The Bounty Huntress | PS4 Review

Have you ever wondered what a budget, under ten dollars, "Castlevania: Symphony of the Night" would look like? Well, look no further than Ratalaika Games' "The Bounty Huntress" . . .

While plot points, and features differ ever so slightly this mock Castlevania experience follows the same basic formula as it's inspiration. Almost to a point of parody. Playing as a female bounty huntress named Rhea who animates oddly like Alucard or Maria Renard you take up arms, and set forth into a village to find out what your latest bounty is all about. It seems Vaunard, and it's soldiers have stumbled upon the once dormant Aresdale Castle stronghold filled with monsters that were once trapped their by their king. A castle that has just recently reemerged as a threat to the populous for unknown reasons. After three villagers disappear under strange circumstances the soldiers set forth to investigate the matter themselves on castle grounds. This only leads to further missing persons, and the desperation to hire a bounty hunter to deal with the situation. Not wasting time Rhea heads into the castle to confront whatever evil lies in wait . . .

As Rhea you carry on body several pieces of interchangeable equipment including a weapon, body armor, an amulet, rings, and boots. Additionally you have the ability to cast learned spells, use secondary weapons that use mana, and down potions of two varieties. With these tools of the trade you go into the castle sword a swinging. Killing monstrous creatures that leave behind souls like a soulsborne adventure. All while exploring a castle not unlike Castle Dracula. Laid out in a familiar maze-like structure blockaded at certain points by locked doors. Inclusive of save rooms, boss rooms, and hidden breakable walls leading to secret areas. It is by carefully navigating these environmentally different locales, and avoiding the hazards therein that you are able to cross paths with occasionally present key characters that will further flesh out the text driven story. Something that is about as basic as the gameplay itself. Ultimately completing the adventure if and when you defeat the big boss at the end of it all.

While this is your classic Castlevania experience with a different visualization, a different soundtrack, new characters, and different problems it copycats a lot of what retro Konami games established. In a not so polished, and less than premium display as well. That being said the monster sprites are different by design, and bring to the table some top notch pixel animations and artwork. This is accompanied by out of place hand drawn character avatars for the speech elements, and oddly cartoony treasure chests that seem equally as out of place. This mix and match of awkwardly applied artistry creates a conflicting display of distorted, and disconnected set pieces throughout the adventure. Making it seem more like a half effort hack job than a proper attempt to utilize game design that was implemented so much more professionally. What can I say though? The game is under ten dollars, and for what you get, despite my complaints, fits the bill. Things like the bestiary round out what amounts to a shorthanded attempt at mimicking one of the mainstay metroidvanias of yesteryear.

The Verdict ...

In the world of video game development there's taking something and making it your own then there's blatantly ripping off something in a half-assed effort to capitalize on it's success. This game, 'The Bounty Huntress', falls squarely in that latter category. It is by every means a budget level 'Castlevania: Symphony of the Night', with a visual reskin and story driven reimagining. The only thing really setting it apart, if anything, is the creature and character designs. That, and the out of place visuals like speech avatars that look oddly childish and crude. It is these reasons why it's hard to to recommend this obvious capital seeking cash grab. The developer applied a lazy half-effort, and seemingly threw together some mismatched assets to create this Frankenstein's monster of a game. Even at the $5 -$10 mark it's not good enough when you can buy AAA releases or proper indies on sale on the PSN store for that same price. Skip it.