Games I Played in 2024 - Wallachia: Reign of Dracula

 

Console: PC, PS4, Switch

Developer: Migami Games

Release Date: February 28th 2020

Wallachia: Reign of Dracula is a run and gun game that is very much a tribute to late 80's to mid 90's arcade games of its genre. Simply put, Wallachia looks like a Castlevania game, but plays like a Contra game. Developed by Migami Games, a stalwart freeware game developer based in France since the late 90's, Wallachia appears to be their first game to be released at a price. They are perhaps best known for the Haunted Castle series and the Castlevania: The Lecarde Chronicle fangames. To be completely honest, I bought Wallachia because it looked like an old Castlevania game, and I was surprised to find that it actually was a run and gun game. Or, more accurately, a run and arrow game.

Wallachia stars Elcin, an archer who aims to kill Dracula for stealing her brother and killing her parents. And by Dracula, I indeed mean the "real" Dracula: Vlad the Impaler. Even though the name Wallachia should've tipped me off, I was pleasantly surprised that the game was about Vlad the Impaler and not a vampire, since I don't think I've seen many games tackle this part of history. Thanks to this, Wallachia stands out as somewhat unique in terms of setting. Aesthetically, the pixel art is quite pleasing and strikes a good balance of having big sprites without (always) getting in the way of gameplay. Outside of a few platforms that feel like they're parts of the background and not actual platforms, everything in the game is clear and enemies are brightly colored in general to make things obvious.

Even with the game's camera being fairly zoomed in, Wallachia never really has off-screen attacks coming out of nowhere. Enemies that are just barely on-screen will generally not attack or blindly charge towards Elcin, so it's not hard to react to them. But make no mistake: Wallachia is a retro game through and through, and its difficulty is quite high on the default Normal difficulty. The best way to see Wallachia is like a console port of an old arcade game, and it mostly passes as one.

When it comes to being a tribute to the quarter-munching arcade games that inspired it, Wallachia is practically perfect. For me, it makes more archaic design decisions, like low amounts of checkpoints, a points system, and challenge reliant on both strategy and trial-and-error more forgivable. Instead of coming across as design flaws or something done by accident, this feels intentional and done with a reverence for the olden times in a way that is still somewhat approachable for today's audience. The game even includes a Neo Geo-style tutorial before each playthrough, which also serves as the stage select screen.

Surprisingly, though simple on the surface, Wallachia is pretty deep mechanically. Or, at least, deeper than I thought it would be. Elcin can shoot arrows in 8 directions (though she can only shoot straight down when jumping) and swing her sword in an overhead swing which can destroy enemy arrows. Being a "run and arrow" game, there is no automatic fire and instead each button press fires an arrow, though there appears to be a limit to how fast you can go: going faster than that results in what feels like the game "eating" inputs which is a bit frustrating to say the least. Holding the bow button will charge up a shot, reminiscent of a Mega Man charge shot. Elcin can also slide by crouching and pressing the jump button, useful for dodging projectiles. Finally, Elcin can be forced to stand in place to help with aiming diagonally without having to move.

There are three types of consumable arrows that can be found and equipped throughout the game: explosive arrows, piercing arrows, and spread arrows. Explosive arrows do a small explosion when hitting an enemy, potentially damaging multiple enemies, and do more damage in general. Piercing arrows go through enemies and walls, which can make some encounters trivial. And spread arrows fire an extra arrow up and down diagonally. While very useful, I rarely found myself using these outside of late-game enemy gauntlets or boss battles. Similarly to Contra, the majority of these power-ups are acquired by shooting birds that fly by holding boxes. These are consistent, which can help when trying to strategise to beat a level.

Finally, Wallachia features what is essentially a magic system: using one of Elcin's four companions, you can cast a spell when you've collected enough black orbs, the game's main drop. Silviu the wolf dashes forward to heavily damage anything in front of you, Radu uses a screen-wiping fire spell, Christian makes you invincible for a limited time, and Konstantin upgrades your arrows. Each spell has a more powerful version that costs more black orbs, with the stand-out being Christian healing you. 

While difficult and frustrating in parts, I found that Wallachia was nowhere near as difficult as the old games it emulates. Elcin starts with 4 HP and can get more through items that drop throughout the levels (though it goes back down to 4 if she dies) instead of dying in a single hit like you would in Contra or Metal Slug. Even better, the game clearly displays a big DANGER indicator for a second or two when something dangerous is about to enter the screen that you wouldn't be able to see coming. When taking damage, there's the classic Ninja Gaiden or Castlevania knockback, but since the game features a double jump, you can simply recover with your double jump if knocked off a platform. The double jump also means there's no real precision platforming like in old games where your one jump is just barely enough to reach the next platform.

