Vampire: The Masquerade – Swansong Review

Vampires take up a commonplace fixture in our minds, fiction, and popular culture. They’re nearly as huge as zombies when it comes to what number of completely different genres use them as our mortal enemies. But whereas zombies are good cannon fodder for video games, vampire expertise is way more elusive.

Vampire: The Masquerade – Swansong hopes to alter this by combining story, some likeable RPG parts, and by placing you within the sneakers of three completely different vampires to play with. There’s even a blood-sucking mini-game in the course of it. What’s to not like?

I beloved the developer Huge Unhealthy Wolf’s final sport, the episodical story of The Council. It blended fantasy with precise historic figures superbly and had a really distinctive visible type and dynamic RPG gameplay. And immediately, Vampire: The Masquerade – Swansong feels very acquainted when it comes to the menus and the seems to be of the sport, nevertheless I believe I may need loved it extra had it gone again to these episodic roots, as a result of there’s a hell of a whole lot of storytelling available right here and the exposition generally will get in the way in which of thriller; the center of the sport. 

The story is ready in the identical universe because the 2004 sport Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines, however you don’t have to have performed that sport to get pleasure from this one. Swansong is ready in a Boston Vampire court docket, like a type of protected home for bloodsuckers. The place is run by a personality referred to as The Prince and she or he duties three of her sort on a type of detective journey to seek out some solutions. The three vampires are the characters you get to play as: Galeb, Enem, and Leysha, every of whom have completely different expertise and talents to play with. Galeb is just like the the Aristocracy of the vampire sect with loyalty to the hierarchy of the system and the notion of what’s proper and improper. Enem is extra of an outcast insurgent who questions the authority and the entire construction of the vampire order. Leysha – and her daughter – have had issues and we study her psychological well-being, haunted by premonitions of what may be to return. It’s an excellent a part of the sport, transferring between these three completely different personalities and seeing the marketing campaign and story by means of their eyes. 

The storytelling is stuffed with deep lore, sophisticated politics, relationship dynamics, and points that may seize you in from the start – no less than they did for me. Others would possibly discover the pacing an issue and if you’re not a fan of the narrative then you definitely may need a serious challenge right here. The story is an extended one, round twenty hours or so, and can take you on a deep journey by means of darkness, homicide, and intrigue. You’ll have vital crossroad selections to make that have an effect on the end result of the narrative and that is employed very effectively certainly. 

Gameplay places the give attention to exploration, dialogue bushes, and utilizing your particular talents to form the course of the sport. In your display within the left-hand nook, you will have two stats that are the talent factors, alongside together with your bloodlust gauge. When this begins to flash you actually need to feed on some people quick. This may be achieved in Vampire protected areas the place there are some keen human blood baggage wandering round; lure them into a cushty protected space after which the biting begins. What happens now could be a type of mini-game through which it’s a must to be sure to get sufficient blood from the sufferer with out killing them, but additionally get sufficient so that you don’t starve. It’s a tough stability. 

Exploration is partaking and is all within the third individual. You stroll round completely different areas on this world, interacting with objects and items of lore, gathering clues that can assist you in your quests. You find yourself chatting to folks – quite a bit – in an effort to get info or persuade a fellow vampire to do your bidding. This generally ends in a piece referred to as ‘Confrontations’, providing you with a number of probabilities (three principally) to get the correct info within the dialogue choices you select to get the specified info or end result. Your talent tree upgrading selections will help you on this little sport. 

Every of the three vampires has talent bushes which embody Intimidation, Psychology, Persuasion, and rhetoric. The way you focus every character on this talent tree is as much as you and what you need to attempt. The extra you add factors, the extra dialogue choices will open up, furthering the abilities you’ll be able to unlock like hacking computer systems or understanding sure lore for clues. It could appear a bit overwhelming and convoluted at first, however I believe it’s a system that’s attention-grabbing and ingenious. 

The visible design of Vampire: The Masquerade – Swansong is one with some nice highlights – specifically the facial animation – together with some good set design in its location. The menus are effectively offered, clear and concise, though I’ve discovered some clipping in-game, right here and there with regards to the advanced decorations of among the characters. A couple of characters don’t really feel proper of their design both; overly fussy. The soundtrack is superb although, as are all of the voice-over actors who deliver the characters to life. 

Personally, Vampire: The Masquerade – Swansong may effectively have achieved with utilising The Council’s episodic nature, giving gamers the possibility to dive into the sport each few months or so. You see, this story is sort of an in-depth expertise, however it does often really feel like one thing is lacking, needing a recap. Nonetheless, if you’re totally immersed, the narrative, characters and detective thriller nature of it work effectively. The talent bushes are machine too, as are the exploration/puzzle components of the sport. That stated, the blood-biting isn’t one thing I notably cared for and will have achieved with out. 

In case you are after one thing action-based then I don’t suppose that is the sport for you, but these in search of an authentic story-based, totally realised, world with a great deal of vampires ought to get enjoying Vampire: The Masquerade – Swansong. 

Vampire: The Masquerade – Swansong is obtainable on the Xbox Retailer