Saint Slayer: Spear of Sacrilege Review - No Whip Just the Tip

Ole Gamer Joe
4 hours ago
8 min read

Saint Slayer: Spear of Sacrilege

PC/PS/XBOX/SWITCH

4/20/26

Lillymo Games

No Whip Just the Tip

The year is 1986. Elvis Presley is being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Ron Jeremy is quietly preparing for his role as Squeegie Hornio in the Super Hornio Brothers movie, and speaking of big floppy things, Castlevania is also releasing in Japan for the Famicom Disk System. Okay, one of those things didn't happen in the '80s, but it was still worth ruining your day because I know you'll be Googling it. Believe it or not, Castlevania has been haunting us in the best of ways for nearly four decades now, though I imagine most of us watching this video first booted it up in 1987 on the NES. It was a landmark title thanks to its chilling gothic atmosphere, ball-busting level design, and jaw-dropping pixel art and soundtrack.

The success of the first game led to a rather perplexing sequel that was mostly well-received at the time but has divided fans ever since. Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest leaned more into action-RPG territory, taking place seven years after the original game and introducing new features such as a day-night cycle, collectible Dracula body parts, and magical weapons. Personally, I like the game well enough, though the criticisms, mainly directed towards the sheer amount of backtracking, are plenty fair.

We could talk all day about Castlevania’s highs and lows, and of course, everyone recognizes the importance of Symphony of the Night breaking away from the series’ linear roots and helping pave the way for an entire genre (with an assist from Metroid). But for today’s review of Saint Slayer: Spear of Sacrilege from Lillymo Games, it’s those early Castlevania titles that matter the most. So, does Saint Slayer totally slay… or is it a horrible night to have a curse? Let’s find out in our full review!

Saint Slayer: Spear of Sacrilege is what you cool kids would call a “Classicvania.” There are 21 linear stages to spear your way through, stiff movements and controls that reek of NES design philosophy, knockbacks (if you so wish), annoying enemy patterns, tough level design, and of course, sub-weapons and screen-clearing power-ups. At the center of the gameplay is not a whip, however, rather, a spear, which can become more powerful as you progress through levels. While each of the game’s creepy locations will hide secret items to collect, don’t expect a massive Metroidvania map or deep RPG mechanics here. Much like Luke Wilson and Will Ferrell, this game is kicking it Old School! Pure, unadulterated NES-era punishment awaits you, warts and all. The kind that’ll rattle your Belmont balls so hard that Dracula wakes up from his long slumber.

Some of you likely remember Ninja Gaiden giving you a full pantsing and laughing at your shriveled pride. Maybe you survived the infamous Turbo Tunnel of Battletoads while only crashing into stone pillars 500 times. Or perhaps you’ve even made it through Castlevania III, a game where the developer clearly got dumped by his girlfriend and took it out on us. Saint Slayer never quite reaches those heights of difficulty and mercifully offers various difficulty options, but its old-school philosophies pack plenty of punch, and its hard or classic modes are stiffer than old-fashioned.

While classic NES games weren’t exactly known for deep storytelling most of the time (much of the plot lived in the manual), Saint Slayer tries its damndest to squeeze in bits of narrative throughout its 2–3-hour runtime. Cue the classic 8-bit scrolling story segment… Ahem… A massive war has left much of Europe in shambles, paving the way for multiple treaties by 1698. This leads to a slow, painful recovery, with our lead character Rudiger, an ex-soldier and current farmer, rejoining his family in the village of Elsheim, which is the most video-game-ass name for a village you can imagine. Of course, if things stayed rosy, we wouldn’t have much of a game here now, would we? And so, corruption begins festering in the local church ruled by the evil Father Pacer. Arming himself with his beads (the kind you definitely don’t bring to church) and a simple dirk, Rudiger heads off into danger to stab Pacer in the dick. Sadly, that’s not where the story ends.

Narratively, it’s a decent setup, which is really all a classic NES-style game needs. The problem is that random dialogue has been littered across most levels, which does little to add to the overall atmosphere or world-building and can seriously hurt the pacing. Characters are bland and boring, often spitting out meaningless drivel or dated jokes that are stinkier than a 300-year-old wall chicken. I can appreciate trying to give meaning to this world and your mission, but part of the charm in old-school gaming stories was that they were unintentionally bad, which countless memes have reminded us of over the years. Intentionally trying to make your story silly and cheesy just doesn’t hit in the same way and feels a bit unnatural.

Mercifully, Saint Slayer gets enough right to mask its narrative wrongdoings. The core gameplay will delight fans of NES classics. Rudiger controls like a block of cheese, which won’t sound like a compliment, but had he stung like a bee and floated like a feather, Lillymo would’ve missed the point entirely. He feels so heavy you can only assume he’s on his cheat day and climbs stairs foot by foot like he’s trudging into work for a long day of tax preparation. On most difficulty settings, Rudiger gets sent flying backwards with each hit as if Dracula himself had nailed him with a lawsuit, yet he dishes out satisfying punishment with his mighty spear, often turning foes into piles of meat and bones. The game feels great to play, assuming you like retro games to begin with. If you don’t and you’re more attached to modern control schemes, you might be left wondering what the fuss was about.

