The problem with the term ‘Metroidvania’ is that it’s a far broader genre classification than some give it credit for. Depending on where they fall on the spectrum between the exploration-heavy Metroid series and the combat-centric Castlevania series, it’s possible for two games to both be considered Metroidvanias while playing, looking, and sounding nothing alike. Neither extreme is more valid than the other. What’s important is understanding which portions of the genre a given title is committed to, and whether it’s successful.
It’s not enough to simply call Blade Chimera a great Metroidvania and leave it at that. What Team Ladybug (Record of Lodoss War: Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth, Drainus) has cooked up here is a game that is impressively clear-eyed in identifying its priorities — which just so happen to mirror many of the tenets of Konami’s legendary vampire hunting series — and executing on them to incredible effect. It doesn’t do everything one might expect a Metroidvania to do, but its particular bright spots are blinding to behold.
Set in the post-apocalyptic urban sprawl of Osaka, you play as Shin, a battle-seasoned amnesiac warrior who hunts demons in the name of protecting what’s left of human civilisation. During a fateful mission, Shin encounters a mysterious demon named Lux. The spirit forges a bond with Shin and becomes his Lumina Sword, equipping the hunter with supernatural abilities and setting the stage for a grand unravelling of mysteries surrounding the origin of the demons and Shin’s missing memories.
If the game’s title and plot synopsis haven’t already given it away, Blade Chimera is about action first and foremost. The majority of your time is spent wandering the streets of Osaka in 2D side-scrolling fashion, slaying any demons you come across with your host of superpowered guns, hard-hitting melee weapons, and, of course, your trusty Lumina Blade.
Crucial to this specific brand of gameplay, Blade Chimera nails both combat and movement with near-flawless precision. Every shot or slash from your arsenal of weapons feels appropriately weighty and responsive. Moving around feels gratifyingly snappy thanks to precise physics and a selection of unlockable abilities that bolster Shin’s manoeuvrability. It’s the sort of game where picking up your gamepad and controlling it feels like slipping into a warm bath.
Blade Chimera generally sticks to a simple yet satisfying philosophy for its combat loop, though it does offer up a twist by way of the Lumina Blade. In addition to your regular loadout, you can wield this sword and its special abilities at the cost of MP. Stabbing it into environmental surfaces temporarily grants a small protective barrier that staves off incoming projectile attacks. You can also recall your sword from a distance, eviscerating anything in the weapon’s path with deadly speed.
It’s hard to adequately describe the rush of dopamine that comes from beckoning your blade from several screens away at the exact right angle to annihilate whatever’s in front of you at terminal velocity, but rest assured that rapturous feeling doesn’t diminish over time. Team Ladybug also smartly encourages you to use your regular weapons and the Lumina Blade in tandem, as damaging monsters with standard weaponry restores MP while attacks from Lux’s pointy vessel restore HP.
The only issues we have with Blade Chimera’s combat is that enemies can become rather bullet-sponge-y near the end if you don’t have specific equipment. The game also has a tendency to toss a bunch of powerful enemies at you all at once in the campaign’s late hours, which can feel like a cheap difficulty spike. Having to clear rooms full of multiple copies of the same strong, durable demons can feel like a pacebreaker, especially considering that all enemies immediately respawn whenever you enter a new screen. However, the main campaign’s relatively brief six-hour runtime means that these gripes didn’t stick around long enough to detract from our enjoyment.
We could gush about Blade Chimera’s moment-to-moment combat and movement all day long, but that’s really only one part of the experience. There’s also a solid dose of exploration as you navigate a large, interconnected map to reach various points that progress the narrative. There’s a nice sprinkling of environmental puzzles, particularly through the use of the Lumina Blade, which can inhabit various objects, rewind time in specific junctures to remove obstacles, and more.
True to genre conventions, there’s also plenty of backtracking, though the straightforward level design is a far cry from the labyrinthine structure and secret-laden likes of Animal Well or Metroid Dread. Don’t expect to find yourself getting lost very often, as the exact location of your next objective is always clearly marked. There’s an argument to be made that Blade Chimera’s progression is actually quite linear despite its open-ended map. That said, there are still incentives to veer off the beaten path by way of hidden HP and MP upgrades, stronger equipment, special puzzle piece collectibles, and side quests.
In keeping with Blade Chimera’s approach to exploration and progression, its narrative is more involved than many games of its ilk. We wouldn’t venture to label the story as anything more than serviceable, but it’s a decent enough little jaunt that plays with themes of loyalty and distrust. It’s let down by basic dialogue and perhaps one of the most predictable and cliché plot twists we’ve seen from a game in recent memory.
Despite those failings, it’s ultimately a painless affair that, at the very least, provides some context and set dressing for the gameplay. There are at least a couple of isolated narrative moments and sequences that are pretty darn cool to experience, however, especially in the back half. Yes, you do play as a Shiba Inu for a sequence. Yes, it is as wonderful as it sounds.
It also certainly helps that the overall atmosphere and aesthetics of Blade Chimera are so engaging. It’s nothing short of a visual feast, with an intricate pixel art aesthetic and a ton of gorgeously crafted backdrops that blend traditional Japanese architecture with futuristic, cyberpunk influences. Every sprite is a treat to look at — especially those of the demons, which take the form of various mythological creatures and legendary yōkai.
This inspired visual identity is backed up by a great soundtrack full of catchy electro-centric tunes, one of which is still playing in our head as we write this. Even if the narrative isn’t particularly strong, the general vibes are so immaculate that we were happy to spend time in this world doing anything at all.
That’s the thing about Blade Chimera — it’s so confident in its core identity and dedicated to crafting engaging gameplay that any shortcomings just sort of melt away in the moment. It’s not a perfect game, but we struggle to come up with anything other than feelings of positivity when we think about our time playing it. More than anything, it feels like a game that’s fun purely for the sake of being fun. Fun is exactly what we had.
Conclusion
Blade Chimera is an ode to a very specific kind of Metroidvania — the sort that eschews cryptic puzzles and an open-ended structure and revels in the simple joys of ultra-fluid movement and blasting through enemies with an ever-growing arsenal of powerful weapons and equipment. It may not particularly impress with its explorative or narrative aspects, but its striking, stylish identity and endlessly entertaining shoot-and-slash combat loop elevate this to the heights of the classics it’s so clearly inspired by.
