A simple but extremely fun metroidvania that uses the aesthetic and foundation of the original Castlevania to make something super expanded. For a metroidvania, especially in the modern day, it is quite short which is actually a positive for me! Still, it is a lot longer than the original Castlevania if we're not counting how many times you'd have to replay the same levels because you keep dying and there aren't any passwords or save files in that game.

This fan game rearranges all of the levels into different rooms and areas in a much larger castle that can be freely traversed through. There are tons of power ups and different whips (with 8 directional action!) that don't just unlock different routes but also can fundamentally change the way you play the game. It is very well designed and I never found myself getting lost. Because of how relatively small the map is when compared to modern metroidvanias, it was pretty easy to make an entire trip around the castle to find what I was looking for.

The game also features a card system that lets you purchase cards with the money you collect throughout the game from various enemies and candles. You can only equip three at a time, but they will enhance your moveset or survivability. I went for a build that was solely focused on surviving and only saw one game over, so perhaps the game could be a little bit harder, but I'm also fairly decent at Castlevania so maybe it is a bit harder for newer players. There is a card that makes the game harder, which might be a tantalizing option for another playthrough.

I'm actually a really big fan of the original Castlevania. It's on my top 100 games list! Seeing the game remade into something way more feature complete with a map and everything was like a dream for me and I loved every second of it. The pace never felt like it was going too slow, the vast majority of the rooms weren't annoying to deal with despite revisiting them several times, and I never ran into any bugs whatsoever.

I do wish that the game gave me a little bit more incentive to use other items. The healing item was so good, especially when I had been pretty meticulously going through and collecting all of the secret items (which the game graciously marks on the map), that I didn't want to get rid of it to use something else in fear of not being able to find it again in the future. Given that hearts can be collected all over the place, perhaps they should have reduced the amount of hearts you can have at any given time or made the healing item only available towards the end of the game. They could have even done something where the healing item was just separate from the heart function entirely, but I can respect the choice to keep it simple and closer to being in line with the original.

It was also pretty annoying that you would auto pick up any item you walked over. I know that's how the original game is, but a lot of hacks have done away with that feature so that you have to more intentionally pick up items. It's always annoying to accidentally pick one up and then you have to wait for the cooldown to pick up your original one that got booted out.

I can also appreciate the creator's restraint when it comes to not adding tons of content that would have not appeared in the originals outside of the powerups. However, it does mean that the game ends up feeling a little bit lacking as a brand new entity and it does feel a lot more like a hack. That is genuinely a good thing still, but I can't help but feel like something is missing.

In any regard, I'd highly recommend checking this one out if you like metroidvanias, and especially if you have an appreciation for the original Castlevania. You'll love it!

#beardgamereview