Release: 2018
Developer: Inti Creates
Platform: PC
Genre: 2d, Action, Platformer
Gameplay Stats: 2 hours, 9/15 Achievements
This game is part of the Stretch Goals for the 2015 Kickstarter darling, Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night. Both games are directed by Koga Igurashi and are seeking to emulate the success of Castlevania games without the help of Konami, the company that owns the series and all products associated it. This particular game is in the vein of the original Castlevania games on the NES and SNES.
Visuals: This game looks straight up like an NES game. I think maybe the menus are a bit more detailed than what you would find in an actual game from the era, but the graphics definitely look 8-bit. They expanded the color pallets and I'm a huge fan of that. It gives the game a distinctly nostalgic look, but it doesn't necessarily embrace the weaker points of the hardware of that era. The enemies, characters, and abilities all look great. A special shout out is definitely due for the boss design. They all look great and are animated fairly well. I really enjoyed the overworld map and how closely it resembled the original game. It even showed you additional paths through the level, I'm not sure if the original did that.
Audio: The sounds are good! They are just a repetitive and slightly grating as they were when I just started my video game career. The music I didn't think was quite as catchy as many of the tunes I remember from my childhood, but I suppose I only remember the greats. The music here was fine. I wouldn't necessarily say it was good or bad, but it works. I don't think I'll listen to the soundtrack again, but that's not out of hate.
Plot: I mean I guess there's some plot here? In a similar vein of the previous sections, the plot is as sparse as it was in the good old days. Zangetsu is a hunter seeking to destroy people who use crystals to harness power for their own gains. In the first few levels, you get to add a few characters to your party and they add to your available attacks and exploration abilities. I think this plot is sufficiently minimal to properly set up the actual game that's in development.
Gameplay: This gameplay is very reminiscent of the original Castlevania games and I think it was done well. The only change I can think of is the character switch mechanic. Each character has their own stats, abilities, and attacks. This includes HP, for better or worse. I liked this game quite a bit and the only thing I would necessarily add would be a quicker way to die with all of your characters so you can use a life and get them all back at your most recent checkpoint. While exploring I would often switch between all of the characters and they would all get low on life relatively evenly. When I lost one character I would have to start the screen over again with 3 characters all with low health. I wish I could've opted to use a life to start fresh, even if it was a bit further back.
I don't think this game is particularly deep, but I don't think it was meant to be. It piques my interest for the full release of the game due out in the next year or so. That being said, I don't think I would recommend it to someone that wasn't already really excited about the game coming out soon. This is a game for the die hard fans, excited about the Kickstarter and I think that hits the mark. [7/10]
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