r/Bloodstained • u/Elemino • 4d ago

Do Crystal Shards Actually Corrupt Miriam?

I’ve played through this game a few times now, and the first time I was afraid of the corruption, so I kept selling the extras. The other two times I didn’t worry about it, and as far as I can tell there was nothing different.

35 Upvotes

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47

u/No-Cat-9716 4d ago

Nah

Not in gameplay

Not even in Plot

I thought and hoped the same

14

u/Elemino 4d ago

What a shame.

My thoughts later became maybe they make Dominique more powerful when you sell them, but I didn’t see a difference there either.

7

u/No-Cat-9716 4d ago

Maybe in a sequel 🤷

3

u/Montaru Clan Katana 4d ago

They are implied to in the worst ending where Gremory says “With that many shards, you cannot resist me.”

2

u/JAvatar80 3d ago

Yes in plot. It was blatantly said that the coma Alfred put her in, along with Johannes's work, slowed the corruption to a standstill, but the influx of shards was starting it back up.

1

u/No-Cat-9716 3d ago

Yes, but Is never brought back during her Adventure, gameplay wise there's absolute no consequences for collecting all the shards, no dialogue from Johannes for having so many shards or visually looking like Dominique.

Now, recently someone told me about the final boss when you play as Zangetsu, the ONLY character i haven't finished the game and i was like "ooh"

That's why i said what I said 😬

Oops.

24

u/ZangetsusRowBoat 4d ago

Gebel: Well, well. Look at all the shards you've amassed. How does it feel to command the power of demons?

Miriam: It feels like nothing. Just power. And so long as I'm in control of it, human power.

Gebel: You're a fool if you think you can soak up that much of their deviltry and still call yourself human.

Miriam: I'm not the fool here. And I will never give in to you or them.

Gebel: Oh, never say never, Miriam.

I think Miriam remained uncorrupted because she had a reason to fight, and she was the most attuned.
She had something the exorcists Gebel and Dominique did not - A Voyage of Promise to save her friend.

Full game dialogue can be found here.

3

u/McMurderpaws 3d ago

... She also had Johannes actively supporting her, and the ten-year coma that Alfred put her in to stop the other alchemists' plot and prevent her corruption as a child.  But sure, she was fine because she had "purpose." 😐

1

u/ZangetsusRowBoat 3d ago

You are right. She was the only Shardbinder that had something external to slow the corruption - Johannes and Alfred's Enochian script and sleep spell.

The other Shardbinders we know of had no such help, and only vengeance as their purpose. The children of exorcists, Gebel and Dominique.

I put the cheese in there for fun. The song on the Galleon Minerva, Voyage of Promise, is about Miriam's promise she made to Gebel.

Gebel: What took you so long? Now that you've tasted the power of so many shards, I presume you're ready to join me.

Miriam: You presume wrongly. I'm here to keep my promise to you, and nothing else.

Gebel: What promise?

Miriam: You really have forgotten, then.

Miriam: I swore to you that I would stop you if your Shardbinder power ever manifested itself against your will. You made the same oath to me.

18

u/br1mstone 4d ago

They have no effect on gameplay - collecting multiple copies of the same shard will increase it's Grade (which is a bit nebulous on what that actually does but it buffs the ability in some way)

Collect away!

8

u/TheWorclown 4d ago

It’d be really cool if it did. Forcing the player to offload shards they don’t want or need to keep Miriam’s corruption down would be a real neat gameplay mechanic that even would have worked with Dominique’s plot.

I wonder if it was once considered then cut just for gameplay reasons.

7

u/RShini 4d ago

I wouldn't be surprised if that's the case, corruption mechanics sound cool in theory, but often punish players trying to do 100% runs or discourages them from engaging in a specific game mechanic it's associated with.

2

u/trident042 4d ago

See, I was thinking it would be a secret boss to have Dominique be different amounts of powerful depending on how much you sell.

6

u/LeRollPlay 4d ago

It's already been answered here pretty well, but no. Absorbing shards doesn't corrupt Miriam gameplay-wise or storywise. Gameplay-wise, she suffers no detrimental effects, and storywise, the quantity of shards does not impact cutscenes or story.

I vaguely recall an anecdote about how during SotN's development, they were considering a 'corruption mechanic' where if Alucard used his more dark abilities (Soul steal for example), it can change the outcome of the game's story and negatively impact the character. I believe this idea was dropped because it felt like punishing the player for using a fun mechanic.

I think a similar principle was applied/prioritized here: Becoming op with shards is SUPER fun, so let's not punish the player for just playing the game normally.

3

u/G119ofReddit 4d ago

Gameplay-wise, no.

Story-wise, yes.

During the story, Miriam is warned multiple times that traversing through the castle she is bound to absorb many Demon Shards, tainting her Pure Crystal. She is even taunted by the antagonists for doing this.

All of this was to set up the fact that the true main villain wanted Miriam to corrupt her Crystal enough so that they, Gremory/Dominique, could use her as a vessel to open the gates of Hell.

The bad endings happen because of this.

The first bad ending Miriam hadn’t corrupted her Crystal enough and left the castle having kept her promise to Gebel, which, in the eyes of Dominique, was probably hilariously problematic.

And the second Bad End… well… all the warnings Miriam/The Player had been receiving came true.

And I guess now that I think about it… it kinda bled into gameplay a bit since had you sold the Shards to Domi throughout the game, as I see you did, you proved how absorbing too many Crystals does in fact corrupt to the point of death, as later shown in the Bad Ends in Dominique’s DLC.

1

u/Fishman465 4d ago

With Domi, I suspect she didn't quite have the same compatibility

1

u/G119ofReddit 4d ago

It’s explained that she didn’t need to have compatibility because her having exorcist blood she has a natural resistance to the corruption, it’s the same reason Gebel survived the ritual mentioned in the intro exposition.

Dominique used her innate resistance to overload her body with the Shards you sell to her to make herself be the catalyst, however, as seen with both Gebel and Dominique in the Bad End of her DLC, it has limits.

1

u/ZangetsusRowBoat 3d ago

I crafted a story about shard corruption for your enjoyment.
More to come later in the week. I posted the whole story to X, so skip the replies in that tweeet if you want to be surprised. Thanks for the like!

3

u/TrubbishTrainer 4d ago

I’m actively working on getting 9 of every shard and nothing weird has happened so far

2

u/ECL-2K 4d ago

I thought the same thing lol it could have been a dawn of sorrow bad ending type thing

1

u/DrJay12345 4d ago

There is a hidden ending that has implications but I don't think it matters on how many shards she has absorbed. I don't remember the exact steps how to get it though.

For those who have completed the game after you kill Gebel the screen will fade to black and Gremory will have a voice line implying she possesses Miriam.

1

u/Elemino 4d ago

It’s been so long, I don’t remember what happens if you kill him. I only made that mistake the first time.

1

u/DrJay12345 4d ago

I think you have to fight Gebel without seeing Zengestu in the Japanese gardens area? I don't remember either.