Bloodstained: The Scarlet Engagement shows gameplay at TGS and aims for the biggest map in the series

Tokyo Game Show 2026 has delivered one of the announcements the metroidvania community was waiting for most: Bloodstained: The Scarlet Engagement, the new entry in Koji Igarashi's series, now has a gameplay trailer. According to Vandal, 505 Games and ArtPlay used the Japanese show to give a closer look at the 2.5D exploration, the combat and, above all, the mechanic that defines this project: controlling two protagonists at the same time.

The significance of the announcement goes beyond the hype. Ritual of the Night became a benchmark for the genre after Igarashi left Konami, and this follow-up arrives with two big promises: the largest map the series has ever had and a companion system that changes how you play. For a scene that has spent years asking for a major metroidvania willing to innovate without losing its identity, this is exactly what needed to be shown.

What you need to know

• The game was presented with a new gameplay trailer at Tokyo Game Show 2026, courtesy of 505 Games and ArtPlay.
• It keeps the series' signature 2.5D exploration, with revamped combat.
• It will feature two protagonists controllable at the same time through the so-called Buddy System.
• It adds a day-night cycle and promises the biggest map in all of Bloodstained.
• The story is set in 16th-century England, many years before Ritual of the Night.

An ethereal castle and two rival orders

The premise is pure Igarashi. A mysterious, ethereal castle, ruled by the Demon Lord Elias, appears over English territory. Both the Kingdom and the Church have sent expeditions to confront it, and every one has ended in failure. That's where the two characters you'll control come in: Leonard Brandon, a member of the Church's Black Wolves, and Alexander Kyteler, a knight of the White Stags and the sole survivor of one of those failed expeditions.

Having the protagonists belong to different factions, one religious and one from the Kingdom, doesn't seem like a coincidence. The series has always played with the tension between power, faith and demonology, and here that conflict is carried straight into the playable duo. On top of that, setting the action well before Ritual of the Night opens the door to explaining the origins of many things that were only hinted at there, with no need to have played the previous entry.

The Buddy System, the gamble that could make the difference

The big gameplay addition is the Buddy System, which lets you control Leonard and Alexander simultaneously. The source doesn't go into detail about how control is split or whether there will be options to switch between characters, but the idea of two heroes acting at once in a metroidvania changes the whole read on combat: cover, combined combos, exploration routes that only open up with one character's abilities or the other's. It's the kind of mechanic that can turn every room into a small tactical puzzle.

Add to that the day-night cycle, which in this genre usually means different enemies, areas that change their behavior and secrets tied to the time of day. Combined with a map that promises to be the largest in the series, the result points to a denser adventure with more reasons to retrace your steps. For now the public information doesn't include a release date or confirmed platforms, so we'll have to wait for ArtPlay and 505 Games to fill in the picture.

Our take

At Underworld Lordz we see this announcement with excitement, but also with caution. Igarashi already proved with Ritual of the Night that he knows how to deliver a top-tier metroidvania, and the jump to two simultaneous protagonists is exactly the kind of creative risk we want from a sequel. If the Buddy System is well executed, it could become the hallmark that sets Bloodstained apart from the flood of metroidvanias released every month.

That said, "the biggest map in the series" is a phrase that sells well and could end up being a problem. A huge world without content density turns into empty corridors and tedious backtracking, something that hurts twice as much in a genre built on exploration. For competitive players and for the speedrun scene, which was key to the longevity of Ritual of the Night, what matters isn't size but the quality of the route design and the depth of the combat. That's where we want to see more before calling this adventure a win.

For content creators, on the other hand, the pitch is already tempting: two protagonists with intertwined stories, a villain with real presence and a historical setting rarely explored in the genre are perfect material for video series, theories and comparisons with the previous entry. If the studio backs the launch with solid communication, this Bloodstained could once again be a community game, not just a good game.

What do you think?

Bloodstained's return comes with fresh ideas and clear ambition, but still with plenty of unanswered questions. Do you think controlling two protagonists at once is the evolution the metroidvania needed, or an experiment that could complicate what already worked? Let us know in the team chat or on our Discord.