Saint Slayer doesn’t only borrow from Castlevania; it also calls back to other classics. Rudiger can pogo bounce off foes à la Scrooge McDuck in DuckTales, and he’ll even face a brutal boss pattern that conjures memories of Mega Man’s infamous Yellow Devil. The encounter doesn’t quite reach pause‑glitch territory, but the callback is appreciated. Fans of Simon’s Quest will enjoy nods to the past as well, like interacting with villagers. There’s even a touch of Symphony of the Night in the animal familiars you can purchase to assist in battle. Yes, there are shops scattered across the world, selling everything from those aforementioned familiars to extra lives and health restoratives. Shout out to my bird friend for grabbing my meat for me!

Most items can be purchased with orbs, though coins can also be collected. Orbs can optionally be spent to revive yourself should you run out of lives, though this rarely feels necessary thanks to the excellent password system that has been included. Inputting simple passwords is a ton of fun, and I’m left wondering how many more are out there. I really wish I’d tried typing in “cock” looking back on it now to see if I turned into a chicken.

Rudiger’s secondary attack costs you a bead, and they’re worth saving for tricky situations. Generally, this strike involves tossing a spear left or right, though spears can also stick into walls and help you reach new areas. Power‑ups make this ability even cooler, adding effects like spears firing off in both directions. That’s not all for our hero's abilities either, as a slide will also become available, which helps navigate under treacherous traps and can even give you an edge against enemies and bosses.

While we’re on the topic of enemies and bosses, they’re more or less what you’d expect. Skeletons hurl bones at awkward angles, flying skulls try to halt your progress, and bosses rely on predictable, though challenging enough, patterns that force you to feel each encounter out. The designs aren’t perfect, and some AI can be manipulated or cheesed, but overall, this is a much stronger effort from Lillymo Games in terms of level layout and enemy behavior compared to 2022’s Super Perils of Baking, which I didn’t particularly enjoy.

And let’s talk about those 21 levels, because they’re, for the most part, well‑designed with 8‑bit gaming in mind. For one, I love how even though this is not a Metroidvania, your march toward the church feels like one massive, connected journey. There’s also some pretty solid level variety here: tricky platforming, a tower to climb, a boat to knock across the water, and yes, a library, because OF COURSE THERE’S A LIBRARY. Sure, these aren’t the most original locations, but each stage is good fun, with neat secrets to discover and well‑thought‑out enemy placement. They even work surprisingly well in local co‑op, which is indeed an option and somehow not a total disaster.

Even better, the difficulty options ensure newcomers won’t be in for a total struggle‑fest, with easy mode disabling knockback damage entirely. Levels do include a timer which I am not normally a fan of, but at least on normal difficulty, which is how I played, time never became much of an issue.

But for as much as the game gets right, I did run into some questionable hitboxes and a few awkward animations that led to untimely deaths, like the one that plays when you summon your co‑op partner. Nothing game‑breaking, mind you, but Saint Slayer was created by a very small team if the credits are anything to go by, and at times it shows.

Without spoiling too much, there are also reasons to play this one again despite its seemingly short runtime. A system where you can either sacrifice or spare characters you encounter opens up a few possibilities, including multiple endings. So, if you were worried about Saint Slayer being a one‑and‑done experience, you can take some comfort in its decent re-playability.

As far as graphics are concerned, Saint Slayer nails the visual aesthetic of the 8-bit era. Its lovely chunky pixel art features great creature designs, solid animations, gorgeous backdrops, and an appropriately grimy color palette. Unfortunately, the soundtrack doesn’t quite hold up its end of the bargain and sticks out like a boner in sweatpants. While a few songs were able to get my blood pumping, many of them are a bit grating, almost piercing to the ears. These compositions also tend to loop far too soon, failing to match the intensity or dare I say, epic-ness of the many games responsible for this one existing. Sorry to say, I lowered the volume on my sound bar a few times during gameplay, despite some decent retro sound effects. It’s all a bit too farty for me, and that’s saying something coming from someone who loves the vast majority of Sega Genesis soundtracks. Performance, however, was good, with no major glitches or crashes to report.

While its story is a miserable pile of secrets and its soundtrack seems horribly cursed, Saint Slayer: Spear of Sacrilege delivers great classic gameplay, awesome retro visuals, and strong level design that make it well worth experiencing. If you grew up on the NES playing savagely difficult platformers like I did, you’ll love most of what the game offers. It looks the part, it plays the part, and its solid re-playability only adds to its value. While the nights can be long and the journey sometimes brutal, Lillymo Games has risen up to create one of their better titles to date, and it comes well recommended from this old-timer.

Silver/Great