"What a horrible night to have a curse." Or fifty curses muttered under my breath. And they're the kind of horribly obscene curses that would get me locked away in Arkham Asylum if I repeated them around others. Those kinds of swears that make your dog leave the room. I'm inventing new slurs like its freestyle jazz, and I'm Miles Davis, a master of the craft. Just slamming words together and letting them fly like some enraged poet. It's safe to say that Saint Slayer: Spear of Sacrilege got me angry more than a few times.
It's been a while (like that Staind song) since I've played a genuinely challenging game, at least since I beat Elden Ring last year. I've gotten lax with my gaming since then, largely choosing simple and straightforward games to unwind with at the end of my day. My gaming time is also very limited, as I try to juggle my various obligations, family time and other hobbies, so I rarely choose difficult or stressful games to spend my time on. I am a fan of the Castlevania franchise though, so when I first saw Saint Slayer, I knew that I needed to check this game out. I'm pleased to say, that while the game is undeniably challenging, that struggle brings a real sense of satisfaction with it. I found myself smiling just as often as I was considering breaking my Steam Deck over my knee in a fit of white hot fury.
Lillymo Games sought to authentically recapture the style and feel of classic NES action-platformers with Saint Slayer, and from my somewhat limited experience with NES games, the game feels quite accurate. Castlevania obviously served as sort of a north star for a great deal of Saint Slayer's aesthetic and core gameplay functions. Your character, Rudiger, has a stiff, rigid element to his movement that immediately made me think of Simon Belmont. There's also that infuriating "knockback" mechanic, where you get pushed back (often falling to your death) when you get hit by an enemy attack. The developers have mentioned that DuckTales and Faxanadu also provided a great deal of inspiration for Saint Slayer. While I haven't played either of those games, I understand that they're beloved titles from the NES library, and it seems like Lillymo Games selected some great games to serve as foundation for Saint Slayer.
The game's art is just fantastic. I found myself frequently pausing to take in the beautiful scenery, backgrounds and character/enemy sprites, which no doubt added to my overall death count. While Saint Slayer is a short game, they packed its brief runtime full of diverse stages with totally distinct design styles. There's an awesome stage early in the game where you're riding in a horse-drawn wagon and you have to fight off foes as they try to flank Rudiger's wagon. Another incredible stage had you using the titular "Spear of Sacrilege" as an oar to push a boat along a river, all the while fending off myriad eldritch marine creatures. I was genuinely excited as I finished each stage, on one hand because I managed to overcome the game's challenges, but also to see what brilliant level was up next.
I thought the spear of Longinus was an awesome idea for a core weapon, especially within the context of the game's wider story. Spears obviously have a lot of potential utility, and Saint Slayer makes good use of a few of those functions. Primarily, you're using the holy spear to lay waste to the demonic hordes in your way. The weapon increases in power over the course of the game, giving you powerful new moves. You can also pick up temporary power-ups that grant the spear additional powers, such as one where the spear can be thrown forward and backwards simultaneously, allowing you to clear out troublesome enemies trying to come up behind you. The Bomb Spear power-up was easily the most useful, and single-handedly saved my hide several times throughout my time with Saint Slayer. Besides combat, the most common thing you'll be using the spear for is throwing it into a wall, so that you can jump on top of it and climb to otherwise unreachable areas.
I really enjoyed Saint Slayer's story and writing. I'm a longtime fan of Colin Moriarty, so I'm used to his more academic style of writing that he employs in his reviews or his podcast, Sacred Symbols. This is the first Lillymo Games title that I've played though, so I've never encountered Colin's take on fiction. His passion for history comes through in the era-specific research he conducted to develop the story for Saint Slayer. He also pulled on his religious upbringing and interest to create this overtly Catholic-coded plot, involving a devoutly Catholic protagonist trying to thwart the machinations of an evil priest who has stolen a bunch of Christian relics. As a Christian man myself, and a Catholic convert, I thought it was neat seeing the sort of religious trappings that the Castlevania series dabbles with, more fully realized and woven into the story itself. The writing also has a genuinely funny edge to it that keeps the tone from ever veering too far into grimdark.
Saint Slayer: Spear of Sacrilege was a delightful experience, despite the frequent frustrations that I encountered. Once I accepted that the game was intentionally designed with this classic, old-school approach, I shifted my expectations and met the game where it's at. If you take the time to get familiar with the game's pacing and Rudiger's moveset, you'll find that Saint Slayer is far from impossible. By the time that I beat the game, I was really enjoying the satisfaction of overcoming a difficult stage or boss, and even found that I wasn't swearing nearly as much. Lillymo Games delivered a genuine classic with Saint Slayer, and I hope that they revisit this franchise in the future.
Review Copy was Provided
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