Castle in the Darkness - The charm of the classics

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Hello everyone! How are the combats against aliens going with Earth’s Dawn? After a few hectic weeks, I’m coming with an entry in which I will talk about a modern game made the “old fashioned way”. In this blog I have talked already about games such Oniken, Odallus: The Dark Call, Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight or Owlboy, games that, just like the awesome Shovel Knight, belong to that recent trend of games that imitate the 8/16-bit classics and that are being so well received by the gaming community, proving that there is still a place for this kind of games in the market, and in this new entry I’m going to talk about another game that, despite not being as popular the above mentioned Shovel Knight or the also awesome Hyper Light Drifter, also manages to deliver a good retro gaming experience adapted to the current times that manages to transmit all the magic of the classics of the 80s. The game is called Castle in the Darkness. Let’s see what the little gem of the indie gaming scene has to offer.

A tower, moving gears, flying heads... I´ve seen this before...

Released in 2015 for PC and developed by indie developer Matt Kap, Castle in the Darkness is basically a Metroidvania inspired on action/adventure classics such as Super Metroid, Castlevania Symphony of the Night, Castlevania 2: Simon´s Quest or even Wonderboy. Although perhaps the name Matt Kap might not ring any bells for many, this talented developer it not a newcomer when it comes to game development, for his a member of the Nicalis Inc. team, a small indi team that has created titles such as 1001 Spikes, or the versions of Cave Story+ and The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth, so we are talking about a guy that knows the drill. However, Matt wasn’t completely alone, as he had some support from his Niscali colleagues (although just a bit). The story of Castle in the Darkness says that one dark and gloomy night, the King Elmore II of Alexandria falls ill. Worried about her father’s condition, the princess of Alexandria orders the royal guard to increase the security of the castle to be ready for any kind of unexpected happening. It seemed it was going to be a peaceful night, but all of sudden an army of monsters appeared and attacked the kingdom. One by one, all the guards where annihilated, all except one. When the guard woke up, he realized his colleagues had been completely obliterated and the princess had disappeared, so sword in hand and following his oath, he sets on a journey to save the princess a bring back the peace to the kingdom. As one could expect in a game like this, the story of Castle in the Darkness is not precisely the strongest point of the game. However, while many might describe it a totally outdated story, once you play the game and understand what Matt was trying to achieve, you realize it matches perfectly, and that it even has some charm.

As I was saying, Castle in the Darkness is essentially a Metroidvania, so on top the typical action and platforming elements, it includes also exploration and RPG elements. As it´s typical in the genre, we will have to explore a map that will be full of routes that we won’t be able to explore till we obtain first the necessary item or skill in order to be able to do so. As we explore the map, we will face all kind enemies, each with their own attack patterns, as well as powerful bosses. As we defeat our enemies, we will obtain rewards that will allow us to buy a wide variety of equipment to improve our knight as we watch him turn from the typical cannon fodder, to a hero of legend that will save his kingdom. Also, just like we could see in the games it is inspired on, the game includes many secret rooms hidden behind seemingly indestructible walls or the classic walls that we will be able to “magically” walk through and that will allow us to obtain all kind of hidden treasures, but that is not all, for Castle in the Darkness is a true love letter to the 8-bit times full of tributes to many of the most famous games of that era, from enemies similar to the ones we could find in the Mega Man series, to stages that will remind us of Dracula’s castle in Castlevania, or even fairies that will say “Hey, listen!”. As I said, Castle in the Darkness in a true tribute to classic games that makes use of a subtle humor sense that will attack directly to the nostalgia of the most veteran players and that will surely bring a smile to their face while they remember the good old times. However, not all will be laughs, for just like the classics that inspired it, Castle in the Darkness can be an unforgiving title that will put our skills and patience to the test, something that it´s developer seems to be completely aware of, and the reason why he decided to include a reward in the shape of an “antifrustation easy mode” that will unlock once we die a certain amount of times and that proves again the great humor sense of its creator.

We will be able to buy equipment with the coins we will obtain after defeating the enemies.

On top of secret rooms, we will be able to enter houses and other places to talk to characters.

We will be able to equip our hero with a wide variety of items.

Regarding the graphics, we find a game that, just as it does with the rest of its aspects, pays tribute to the 8-bit generation, using a retro look with characters and stages sculpted pixel by pixel with great mastery and humor, although it never achieves the level of excellent of Shovel Knight. It also worth to mention the retro style chiptune soundtrack created by Matt himself that includes catchy tracks that fit perfectly with the game´s personality.


Castle in the Darkness is a true tribute to the classic games many of us grew up with, and simple yet addictive game that knows well its limits and purpose, and manages to deliver many hours of awesome retro entertainment, and that will surely please the fans of this kind of game with its constant tributes to some of the best classics of the industry and it´s charming humor sense. For now, the game is available exclusively for PC via Steam. If you are looking to remember old times or if you simply want to experience how classic games felt like, you should definitely give a chance to the little master piece of this talented developer. Enjoy!


GAMEPLAY VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgaOjY3SXbc