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Chronicles of the Wolf – Review

If you’re a fan of Konami’s legendary Castlevania series, then there’s a good chance you’re already familiar with Migami Games. The indie developer was responsible for several highly popular Castlevania fan games, including Lecarde Chronicles 1 & 2. It’s not surprising then that their latest game, Chronicles of the Wolf, takes more than a little inspiration from Castlevania. We’d go as far as to say that the game is a retro Castlevania game in all but its name. It’s often said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but does that translate to something worth playing, or are you better off sticking with the originals? Story Set in rural 18th-century France, Chronicles of the Wolf takes inspiration from stories about the Beast of Gévaudan. While historical accounts of the real-life beast are unclear about its nature, here it is depicted as a werewolf-like creature. Our story begins with the Beast massacring the apprentices of the Rose Cross Order, leaving only a single survivor: Mateo Lombardo. Mateo swears to avenge his fellow acolytes and sets out to hunt and destroy the Beast. Beyond this initial premise, Chronicles of the Wolf doesn’t really flesh out its story. Most of the supernatural events that occur are left unexplored from a narrative perspective. NPC dialogue comes across as vague and doesn’t change as the story progresses, which doesn’t help with creating an immersive atmosphere. The vagueness doesn’t stand in the way of the cookie-cutter plot, however, as this is as straightforward a revenge story as it gets. There are no unexpected twists here. With so much of the lore left unexplored, Chronicles of the Wolf’s story misses the mark. A lot more could have been done here.  Graphics The visual style of Chronicles of the Wolf is a dead ringer for that of old-school Castlevania games, in particular Symphony of the Night. The retro-styled pixel art is a highlight here, successfully evoking a dark gothic atmosphere. There is a surprising amount of visual variety here, both when it comes to environments and enemy designs. Lighting and weather effects warrant a mention because of how effectively they are used here, with a particular boss fight in the dark standing out. On the other hand, dialogue portraits aren’t always up to snuff, with some of the characters looking a little bug-eyed. While visual performance is great as a whole, animations also look a little stiff, though we’ll chalk that up to being period accurate to the style that is emulated here.  Sound As if Chronicles of the Wolf’s connection to Castlevania couldn’t be more clear, Migami Games managed to get Robert Belgrade to be the game’s narrator. If that name doesn’t immediately ring a bell, then we should tell you that he voiced Alucard in Symphony of the Night. As we mentioned earlier, though, the story isn’t all that fleshed out, and as a result, his voice work appears infrequently and sparsely. The dramatic soundtrack fits the game’s gothic atmosphere to a tee. Once again, the team got a Castlevania alumnus on board for this, in the form of Lords of Shadow composer Óscar Araujo, alongside Jeffrey Montoya, who scored the Lecarde Chronicles fan games. We’d go as far as to say that the soundtrack is the best thing about Chronicles of the Wolf. Rounding things out is an immersive set of sound effects like whooshing winds and gushing rain, which brings the soundscape together nicely.  Gameplay To the surprise of absolutely no one, Chronicles of the Wolf is an old-school Metroidvania. The ‘-vania’ in the genre name comes from Castlevania after all. With Chronicles of the Wolf mimicking those specific early iterations of the genre, it feels very much like a retro Castlevania title as a result. Still, there are some unique mechanics here that imbue the game with its own identity. Taking control of Mateo, you’ll explore a vast 2D world, returning to areas you’ve visited before as new paths open thanks to newly acquired abilities. These include familiar skills like a double jump, an air dash, and a sliding dodge, but also the ability to breathe underwater. The standout mechanic unique to Chronicles of the Wolf is the inclusion of friendly ghosts. These equipable spirits act similarly to magic spells in that they can provide different benefits, like healing Mateo or even making him temporarily invincible. However, using their abilities drains Mateo’s magic gauge. Effective resource management is the key to using them to their fullest extent.  Combat harkens back to the slower pace of yesteryear’s games, which does take some getting used to. Mateo has access to a fairly wide arsenal of weapons as well as buffs provided by those aforementioned ghost allies. In practice, fighting enemies feels rather clunky and stiff. Mateo can’t move and attack simultaneously, for example. Enemy hitboxes are rather generous, and their attack patterns are readable, so it’s not like combat is completely unworkable, but you’ll need to time your attacks slowly and methodically. Boss fights in particular can feel rather uninspired, as they often require brute force rather than pattern memorization and strategizing accordingly. Weapon swapping is fiddly and requires going into laggy menus, which disrupts the flow during intense fights. Hotkeys would have helped here. Fans of old school Castlevania will probably enjoy what is being offered, but for most players, the combat will feel off-putting instead.  Exploration, the other key part of any Metroidvania, comes with some major drawbacks as well. The world is fairly large, and Chronicles of the Wolf is sorely lacking in navigation features like objective markers or even a decent map. Fast travel exists, but you’ll need to memorize location names and pick where you want to go from a list. Save points are too few and far between, and there is no auto-save feature present. Add to this that there are traps that cause instant death, and you’ll find yourself having to do a lot of unwarranted backtracking. That’s not to say that Chronicles of the Wolf’s exploration has no merit, as there are tons of secrets to discover. When everything clicks into place, finding a tough-to-reach secret feels very satisfying. You will need a specific mindset before you embark on this adventure though, as the game was built with classic Castlevania fans in mind rather than trying to appeal to everyone. Whether that’s worth the €19.99 price tag is up to you.  Conclusion As far as retro Metroidvanias go, Chronicles of the Wolf delivers exactly what it promises. The gameplay feels much slower than you’d expect from a title releasing in 2025, with stiff and clunky combat and exploration that lacks the navigational tools modern audiences are used to. The story could have been fleshed out a lot better, but the audiovisual presentation makes up for this, with the soundtrack in particular being a highlight. Many of Chronicle of the Wolf’s gameplay flaws come from the game wanting to stick to the design philosophy of the games it takes inspiration from. If that’s something you can overlook— or even something you embrace —then the game is going to be worth your attention. For anyone else, Chronicle of the Wolf is going to be a much tougher sell.