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It’s been a long time since Konami has given us a new Castlevania game. Sure, we’ve gotten some great rerelease collections to help scratch that itch (and a solid Netflix adaptation), but the series hasn’t pumped out a fully new game in over a decade. Thankfully, indie developers have stepped in to satiate that hunger. Games like Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night serve as excellent alternatives that capture the spirit of Castlevania.
If you’re looking for another game in that vein, you’ll want to give Blade Chimera a shot. It’s the exact jolt of whip-cracking, demon-slaying 2D action you’re craving.
Released last week on PC and Nintendo Switch, Blade Chimera is the latest release from Team Ladybug. The studio previously released the absurdly-titled Record of Lodoss War: Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth, a standout 2021 Metroidvania that drew inspiration from Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. Blade Chimera follows up on that success with another pixel art action game that riffs on Castlevania while adding its own spin.
Set in a cyberpunk version of Japan, Blade Chimera follows a mysterious hero named Shin who is hired to kill demons. In a twist of fate, though, Shin befriends a demon named Lux who takes the form of a shapeshifting sword. That setup sets the stage for a typical action-adventure game where Shin slashes through hallways full of monsters and utilizes a slew of sword powers, from time manipulation to grappling, to explore a dark world.
While its story is a bit of white noise at times, Blade Chimera excels as a 2D action game with just enough RPG layers to call Castlevania to mind. That starts with Shin’s two weapons slots, which can be filled with either long or close range tools. In my playthrough, I’m using a full-auto machine gun in one slot and a long whip in the other. Those weapons work hand-in-hand with magic attacks and my sword powers. For instance, I can jab Lux into the ground to create a barrier around myself or toss them out to hit foes with a devastating attack. There’s a surprising amount of depth to combat thanks to mix-and-match customization. Of course, there’s classic Castlevania RPG progression too; killing enough enemies results in a familiar screen-freezing level-up.
What I especially love, though, is that Blade Chimera goes out of its way to make sure players aren’t wasting their time. This is your typical Metroidvania where maps are filled with secrets that are locked behind doors that need keycards or unlockable skills like sliding. Rather than forcing Shin to constantly backtrack, players can fast travel to any square on the map instantly. That takes the arduous chore work out of exploration, as I can simply zip straight back to a locked area once I’ve gotten the right ability. It’s a streamlined game for those who hate that repetitive nature of late-game Metroidvania item-hunting.
I don’t expect Blade Chimera to become a genre-defining game; it’s another solid indie Metroidvania in a long line of them. Its weighed down by some stiff movement and a fairly typical sci-fi story, but Team Ladybug is a meat and potatoes kind of studio. It has the fundamentals of the genre down pat and knows how to create a 2D action game that gets a lot of variety out of its systems. Its fast, stylish, and filled with folklore-inspired demons that give it some unique, Japanese flair. In a more crowded month, it might get lost in the mix, but it’s a perfect release for a slow January. Give it a download if you’ve got a hankering for some Castlevania-style action and I’m sure you’ll find yourself losing a good weekend to it.
Blade Chimera is out now on Nintendo Switch and PC.
