Chronicles of the Wolf Review
Migami Games brings us what amounts to a new Castlevania that Konami wouldn’t.
Chronicles of the Wolf. Migami Games / PQube
Chronicles of the Wolf is a loving 16-bit tribute to Castlevania so faithful that you could mistake it for a game from the series at a glance. It comes as no surprise, given that developer Migami Games is behind the Lecarde Chronicles, which are richly produced, free fan games set in the Castlevania universe. I love Metroidvanias, and I love Castlevania. I’m sure I’ve said both of these things several times in my reviews, if you’ve been keeping up, so it should come as no surprise that I loved this game.
You play as Mateo Lombardo of the Rose Cross Order, sent to France to hunt for the Beast of Gévaudan, a monster that has been terrorizing and killing the locals. As you reach the game’s various endings, you’ll discover that you can make other choices to continue to unveil the true source of the evil, something far worse than the Beast. The story isn’t especially great, but I appreciate that its premise draws from a real-life panic in 18th-century France, where people believed a supernatural, unkillable beast was responsible for a series of deaths, until the animal, likely a large wolf, was finally killed.
Chronicles of the Wolf. Migami Games / PQube
The game plays like Castlevania, most closely resembling Dracula X. Movement feels slightly sluggish, and most attacks are slow. You have a main weapon and a subweapon. Main weapons come in several flavors that vary in attack range, overall strength, and speed—daggers, swords, axes, muskets, etc. Subweapons are similar to Castlevania: pick one up, and use it as a secondary attack as long as you have enough ammo. In addition, Mateo has a powerful charge attack with several upgradable strengths that consume subweapon ammo, and support spells that consume mana. I do wish the controls were more responsive, but I had become accustomed to them by the time I finished the game.
Throughout the game, you’ll earn abilities, equipment, and relics that open up new areas gated by the Metroidvania design. Most are generally useful, such as a slide, double jump, and airdash, but many others are used in a single place, functioning more like a key than an ability. Some items help you avoid a death trap that will kill you instantly, something I could have also done without.
The game’s map is huge, with a lot of secrets to uncover on your way to the game’s true ending. The biomes are varied and offer diverse challenges; exploration, in general, feels very rewarding. I spent hours combing through the game’s world, looking for all the items. There are fast travel portals, though at times I wished there were more of them.
The RPG-like leveling system boosts your power, defense, etc., as does equipment. While the game can be very difficult at times, grinding just a little bit can help immensely, especially by boosting your defense. However, with patience, it’s totally possible to beat every boss in the game while underleveled, as long as you’re patient enough to wait for the right moments in the attack patterns and chip away the boss’s HP with a weaker weapon.
Chronicles of the Wolf. Migami Games / PQube
The game’s 16-bit style 2D graphics give each area of the game personality. You could easily mistake Mateo’s sprite for a Belmont, but everything else felt more unique. I particularly liked the designs of the game’s many bosses, especially the largest ones that fill most of the screen. I was more impressed by the game’s excellent soundtrack, composed by Jeffrey Montoya, which struck me as immensely varied, as I always felt like I was hearing something new. The soundtrack’s Steam page lists a staggering 57 tracks, even more than I thought. It’s truly excellent.
The only things that soured my experience with the game were bugs. Playing the game on the Steam Deck, I encountered issues, although I didn’t experience some of the problems mentioned by users on the Steam discussion boards. In my case, the game performed smoothly, but there were frequent crashes when opening the map or menu. After a particular SteamOS update, the game became unplayable due to a graphics issue, but fiddling with some settings resolved that, and then crashes seemed rarer.
Chronicles of the Wolf. Migami Games / PQube
The other issue I encountered wasn’t game-breaking, but was incredibly irritating. Opening the map, menu, or some shop screens made the screen flash white ahead of the transition. I tend to play in a dark room, and it was blinding. I’m not sure if this was a deliberate design choice or a bug, but it needs to be addressed. The first patch went live a couple of days ago, and I don’t see this mentioned, so I assume it still happens.
I loved the game enough to play through these bugs and issues, which would usually have made me quit. Chronicles of the Wolf is a truly fantastic Metroidvania that kept me enthralled for the 19 hours that it took me to find nearly all the items and get the true ending. If not for the irritating issues I encountered, I would have given the game a higher score. I can’t wait to see what Migami does next.
Chronicles of the Wolf is available now on Steam, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4/5, and Xbox One | Series XS.
Overall Score: 8/10
Played on: Steam Deck
