Skelethrone: The Chronicles of Ericona

About

"Skelethrone: The Chronicles of Ericona" is a free prequel game inspired by Castlevania and Dark Souls, where you play as Derek Ericona, a lord who chose a grim fate over death. The Metroidvania-style game features challenging battles against bloodthirsty monsters and epic bosses, with progression tied to using different relics, items, and abilities. Combat is varied and challenging, requiring you to use an expanding arsenal of weapons and equipment.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

Skelethrone: The Chronicles of Ericona screenshot

82%

Audience ScoreBased on 57 reviews

graphics11 positive mentions

grinding2 negative mentions

The game features enjoyable and responsive combat mechanics, with a variety of weapons and unique boss designs that keep encounters engaging.
The art style and music are praised for their quality, creating a gritty and immersive atmosphere that enhances the overall experience.
Despite its flaws, the game offers a substantial amount of content, including multiple bosses, exploration opportunities, and a skill tree that allows for character customization.

The map design is criticized for being unhelpful, lacking detail and not indicating the player's position, which can lead to confusion during exploration.
Combat can feel frustrating due to unbalanced enemy difficulty, with some bosses and enemies having unfair attack patterns and high damage output.
The game suffers from technical issues, including bugs, clunky controls, and a lack of polish that detracts from the overall gameplay experience.