Before a boss fight, there are rarely, if ever, any enemies rushing you and there is an obvious full recovery pick-up, ensuring you're at full HP for the boss at the very least. The game will often give the player enough black orbs for one spell and a handful of special arrows before a boss as well, especially if respawning at a checkpoint. The bosses are simple, but difficult on a first try. They are typically large, with specific weak points, and attacks that are tough (but possible) to dodge. Some early game bosses even become rare enemies later on in the game. The boss variety is surprisingly good, at least as good as it can be for a game with 7 stages, with single enemies, enemy groups, and contraptions, amongst other things. Each one genuinely feels different, which is a heck of an achievement for a game like this. One will swarm you, another will be an obstacle course, and another will be a tense duel.

This variety also applies to the game's stages, as each one actually feels different. From open fields, to scaling a mountain, to trudging through flooded caves, to platforming on galloping horses and carriages, to running through a razed village, Wallachia maximizes its short runtime by making sure all 7 of its stages are memorable in their own way. The game isn't afraid to use verticality in its level design either, which is something I don't see often in these types of game and helps Wallachia stand out.

The game's achievements are in-game and also unlock challenge levels, which are basically minigames. You also get to unlock a special costume for Elcin after finishing the game once, as well as a sound test. While I didn't particularly extend my playtime to bother with these extras, I think it's still worth pointing them out. Their inclusion makes the package feel more complete and, again, like a console port of a beloved classic arcade game.

As one would expect for a game of this genre, the story in Wallachia is a bit on the simple side, but that's not really a flaw: the cutscenes consist of really nice sketchy drawings and fully voice-acted dialogue. There are also NPCs in a few missions with extra dialogue, and all the bosses also have voiced lines. The voice acting is mostly serviceable: Elcin is voiced by Kira Buckland, quite clearly the best acted character in the game, and most of the other characters are voiced by the developers or a handful of other actors. Of note is Radu, who is voiced by Robert Belgrade, famously known for being Alucard's voice in Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. Some of the nameless NPCs have very shaky voice acting, but it doesn't really matter, as old games usually had bad voice acting so the mix of performance quality doesn't harm the final product. The story itself is somewhat carried by the fact it's an unconventional setting. It must be noted that the ending leaves the game wide open for a sequel, which while great, also makes it less satisfying.

Wallachia's soundtrack was composed by Jeffrey Montoya, one of the founders of Migami Games as far as I can tell. The soundtrack is frankly incredible, with each track perfectly fitting the part of each stage they play on. There are no repeats, and each boss also has its own unique theme. Even the instrumentation feels fitting, with a mix of multiple types of guitars, drums, synths, organs, and horns that are never overused to forge a sonic identity all Wallachia's own. The track "Scorched Earth" is my personal favorite, with a really memorable echoing synth melody played over a driving beat and strumming classical guitar. Some tracks even have sound effects subtly inserted into the background, such as horse galloping or rain, to suit the stage even better. Some more dramatic tracks, like "Targoviste in Shadows," even bring in vocals! It doesn't necessarily sound like Castlevania music, but you can feel the inspiration. For the challenge levels, the tracks were composed by guest composers and are just as good as the rest of the soundtrack. Since they were not made by Montoya, they feel different, which suits the challenge levels perfectly. I recommend looking up Jeffrey Montoya on Youtube or Spotify and giving it a listen, if only to support him.

PROS AND CONS

PROS

• Accurate tribute of the arcade games it emulates while discarding truly outdated designs.

• Amazing soundtrack.

• Pitch perfect difficulty; feels purposefully designed to call back to the olden times while not being overly difficult or frustrating

• Enemy, boss, and stage variety keeps each stage fresh.

• Great visuals overall.

• Fully voice-acted in a way that's not too distracting.

• Essentially the perfect length.

• Satisfying feeling of progression while learning a stage.

CONS

• Can feel unfair at times, especially if not well-versed in these types of games.

• All abilities are introduced simultaneously, which makes it overwhelming at first; using power-ups, especially spells, is an easy thing to forget even though it truly helps to use them.

• Challenge stages feel like a bit of an afterthought and aren't particularly interesting to play.

• Some of the voice acting is quite poor.

• Appears to have an input recognition issue when mashing, which can lead to trouble.

• Character sprites are larger than in other games of this genre, which can make things feel awkward especially at first.

• First impression is jarring, since one would expect Castlevania gameplay but it's actually much closer to Contra.

 WORTH PLAYING?

By now it should come as no surprise that I really loved my time with Wallachia: Reign of Dracula. Whether it's the visuals, the music, the gameplay, the level design, there's not much I actually dislike about the game. However, that doesn't change the fact that, by its very nature, Wallachia is a niche game with a narrow target audience. If playing a short, challenging game with some intentionally old gameplay design doesn't appeal to you, then the game's quality doesn't matter much. The game also rewards patience and strategy and punishes trying to rush forward quite harshly, which means more impatient players will have a bad time. As long as you know what you're getting and accept it, I don't think you can go wrong with Wallachia.

For me, it's a surprise hit that absolutely nails what it's going for, and now I'm very much looking forward to Chronicles of the Wolf, Migami Games' next project which is set to actually be a metroidvania. It apparently will also take place in the same universe as Wallachia, so I look forward to potentially seeing a more developed narrative, or at least a sequel of sorts.