In the absence of anything doing in terms of an actual entry in the Castlevania franchise, step forward Mig “MIGAMI” Perez to continue their sterling Paris-based work in keeping the spirit of old-skool Vania alive and kicking. Chronicles of the Wolf is not so much a bit of a nod toward, but actually somehow feels like a canonical supercharged evolution of the very best 8-bit iterations of the classic Konami series.
Just as the Castlevania titles heavily features cryptids and mythological beasts as enemies, Chronicles of the Wolf has me doubly invested as both a fan of the games it is paying homage to, but as a big fan of unexplained folkloric monstrosities – as it has a story based upon the Beast of Gevaudan – a widespread myth in olden days central France about a carnivorous entity that tore up the countryside inspiring fear and terror.
Gameplay wise, Chronicles of the Wolf is stylistically and in terms of its actual platforming physics resolutely in the ballpark of the NES ‘Vanias, but with the exploratory Metroidvania structure that was introduced later down the line. So that means you don’t have quite the same fluidity of movement you get when controlling Alucard in SOTN, but you do get plenty of cool abilities, weapons and items to hunt down and more freedom to explore the large map areas. And the Symphony of the Night mentions do not end there, either. Robert Belgrade, the magnificently named orator behind the voice of Alucard, steps in here with his instantly recognisable timbre with a typically high-class job narrating the story bookends on this one.
The platforming rarely frustrates as can so often happen in retro themed takes like this – there were only a few occasions of note such as when I missed an obstacle above my head due to a palette clash and couldn’t work out why I was unable to make the next platform in front of me. There are occasionally a few glitches and bits of flicker, but this did not hinder me and I kind of saw it as part of the charm. Indeed the graphics overall are great – I really appreciate the way that they have kept things looking like they came from a bygone era, whilst covertly employing modern hardware grunt to keep things looking sharp, vivid and varied.
After a nice bit of scene setting and a relatively tame opening section, the difficulty in this one ramps up big time after a visit to a creepy, labyrinthine taxidermist (another Vania mainstay!) where you are attacked by floating stag heads and pelted with nefarious green projectiles by the wall mounted heads of long slain bears. It is at this point I started to realise that I was going to die frequently if I didn’t backtrack and use some of my in game currency to purchase some health potions. Even then you find yourself routinely getting your ass handed to you by respawning enemies when you exit and re-enter areas. It is, as I said, resolutely old school in its approach.
There are some interesting takes on sub weapons and some cool special attacks on offer once you find the relevant artifacts, and the rogues gallery of enemies feature some great designs, much like Bloodstained, this one strikes out on its own with some unique enemies. And, funny I should mention that one – as there is a tasty not-so-hidden treat buried in Chronicles of the Wolf for fans of the Koji Igarashi banger.
Further links to Castlevanias of the past come by way of the terrific soundtrack from Jeffrey Montoya. The tunes on the whole are frequently jaw dropping, combining familiar series tropes with some real nasty sounding licks of guitar and bass.
Fans of Castlevania will absolutely lap Chronicles of the Wolf up, as it is basically a member of that storied lineage in all but name, and it is super cool that the French devco have used a prime piece of ancient French folklore in the fact-meets-fiction plot. Play-wise, it won’t sit well with those more in tune to the more modern takes on the series due to the stiffer movement scheme, and there are a few shaky moments graphically, although I was having too much fun for it to bother me. I would hope that this will do well and possibly convince Konami that the time is now to break open the coffin and bring back the OG for one more thrust of the stake.
