A solid, if rather short, Metroidvania that wears its Castlevania inspirations very much on its sleeve. It doesn't reach the heights of, say, Symphony of the Night but is a very decent effort nonetheless.

I don't know much about Record of Lodoss War beyond knowing who a few of the characters are. I imagine if you are a fan of the franchise this must be fanservice heaven for you. For me, the story was sorta nonsense and the game makes no effort to onboard players who are not familiar with the franchise, but it's also very easily ignored and like most Metroidvanias, the exploration takes precedence.

The pixel art is beautiful with fluidly animated and detailed spritework and a retro aesthetic (complete with low-quality voiced clips for hitting Level 3 on the spirit mechanic) makes it seem like a game that could have been on the Saturn or PS1. The music was decent, not spectacular, but it got the job done.

It's a bit on the easy side and also feels fairly linear, though the element swap mechanic is certainly fun, the movement is good and the boss fights are neat spectacles.

Overall, not the best in the genre, but well worth a look, especially if you have Gamepass.