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A fanmade remake of Castlevania 2: Simon's Quest is offering a whole new way to play the most infamous entry in Konami's classic vampire-hunting series.
Back in 1995, Konami released Castlevania Chronicles on PS1, which remade and remixed the original Castlevania for then-modern standards. Now, in 2023, the fan studio WarMachine has released Castlevania Chronicles 2: Simon's Quest, which takes the same approach for the divisive NES sequel.
This remake takes the bones of Simon's Quest to craft a whole new game. You still explore an open-ended overworld, get hints from NPCs, and explore dungeon-style mansions to acquire key items. But the world has been remixed, the mansions have been completely revamped, and the old currency system has been completely revamped.
The original Castlevania 2 is pretty infamous these days for its obtuse puzzles and cryptic NPCs who would occasionally straight-up lie to you about what to do next. The folks behind the remake note that now "NPCs actually provide useful information that helps you out," which alone makes it a marked improvement over the original.
Castlevania Chronicles 2 is available for download as a raw exe file through the description of the YouTube video above so, you know, install it at your own risk. For the record, I've played it for a few minutes and my PC has not become a malware infested hellscape. The game feels great in that stiff, retro Castlevania way, and while I haven't had enough time with it to say how it holds up for the long haul, I'm eager to play more.
We're getting Silent Hill remakes, but what I really want is a proper Castlevania revival. Come on, Konami, there's gotta be some new fans off the back of that Netflix series, right?
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