graphics
21 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
52%
33%
14%
The game's graphics have received mixed reviews, with many praising the unique art style and atmospheric visuals that evoke strong "Dark Souls" and "Metroidvania" vibes. However, some players criticized the cluttered foreground elements that obscure gameplay, detracting from the overall experience. While the art design and music are generally well-received, issues with responsiveness and clunky animations have also been noted.
- “The game has made an impression on soulslike players with its unique art style, responsive controls, wide range of weapons, and precise combat.”
- “I’m a huge fan of the art style, and the music helps take the game to another level.”
- “This game has so much to offer: an insane variety of minions and bosses, a beautiful art style, and great music.”
- “Decent art style with way too much clutter on the foreground and clunky animations.”
- “I really wanted to like this game; I love the art style, but unfortunately for me, the gameplay ruins it.”
- “Once you get used to the controls, however, you get a classic metroidvania with 16-bit graphics and a fantasy setting with strong Dark Souls vibes.”
music
17 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
71%
12%
18%
The music in the game has received high praise for its quality and ability to enhance the overall atmosphere, with many players noting its impressive soundtrack and immersive sound design. Reviewers appreciate the combination of music with the game's art style, which contributes to a rich and engaging experience. Overall, the soundtrack is considered a standout feature, elevating the gameplay and emotional impact of the game.
- “What's also cool or rather, epic, is the music; it surprised me with both its quality and its quantity.”
- “I’m a huge fan of the art style and the music helps take the game to another level.”
- “The soundtrack is on point as much as the game's play is.”
- “The gritty art style, exciting music, and overall mood of the game set the stage for another great soulslike experience, but unfortunately, the full game didn't leave as good of an impression on me.”
- “I picked up the OST with my purchase and I'm glad I did; however, I can't say the same about the art book as it's mostly just sprites from the game laid out in a basic manner with a name and no explanation.”
- “While the screenshots might not look the prettiest, the sound and music combine well with the art to make the world far more immersive than I'd anticipated.”
story
16 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
38%
44%
19%
The story of "Skelethrone: The Chronicles of Ericona" is set in the dark fantasy realm of Makh-Abyss, following the resurrection of Lord Derek Ericona amidst a massacre. While some players appreciate the clear storyline and variety of NPCs, many find the narrative lacking depth and coherence, describing it as "pretty mid" with vague elements. Overall, the game offers a mix of engaging world design and challenging gameplay, but the story itself leaves much to be desired.
- “The story is set in the dark fantasy realm of Makh-Abyss.”
- “There is a variety of weapons to use, a skill tree that feels impactful, a well-designed map with a ton of beautiful areas, a plethora of NPCs with their own roles in the story, a crazy number of bosses, and two different endings to discover.”
- “All in all, way too much attention was given to world design, but in terms of gameplay, sound effects, story, NPC characters, and enemies, there is very little.”
- “Story: pretty mid, there is not much depth and you are pretty much thrown into a stew full of everything.”
- “Skelethrone: The Chronicles of Ericona follows the story of Derek Ericona, a lord who finds himself newly resurrected as an undead, awakening at the site of a huge massacre.”
gameplay
15 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
47%
33%
20%
The gameplay is generally praised for its satisfying combat mechanics, challenging bosses, and engaging traversal abilities, reminiscent of titles like Dark Souls and Blasphemous. While the game features a rich atmosphere and a variety of weapons, some players feel it lacks polish in certain areas, such as NPC interactions and sound effects. Overall, it offers a solid experience, though some aspects may feel amateurish or basic to certain players.
- “In terms of overall polish, amount of content, and gameplay, this is just incredible for one person's achievement.”
- “The gameplay feels good, the battles are satisfying, and the bosses are challenging - just as it should be.”
- “This game has a lot to offer; the bosses are varied, they're fun to fight, and Ericona has enough weapons, each with their own unique abilities, to spice up your gameplay once in a while.”
- “Really wanted to like this game but it's such an amateurish attempt at being 2D Dark Souls meets Symphony of the Night that it fails in every single aspect of its mechanics.”
- “All in all, way too much attention was given to world design, but in terms of gameplay, sound effects, story, NPC characters, and enemies, there is very little.”
- “Lost my save file after 3 hours of progress; the controls are fine if a bit clunky, and while the gameplay feels a bit basic, it's not a bad game by any means. The only real issue I have is with a certain boss that works kind of like a jumping puzzle but floods the arena with tons of enemies as well.”
atmosphere
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
60%
40%
The atmosphere of Skelethrone is highly praised, characterized by its expressive art style, engaging music, and immersive environments that enhance the overall gameplay experience. While the narrative may not be the main draw, the game's atmosphere, alongside its combat mechanics, contributes significantly to its appeal, reminiscent of the Dark Souls series. Overall, players appreciate the combination of visual and auditory elements that create a captivating setting.
- “Great atmosphere, expressive art style, and nice gameplay so far (looks RPG-oriented as far as leveling up and gear goes, pretty similar to Dark Souls).”
- “Graphics, music, and atmosphere are all good, and I look forward to any additional content in the future.”
- “You should not play Skelethrone for its narrative but rather for its combat and atmosphere, two things it mostly does well.”
- “Fun bosses and a good variety of different weapons; I also liked the atmosphere and art style of most of the places.”
grinding
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game frustrating, as the lack of healing potion refills after lengthy explorations leads to unnecessary deaths and a bloated death count. Additionally, the combat system is described as tedious and clunky, further contributing to the overall sense of monotony.
- “Not refilling healing potions after long, tedious exploration pretty much encourages you to commit suicide near a lantern to refill your potions before you progress further, which feels like a waste of time and bloats your death count.”
- “Combat feels tedious and clunky.”
optimization
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
The game's optimization is commendable, featuring fast load times and a well-managed file size, showcasing the impressive work of the solo developer.
- “Load times are very fast, and the file size is well optimized thanks to the accomplishments of the solo developer.”
- “The game's performance is impressive, showcasing excellent optimization that enhances the overall experience.”
- “I appreciate how the developer has fine-tuned the game, resulting in smooth gameplay and minimal lag.”
stability
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
Overall, users note that while a recent update has addressed many bugs and glitches, the game still requires further polishing to achieve optimal stability.
- “Well, the recent update fixed a lot of bugs and glitches, but the game still needs to be polished.”
- “The game crashes frequently, making it nearly unplayable at times.”
- “I experience constant lag and frame drops, which severely affects my gameplay experience.”