afterimage [Game Review]

When Castlevania was released in the mid-to-late 1980s, it set the standard for the genre to this day. After countless remakes/sequels, Castlevania still has a long-term fan base, which creates a boon for other developers to try to come close to what it does in the gaming world. Entering 2023, developer Aurogon Shanghai has launched its latest game Afterimage. We immediately saw this beautiful 2D adventure game on Honey’s Anime and finally got the chance to play it. Does Afterimage set a new standard for the genre, or is it an afterimage that looks pretty but lacks substance? We find out in our Afterimage PC review!

“Afterimage” takes place in a mythical world called Engadine. The player plays an amnesiac patient named Renee who decides to embark on a dangerous journey ahead to recover her lost memories and search for clues to where her mentor was last. Yes, it’s not the most ideal setup in the world, but honestly, the plot of Afterimage isn’t terribly important. As we play, we never care about Renee’s memory or her plight. That’s not to say the story isn’t engaging, or has its fun moments, but the story takes a back seat to the gameplay – which is a good thing in this case – and never really transcends what makes Afterimage Excellent other elements. But there’s a story here that gives you enough motivation to care about Renee and pushes her forward regardless.

The reason we open with a mini-history of Castlevania is because Afterimage was undoubtedly heavily inspired by it. One could even say there’s a hint of Dark Souls here, but we think Castlevania has more of a character here. Renee may be amnesiac, but her fighting abilities appear to be intact, which is good for you because you’re about to need them. Renee can do a lot of things, such as jump, dodge, and fight with a variety of weapons, each with its own pros and cons. Examples include the slow scythe, which has good range and can do some damage, but is slower than the sword. Renee can even equip a whip – our personal favorite weapon – which can deal damage from a distance, but like the scythe lacks speed. The neat thing about Afterimage is that players can equip 2 weapons at once and assign each weapon to an attack button for mixed variety. Coupled with a fairly large skill system and a variety of magical abilities, one can pretty much customize Renee to their liking, which is very necessary to survive some of Aftermath’s later bosses.

When you’re not attacking enemies and surviving bosses, you’ll be moving around a fairly large map filled with treasures to find and attractions to visit. Afterimage’s gorgeous hand-drawn art makes this journey even more mysterious. Like Castlevania, you often rely on backtracking through areas and finding new areas as you gain new moves/abilities. There are plenty of places to see, each one a sight to behold as the afterimages look like a mix of anime and moving art pieces.

Sadly, not everything is perfect in Afterimage, and that’s because, after playing it for a few hours, we can’t deny that we started to feel like Afterimage doesn’t really change much. Yes, the environment changes and there are tons of bosses/enemies to face, but the way to defeat them never really changes. Whether your boss is flying in the sky or running around the field, you’ll usually be dodging, attacking, and repeating the process over and over again. Yes, you can use various weapons to change the way you defeat these enemies, but it doesn’t really change the overall experience. There’s a lot of variation in the afterimage, one absolutely can’t deny that, but it just starts to blend together and as you play for longer periods of time it really kills the magic this game is trying to create.