If you have plans for Valentine’s Day, they better be with a fire-breathing boar. That’s who you’ll be tangoing with in two weeks, because Castlevania-inspired action game Lords of Exile finally has a launch date set for February 14, 2024.
It’s been a while since we took a look at Lords of Exile, which initially smashed its relatively modest Kickstarter goal to the tune of 258% funding back in June 2020. Naturally, it grew into a more ambitious project in the months that followed, moving it well past the launch window they originally had in mind. As a result, it all looks pretty different from the earlier crowdfunding trailer, particularly when it shows the powers you can summon to aid you.
Look, I’m just saying, if any video game had the elevator pitch of “Castlevania with JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Stands,” I’d be in before the exclamation point dropped.
Also, is this the same boar from before? Talk about a glow-up!
Beyond any Stand-like shenanigans—referred to as Shadows in the game’s menu—Lords of Exile appears to pride itself on its simplicity. It even goes so far as to include “linear level design” as a selling point, really driving home what makes classic side-scrollers so easy to go back to time and time again. The pacing is also in line with the classic ‘Vanias, as our stalwart hero plods along at a snail’s pace in between leaps and slashes.
When done right, these throwback adventures can be just as memorable as the inspirations behind them. Look at the Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon games, for instance, or (hopefully) the upcoming The Transylvania Adventure of Simon Quest. Where Lords of Exile slides into the lineup remains to be seen, so we’ll keep an eye on it as it heads to PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC. In the meantime, you can try out a demo on Steam right now.
