Romancelvania Critic Reviews

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.

Romancelvania is a great visual novel trapped inside a Metroidvania that bites off more than it can chew.

Romancelvania is a sharp combination of two disparate genres, but it falls short in some of its execution. Worthwhile for folks who enjoy a witty story-driven romance, especially where sexy monsters are involved, but not necessarily worth it for the average Metroidvania-goer.

Meshing metroidvania with dating sim is an enticing idea, but also very bold and risky. Even though we really would like to love Romancelvania for what it is, it has many flaws in its gameplay that hold back the whole game. Characters and dialogues are interesting, the constant sexy and flirty tones are somewhat engaging, but the action foundation is quite weak.

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.

In the end, all our fears have been realised. Romancelvania’s dating sim half is frivolous fun, but its other half, the Metroidvania, drunkenly crashes the party.

Romancelvania is a unique metroidvania, particularly funny and really addictive. The kind of game that you will come back to regularly, whether for one hour or ten, just to experience some of that wonderful recipe.