Romancelvania is a game I've been rooting for since it was first unveiled. The idea of a romance-positive, tongue-in-cheek homage to Castlevania sounds like a golden idea, which many people agreed with over the game's successful Kickstarter campaign. There's been enough fanfare that they even added the option to swap Drac's gender, which takes place early in the intro, making this probably the only romance game where your options are a cis male and a trans female lead. It's quite the remarkable concoction, and our early preview of the first hour was promising.

Now, over two years since, the question on every would-be-Dracula's lips is.... was it worth the wait? Well, the answer is far more complicated than I'd have hoped. Romancelvania is never terrible, but it also spreads its most excellent parts out so far from one another that I couldn't help but wonder if the genre in question was hurting the experience more than helping it.

Far more often than not, the visual novel aspects of Romancelvania do the majority of the heavy lifting, truly selling you on the world and its characters. It's very clear the writers have a deep affection for monster romance, cheesy reality TV, and genuine mourning of a love lost. The array of romantic interests is astounding, each with an impressive amount of nuance to piece apart. There's an equally welcome surprise of sex positivity, especially if you're shamelessly flirty with some of the cast members; it's all "fade to black" and implication of naughty dalliances, but also no chasten judgment on the player's part.

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What's equally wonderful is the emphasis on consent and kink positivity. Seriously, if you're into any kind of romantic fiction and want it to have a pinch of silliness alongside the smoldering and drama, one of the cast has what you want. They even have a self-aware "enemies to lovers" trope embodied by the latest Van Helsing, who's so angelic their dialogue is spoken with a harp instrument.

The gift system requires legitimate thought, and the variety of dates available is fantastic, counterbalanced by making them limited-use. While I do think the elimination rounds where you choose who gets voted off come a bit too quickly at first, this is clear incentive to play again and see the different outcomes.

There's just one problem - between those points, you're dealing with some seriously janky 2D Metroidvania action. It doesn't help that the world itself feels less like a genuine Metroidvania with clever, multi-directional options, but instead a series of linear levels with less than ideal backtracking interspersed with fast travel points that vary wildly in usefulness. The first two fast travel points you unlock are so close to each other that only a loading screen separates them.

Combat, meanwhile, is very half-baked, with weapons that feel just out of tune, usually hitting a bit too weakly, slowly, or not quite connecting despite their models overlapping with enemies. The same can be said for enemies, with projectiles having odd hitboxes, and a few enemy types - especially those in the Goyles nightclub - ending up a frustration as you're practically guaranteed to take damage from them no matter what.

This isn't even getting into the inconsistency of your jump height, the odd frame dips despite everything being around the polycount of an early PS4 game, or the odd decision to mix up-close character models and 2D art stand-ins at random. Platforming being a chore is one thing, and performance issues are typical even for a console port during the review period, but the latter issue is the one that actually impacts your romantic aspirations.

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Several members of the cast just don't look good rendered in 3D, particularly Lady Drac, Brocifer, and Illessa. The lighting tends to hit them wrong, washing out or overemphasizing the wrong details on their faces, and their oddly exaggerated proportions don't match those of the beautiful 2D art that could've easily stood in; it actively detracts from scenes where the writing should be taking center stage.

While I'm grateful that the gameplay does feature multiple difficulty options, even on the easiest setting, you're going to have to hack and slash through goofy enemies befitting of a less banal combat system. The framing and overall presentation (animated cutscenes aside), is just on another level to what lies beneath.

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I kept waiting for the gameplay to match Romancelvania's world, and instead the world continually outpaced what makes up the majority of your runtime. It's not for lack of effort or variety, but a simple matter of needing more polish and refinement. Half of this game is a brilliant time worth experiencing, yet the remainder feels oddly undercooked. The right ingredients are there, but the execution fumbles far more often than it should.

Even the abilities you unlock are in order of what makes it easier to blitz past the combat - temporary invincibility and a rapid wolfpack rush that can be paired together, so you can dash across whole sections of levels quickly. Personally, I'd have preferred more convenient fast travel points, as well as the double jump being unlocked hours earlier since it's infinitely more useful, but at least invincible-dashing saves you time backtracking.

Romancelvania has the formula for success and clear talent behind it, but something didn't quite come together. There will be those who sink their teeth into the story and stomach the gameplay, but it's going to be a labor of love finding Drac's other half, rather than the perfect campy gothic dream I'd hoped it would be.

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