In my last post, I gave a run down on my thoughts involving a small indie title that was definitely not Castlevania, but most certainly still a fun romp when all was said and done. Wallachia: Reign of Dracula ended up being a solid old school run and gun…err, bow and go kind of side-scrolling action, more akin to a Contra or a Shinobi at the end of the day in stead of a Classic-vania kind of feel, but the inspiration is obvious.
An effort was made…we have not always been able to say the same so proudly.
There’s even an unlockable costume when you beat the game of Miriam from Bloodstained, a thankful collaboration and blessing from the big man IGA (credited as one of the essential progenitors of the Metroidvania genre) himself. I did get to thinking about the queerness of the affair, however, as I insistently pointed out that this game was not in fact a Castlevania title in the slightest, even though the name may allude to such happenings. Though, as we see first hand with thanks in the credits and even crossover references, Castlevania was indeed, at it’s root, this games inspirations.
And probably Xena for Elcin’s design..if Lucy Lawless was roiding like her life depended on it and shitting arrows on a regular basis.
My self-reflection on the write up did leave me with a sense of doubt on my own behalf, however, in just how accurate of an assessment I gave. How could a game so obviously drenched in reverence for Castlevania really feel nothing like the series it was paying homage to? For starters, much like this game isn’t one of the ‘Vania games, Wallachia also doesn’t feature any vampires whatsoever. Dracula is there, yes, and they even pay tribute to the Coppola Dracula film with the armor Oldman wears in the film, but he never actually does any vampiring of any sort to speak of. He does turn into a dragon as a saving throw against you, but I wouldn’t really list that under the purely vampiric behavior category, per se.
Though definitely a Dracula “Shit just got real” go to if I may say,
Wallachia also takes itself a lot more seriously than any of the ‘Vania games tend to, or at least, in reference to the ‘Vania series constant usage of old school monster movie cameos vs general atmosphere, the series has always kind of been happily camp about it’s own machinations, and we are all better for it. As I mentioned briefly at the end of my last write up, vampire media is almost seemingly made to be kind of cheesetastic or corny on some level (I might just be hungry thinking about it), doing it too seriously does end up making the premise feel like a forced marriage of ideas.
Or just a good old fashion awkward romance slathered in delusion
Obviously, the gameplay more than anything else will always be the grand divining force that puts everything into perspective, and in that regard Wallachia just doesn’t have the flow Castlevania does, though it is important to note it is also not trying to be Castlevania in a sense, so perhaps the comparison is moot. Within the realms of fitting more of the mold of an arcade archetype than a precision platformer, the focus of speed over accuracy is definitely one of the biggest characteristics that solidify the game in it’s quest to give respects to what has inspired it, but most certainly pushed it into another direction entirely.
If I squint really hard I can see the last boss fight from Wallachia
Which is kind of where I realized that diving into the topic…as I was doing it, was totally off base, as we are essentially comparing apples to oranges here when we really should have been comparing Draculas to aliens instead. Erroneously at first, we started with Castlevania as inspiration via a tough as nails action platformer, and we get to an arcade bow and go experience with Wallachia, it is almost like justifying the same set of expectations for the Evil Dead movies against Night of the Living Dead, or in this case, Interview with a Vampire to Bram Stoker’s Dracula.
There are differences.
For example: Tom Cruise
The zeitgeist changes, and with it, the aims and focuses shift with the perspective of both the storyteller and the audience in question, though more to the point, my focuses were not fixated upon the correct properties in question. With that acknowledgement articulated, I did continue to course correct the comparative process on my hands with Contra and Shinobi in mind, as the games are very much more in the vein of what Wallachia is trying to go for. Though, there is something to be said about the game leaning towards modernity with regards to merciful difficulty, and not only being more mindful of it’s level design and enemy placement, but general resource gathering and quality of life decisions that if it were without, would have likely had gamers burning it at the stake for being so antiquated.
Seen here: gamers when a retro title releases without QoL features these days
Truth be told, as fascinating as I would find it to go back and play aforementioned titles to really split hairs about where one goes right and the other goes wrong, I’m rather enjoying the replayability vs difficulty factor involved with Wallachia, so I’ll give it points for finding a way to strike that balance. While I have been guilty of pushing Wallachia through a comparative ringer this entire time, I do think the game stands on it’s own inspite of it’s flaws, and helps to remind gamers in general that we don’t always need a classic reinvented or some crazy infinitely updated triple A experience that keeps you playing forever to justify it’s existence.
Sometimes, games can just be fun. That should be enough.
~Pashford
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