Review – Chronicles of the Wolf

While I enjoy the Castlevania series a pretty good amount, I don’t think I have the same degree of fondness that others saturate themselves in. I gave Bloodstained a try, and it was fine, nothing particularly great or awful about it. I acknowledge the legacy that is Symphony of the Night, but nothing about the game grabbed me in a permanent stranglehold.

Truth be told, I have a tighter connection with the original NES Castlevania titles because they’re nostalgic for me, and that’s where my roots hold me. So I was prepared to go into Chronicles of the Wolf with a slightly more skeptical eye than some simply because this isn’t my bread and butter game. Yet I’m wondering if I would have enjoyed myself more had I been able to pretend I was aligning myself with something that I truly enjoyed, because, frankly, I was disappointed with the end result product.

Mateo Lombardo is our protagonist, an acolyte of the Rose Cross Order, because I guess we get as close as we can to certain terms and groups without overstepping and raising eyebrows. After a vicious attack slaughters everyone in Mateo’s company, he decides he’ll fight back against the Beast of Gévaudan, as if that wasn’t what he was doing before. With little more than a “good luck with that” from his elders, Mateo sets out across the land, encountering clear signs of creeping evil: zombies, ghosts, and animals that are generally unhappy to see him. Okay, things like birds attacking him would probably happen regardless, but let’s chalk that up to evil. Mateo will have plenty of support from NPCs who wish to see the world healed, as well as ghosts of heroes before him seeking validation beyond the grave. Pretty standard stuff, no one was asking for Shakespeare.

Chronicles of the Wolf presents itself as a metroidvania, asking you to traverse back and forth across the land to find different items, abilities and key components in order to move forward. Mateo can collect a variety of weapons that’ll aid him in his quest, both from store merchants and from randomly finding things in the field. What you randomly find is usually better than what you can buy in the store, but the surefire chance to get a slightly better blade with coin is a more consistent approach than “maybe this fake wall has a weapon behind it.” Mateo will also get alternate weapons that use a separate orb meter which become invaluable, with spinning energy spheres, bouncing explosions and rapid fire spears to round out the arsenal. The aforementioned ghosts act as cooldown-imposed boosters, giving you temporary effects like boosted attack power or resistance to status ailments.

Combat is your primary bread and butter, and Mateo’s got a weird balance of approach for a majority of the fighting. Hitboxes are clear on enemies, but the accessibility is restricted due to the movements of everyone. Mateo is a little janky in his walking/dashing, and his jumps have a bit of an arc to them that doesn’t always translate with his velocity well. The result is you might misgauge where your weapons are supposed to fall, which can lead to whiffs. However, the more often result is that you end up hitting the enemy regardless because your own hitboxes are surprisingly large, especially with overhead swinging weapons. When you combine the fact that you can hit any projectile out of the air, you find that fight progression isn’t very difficult. Hell, it tends to be downright easy as long as you don’t end up in a failstate.

Additionally, exploration is very straightforward in Chronicles of the Wolf, which is a bit of a relief. As much as I love a convoluted path that takes you westward ‘round the map, it’s nice to just be able to progress, backtrack a couple of screens, get the MacGuffin or talk to whomever and then proceed forward again. While there is a bit more digging down the further along you go, a vast majority of the game proceeds in an orderly fashion, giving this a very pleasant sensation in terms of “metroidvania.” You never get the sensation of being lost on what to do next or where to go, partially due to the linear nature and partially because the game spells things out and reminds you constantly. It’s good for people who want a bit of the Castlevania aesthetic but would prefer a more subdued approach.

Or, at least, it would be good if you could access the map a bit more easily. As much as it pains me to say, the technical issues of interfacing with Mateo and his menus make the game a bit of a chore. There’s a decided lag when it comes to loading up inventory or the overall map, and it takes its toll on your patience pretty quickly. This is exacerbated when the same kind of halting sensation applies to swapping weapons, an essential part of combat for bosses and even traversal mobs. The idea that you have to call a timeout while you fumble in your inventory to bust out a ranged weapon instead of a melee tool – something that could have been assigned to a hot button mechanic – really takes the momentum away from play time.

Here’s the thing: if Chronicles of the Wolf was released with very little fanfare attached to it, this would be a decent indie title that no one could say boo to. There are plenty of things to like: decent mob variety, a good play time, and an overall successful package. The artwork is not my favorite, as a lot of the portraits feel bug eyed and a bit unsettling to behold. The drop rate for coins is too low for the price of most things, especially as the save points (which act as heal points) are quite spread out, and the slog to return to where you died never feels like something I was happy to do. I wanted to be able to have an inventory full of heal potions, not scrimping to save for a new piece of armor so I wouldn’t get merced two screens away from salvation.

But the decision for the devs to proudly and loudly announce that Robert Belgrade was attached for narration gives players a certain perspective. Belgrade has an excellent career, but he is most well known as Alucard from Symphony of the Night, and putting Belgrade in any game then carries the weight of that legacy. You imagine that you’ll be hearing plenty of his dulcet tones narrating a lot of the experience, plus voice cast interjecting here and there for any number of things. But the thing is…voice acting is very sparse. Ghosts and merchants will talk, but not every time, and a majority of the NPCs are silent. Mateo himself rarely speaks for a protagonist who theoretically has a lot to say. It’s not wrong, but suggesting a prominent voice actor is a reason to get the game and then having him speak very little feels bait and switch-y.

Chronicles of the Wolf is fine. The score is strong and electronic, a bit out of place but not overly so. The system feels flawed but never broken. I beat most bosses by just wailing on them repeatedly. Getting a gun feels like cheating and you can do it pretty early on. I never actually cared when I leveled up. “Fine” might be too reductive, but this could have been either a delightful masterpiece or absolute garbage, and it’s neither. If you’re a huge Castlevania fan, it could be a lot of fun. If you liked Bloodstained better than most, then you’ll love this game. But when the sun rises in this house, Chronicles will simply disappear, like a nightmare with lingering doubts left in the day.

Graphics: 5.5 World design and layout is natural and aesthetically on point for the storyline, but the results are pretty dark. Most of the enemies and NPCs look great with one glaring exception (giant face trap was laughable). Something feels off in the portraits of characters that made me uneasy but things were, for the most part, good.	Gameplay: 5.5 Really basic in combat approach, any attempts to be more complex were waylaid by the interface. Exploration was decent and afforded some curiosity. Magic system didn’t feel spectacular and I often forgot to use ghosts unless I needed to. Might as well just not leveled up given how incidental the whole thing felt.
Sound: 7.0 Pretty on-the-nose soundtrack with tons of imposing electronic sound and some good atmospheric presence. The voice acting felt purposely wooden in several cases but that could have been an homage to the games of yesteryear. Belgrade wasn’t talking nearly enough.	Fun Factor: 6.0 This is absolutely one of those titles where, when you’re on a good run or having some solid moments, it’s fun and you can get into it. But once the wheels come off – sudden game over, bad fight – you see more of the cracks and the sheen isn’t so bright. It’s good, but it just isn’t great.
Final Verdict: 6.0

Chronicles of the Wolf is available now on Steam, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4/5 and Xbox Series One X/S.

Reviewed on Nintendo Switch.

A copy of Chronicles of the Wolf was provided by the publisher.