Romancelvania

An Exercise in apathy, neither solid nor liquid. Not exactly bad, but not very good either. Just a bit 'meh,' really.

Romancelvania is easily one of the best Metroidvania style games of the last decade. It feels a bit like Castlevania with a dash of humor with its reality TV setting. Thankfully you’re able to explore outside the castle and each area is uniquely designed. While it is annoying not being able to see enemies more often than not, but it doesn’t deter the complete experience. Romancelvania is a must play.

I can see what this team was going for with this game, but sadly Romancelvania is a jack of all trades but master of none. If this was a straight up visual novel, I think the experience would have been richer, but with the lackluster combat, wonkiness of controlling Drac themselves and the last few contestants just feeling like they were thrown in the mix; I come away wishing for better for this game. It’s not a horrible game, but its not really a good one either, if you want to experience it for the laughs just know that it will come with the tears of having to deal with the combat.

Dating monsters and exploring a gothic mythical world has its perks, and Romancelvania’s design and music give it a sense of awe and wonder. Unfortunately the developers bit off more than they could chew.

Romcancelvania has all the qualities of my ideal partner. I like the way it looks. Looks aren’t everything though; it’s also got it where it counts. It makes me laugh, uses puns, probably too much. It challenges me to grow as a person and improve my weapons often. When it comes down to it, the game is a Metroidvania and it’s dating-sim. The Deep End Games does both pretty darn well. Just like in the reality show, no matter your flavor of weird, Romancelvania’s got something for you.

I don’t regret a single moment I spent with Romancelvania. Don’t get me wrong, I’m hopeful for future improvements to the gameplay and I certainly acknowledge that it has its shortcomings, but for every misstep in 3D modeling or janky boss battle there’s 10 brilliant lines of dialogue that will no doubt put a smile on your face. The characters, their backstories, the ridiculous nature of everything going on will have you coming back for more. Every rose ceremony will leave you in strife as you must decide which monster you’re going to miss out on for the rest of your run. You’ll 100% want to replay again just to have more time with those you cut off the first go around. You can not help but have fun with Romancelvania.

Romancelvania is a great visual novel trapped inside a Metroidvania that bites off more than it can chew. Dualshockers was provided with a copy of the game for review purposes.

Regardless of the strong art direction, voice acting, and dialogue, Romancelvania can't overcome its failings in most other aspects regarding gameplay.