
- Dullahammer Head
- Killer Barber
- Plume Parma
- Mimic
- Barbatos (regular and shielded)
- Simian
- Gieremund
- Giant Rat
- Giant Bat
- Ghost
