For all the Metroidvanias that are made, surprisingly few of them aim for the Castlevania side of things. Finding stat-based gear, levelling up, etc, just doesn’t show up as often as it should. Chronicles of the Wolf is made by the makers of Castlevania fan games, so it’s not a surprise that it looks and feels like a Castlevania game with a different name. The game does a great job of providing that kind of experience and is actually even better than some of that series’ games. In the end, it’s an enjoyable adventure that scratches all of the right itches along the way.
If you were wondering if Chronicles of the Wolf was about a vampire hunter going into a vampire’s castle, you may be surprised to learn that it absolutely isn’t. The game is partially based on real-world myths, namely The Beast of Gevauden, which deaths in France were occasionally attributed to during the years between 1764 and 1767. You play as a man named Mateo who is part of the Rose Cross order, who aims to track down and stop The Beast from taking more innocent lives. But that’s only the first third or so of the game. Initially, you’re tracking down a cult’s apostles in order to finally kill The Beast, before heading into a castle to stop the cult once and for all.
As such, the first third of the game takes place in the French countryside, as you explore and try to stop the apostles. It’s very reminiscent of Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest (but much, much better anyway.) Past this point, the castle itself is very true to its inspiration. You continually get new abilities that allow you to reach new areas, all while fighting monsters, bosses, and platforming around. There’s only one difficulty level in the game, but it’s mostly well-balanced, save for a frustrating spot here or there. There are naturally a lot of optional areas and bosses to find too (well, optional in the sense that you can technically beat the game without them), which makes exploring even more rewarding.
Control-wise, Chronicles of the Wolf plays a lot like the 2D Castlevania games that inspire it, although the gameplay is somewhat rigid, which is more in line with the older titles. This stiffness can lead to some frustrations with the combat and platforming, but for the most part, it all works just fine. There is one optional platforming gauntlet that unlocks later in the game that is honestly just cheap, as it requires you to take ridiculous leaps of faith while struggling with the control rigidity. But overall, I was pleased with the way the game feels, as I was mostly right at home with all of it.
However, there are no whips in the game. Mateo has access to a few weapon types that mostly break down to stabbing weapons, downward arcing ones, and guns. As with the DS Castlevania games, I prefer the downward arc weapons and used those for most of my playthrough here. There’s also a subweapon system (with just a few weapon types) and a magic system. The magic is far more robust and comes in two forms. Mateo meets up with ghosts that cast powerful spells with various uses, such as healing him, making him stronger, dispelling status effects, and more.
There are less expensive offensive magic attacks, such as a fireball, an aura wave, and sending out a stream of needles. As far as mobility, there are multiple jumps, air dashes, and a slide. Weirdly, there’s no dodge mechanic or backdash skill. This can sometimes be aggravating, as it would be very nice to be able to get out of the way when need be. Some of the magic skills are also so prohibitively expensive that they drain almost your entire magic bar. While you can find health and subweapon expansions, I don’t recall finding any magic expansions, so the amount can just feel very low much of the time.
Chronicles of the Wolf‘s map does a fairly decent job of helping you get around, but it does lack some quality of life choices that I think would have made things better. You can’t pin anything and rooms don’t tell you anything about what’s in them. At one point in the game, you get the ability to interact with certain statues. Before getting this, I had no idea that the statues could be interacted with and there was no way to get back to them without re-exploring the map, since you can’t place any references to them and the map itself certainly doesn’t tell you.
In terms of progression, Chronicles of the Wolf never holds your hand. It doesn’t place icons on the map telling you where to go and there aren’t NPCs that you can ask for hints if you’re stuck. For the most part, though, progression is pretty clear and it’s not easy to get stuck. Although, I wasn’t able to find the last of the six items I needed to get the game’s best ending initially, even though I scoured the map as best as I could.
The missing item ended up being held by an NPC the game initially won’t let you speak to, but they’re not marked on the map so you have to just remember them. The game has multiple endings, with some of them being sort of joke endings you get for making evil choices and the like. I got four of these, but there are five in total. Once you beat the game with the best ending, you unlock a boss rush, cutscene gallery, and sound test, so it’s not exactly packed with extra content in this capacity.
You can probably beat the game in seven or eight hours if you don’t mind getting the second best ending, but actually seeing things through will probably take around 10. Plus, there’s a good amount of stuff to find and some aspects are hidden particularly well, so this number will vary based on what you want. It’s safe to say Chronicles of the Wolf is an excellent Metroidvania that captures pretty much everything I love about Castlevania games.
Chronicles of the Wolf: Filled with satisfying action and exploration, Chronicles of the Wolf is a very good spiritual successor to the Metroidvania Castlevania games of old. – Andrew Farrell
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