Chronicles of the Wolf

The fact that I played Chronicles of the Wolf for around an hour on my PC and then bought a physical copy for my collection tells you right off the bat, I loved this game. What we have here is a very cool and gothic Metroidvania game, and one of the better ones I have played recently. Now, I will warn you right away, this is a very challenging game, and if you want a game that is going to hold your hand, this may not be for you. However, if you do not mind rolling your sleeves up and putting in some effort, you will find this a very rewarding experience.

The Last Apprentice!

The story of Chronicles of the Wolf is awesome, and if you love gothic horror and action type stuff, you will get a huge kick out of it. We play the role of a brave young man called Mateo Lombardo, and we are the last of the Rose Cross Order, an order that is tasked with taking down all kinds of dangerous monsters. The real evil of this game is the monstrous Beast of Gevaudan. This is a supernatural kind of story for sure, but it has a bit more grit and realism than you may be expecting, and this was something I thought was really cool.

The Mania Of Metroidvania!

At the start of Chronicles of the Wolf, it had a more standard, Super Castlevania IV style, as it felt more like a classic side scroller. However, the game opens up and then really shows its Metroidvania heart. You will have to explore, get new items, upgrade, level up, and all the other stuff you would expect from a game in this genre. There is also puzzle solving as well! Combat is very challenging, but it feels fantastic, and I liked how each time you got a new weapon or magical ability, the game kind of forced you to use it so that you could get an idea of what everything feels like. If you like this genre of game, there is no way that you will not like this. It even has multiple endings, too, the best one is a real SOB to do as well, which brings me to a make or break aspect for many people of this game.

You Trained For This

Being hard is the staple of many Metroidvania games and let me tell you, Chronicles of the Wolf is not screwing around! The game is very hard, but I relished this challenge, and when I did die…. And have to do a lot of stuff I just did, it fired me up. I can see some sections being a bit frustrating for some people, but for the right player, the difficulty is a massive plus. The game does not hold your hand at all. Some of these puzzles are rather cryptic, but when you do get them figured out, you feel like such a smarty pants! The map is also another thing that adds to the difficulty, as there are no waypoints, and you cannot put markers on it. The game wants you to feel like you are on a deadly adventure, and it 100 percent succeeds in this regard.

A Hint Of Bram Stoker

Many of these Metroidvania games that try to be like the Castlevania games, as far as their aesthetic goes, tend to look similar. Chronicles of the Wolf is one of the best-looking and sounding games from this genre. The game looks fantastic, and you have all the locations you would expect from a creepy castle to an evil-looking forest. The monster designs are awesome, and I love how smooth everything moves. This looks more like something that would have been on the Sega Saturn than it does the Super Nintendo. What really blew me away, though, was the sound design. The music is fantastic, but the narration is done by the dude who played Alucard in Castlevania: Symphony of the Night!

Pros:

• I love the supernatural/gothic story and setting
• The music and voice acting are incredible
• This is a challenging but very fun Metroidvania game
• There is a lot of replay value here, as there are multiple endings

Cons:

• The difficulty may be a tad much for some people
• Some of the puzzles may be a tad on the cryptic side

Chronicles of the Wolf is a metroidvania based on real events. Immerse yourself in the story of the last survivor of the infamous beast attack and set out on a path of revenge to honor your comrades with the blood of the enemy. Mateo Lombardo was but a student of the Order of the Rose Cross and was the last to see them alive. The night and the forest spared no one, the experienced knights knew this and set up camp and lit a fire. Except the beast doesn't care about the fire and doesn't care about those who fall into its clawed paws. Track down the wyrm and bring his head to the inconsolable families of your comrades.

Game Pros:

• Story based on a real historical case of an attack on humans known as the Beast of Gévaudan
• Classic gameplay and pixelated metroidvania design