An engaging experience to sink one’s teeth into, Swansong may have its faults, but it offers a blood-curdling plot and amazing characters that simply can’t be found anywhere else.
Vampire: The Masquerade - Swansong has some design and technical hiccups, but it offers a dark and compelling story that is told in a unique manner, where situations must be resolved through deduction and intelligence, and each choice puts the player further down the path to victory or defeat.
Title: A Captivating Dive into Vampire Lore
"Vampire: The Masquerade - Swansong" is a remarkable addition to the Vampire: The Masquerade series, offering a compelling narrative experience that immerses players in the rich and complex world of vampires. Developed by Big Bad Wolf and published by Nacon, this game manages to capture the essence of the tabletop role-playing game and delivers an engaging, story-driven adventure.
Graphics and Atmosphere:
The game's visuals are stunning, creating a dark and brooding atmosphere that is perfect for its vampire-themed setting. From the intricately designed character models to the detailed environments, Swansong oozes with an eerie and captivating ambiance that draws players into its world.
Storyline:
At the heart of Swansong is its gripping narrative. The game follows the intertwining stories of three different vampire characters, each with their own unique abilities and backgrounds. The branching storyline is filled with political intrigue, moral dilemmas, and deep character development. Choices made throughout the game have meaningful consequences, shaping the outcome of the story in profound ways.
Characters:
The character development in Swansong is outstanding. The three playable vampires, each belonging to a different clan, are well-written and relatable. As players delve into their individual stories, they will uncover their personal struggles, desires, and secrets. The game also features a range of well-crafted NPCs who add depth to the world and provide opportunities for players to interact and make choices that influence the narrative.
Gameplay:
Swansong primarily focuses on narrative-driven gameplay with occasional dialogue choices and decision-making moments. While it doesn't offer traditional action-packed combat, it excels in delivering a suspenseful and engaging story that keeps players invested throughout. The game's mechanics are easy to grasp, making it accessible to both fans of the Vampire: The Masquerade tabletop game and newcomers to the franchise.
Soundtrack:
The game's haunting soundtrack perfectly complements its dark and mysterious atmosphere. The music sets the tone for each scene and enhances the overall immersion, adding an extra layer of depth to the experience. Conclusion:
"Vampire: The Masquerade - Swansong" is a must-play for fans of the Vampire: The Masquerade series and anyone who enjoys narrative-driven RPGs. It excels in storytelling, character development, and atmosphere, offering an unforgettable journey into the world of vampires. While it may not cater to players seeking action-packed gameplay, those who appreciate a well-crafted narrative will find Swansong to be a mesmerizing and immersive experience.
Rating: 9/10
"Vampire: The Masquerade - Swansong" is a game that not only respects the rich tradition of the Vampire universe but also expands and deepens that experience. With its gripping story, memorable characters, and immersive atmosphere, it becomes a valuable addition to the franchise and a gaming experience worth exploring for all narrative RPG enthusiasts and fans of the vampire world.
I like the game. I think the players were waiting for an action RPG. Anyway...
The game is a challenge, it is not the typical game that shows you everything through arrows and glowing things. You have to look for answers by yourself, make your own conclusions and make your own decisions. You want a password? you have to pay attention, cause the password is not gonna be glowing in the darkness so you can see it.
The dialogs are great and they change depending on your attributes, abilities, etc.
It is a great game. It is not for everyone, of course. If you wanted an action RPG you WON'T like it, and I would recommend to wait for the Bloodlines 2 (Still hopeful T_T)
Despite the various flaws and stumbles, it does something few, if any, RPGs even attempt in its ambitious stab at creating a combat-free RPG. Its embrace of the deliciously edgy lore of the Vampire setting also lends an inimitable sense of flavor and style, even if the graphics don’t always do it justice. In the end, while the final experience is two courses short of being a banquet, it’s good eating for fans who are starving for vampire videogames.
Vampire: The Masquerade -Swansong is a narrative-driven RPG that is faithful to the original “World of Darkness” cosmos. It is very engaging, with some brilliant ideas, especially in the dialog challenges, but fails, somehow short, due to its half-baked role-playing system that “punishes” the player’s character build decisions.
Vampire: The Masquerade - Swansong has grand ambitious, but its dated presentation, shallow gameplay and uninteresting story make for another disappointing outing from this brooding universe.
Swansong ultimately has little to recommend it. Its writing is stilted, its storytelling muddled, and its puzzle design is mostly unimaginative. Sadly, there isn't even any kind of worthwhile payoff if you do manage to see it through to its conclusion. I reached a point where I was thinking I'd hit the close of the second act, and then the game ended. Just like this.
I very much loved this game. The characters were unique and interesting. I especially felt for the Leysha and Halsey dynamic. Very-very touching! The story also had good twists and supporting characters. I have played and enjoyed Redemption, Bloodlines, and even the Heartless Lullaby, and this felt like a very nice addition to the VtM games. It was great to see and feel the vampire powers of different clans function as dialogue or environmental puzzle mechanics. I really felt I was playing a pretty solid VtM game.
There were a few bugs here and there. Like a few voiceovers were missing, a few interactions were not working due to activating them in the wrong order, etc. And, frankly, the ending was a bit of a letdown. Based on the different high-adrenaline, high-stakes scenes from the rest of the game, I wish the ending tempo would have lived up to that a bit more.
Another thing that bothered me was the inability to save mid-mission. I know this is so by design... but, yeah, I'm that guy who likes to save scum their way through the game. Although, most of the missions weren't too long, so repeating one to try a different outcome, was totally an option. The game usually also doesn't let you make too big mistakes if you think about your actions a bit.
However, overall this is still a game I would recommend to players who enjoy VtM, interesting characters, dialogue mechanics, detective adventure games, and some high-stakes storytelling. Honestly, one of the more memorable game experiences I've had in recent years. Just don't expect this to be an action game. It is an adventure RPG.
Vampire the masquerade is a new addition to the battle royal formula that excels in doing things a little bit different then other competitors and it dose it well in some areas but not vary well on others there is alot of room for improvement in this game world that need to be addressed
ok, in my opinion, its a movie-game. but no mather what options you choose, always seems to lead the same direction. need a lot of patience do play because you cant skip dialogs and scenes. sometimes dialogs options says 100%rate of sucess, but them FAILED. annoying, yes. and you cant go back because theres no quicksave, just autosaves. basically, theres no exploration, just follow a straight line to see the end of the story(movie).
The the developers went out their way to annoy players.
This game does not respects your time, and it seems some decisions were made purely to annoy players.
You can't save, can't reload, can't skip dialogue (so you are forced to listen to the godawful voiceover).
if you missed something or accidentally clicked on the wrong answer, your only choice is to replay the whole (multiple hours long) chapter.
The game has the most unnecessary inventory system, which only makes sense if you use a walktrough and know in advance what kind of event/cutscene/confrontation comes next - since you can't access the inventory during the those and most of the items are single use.
There is a puzzle where you have to turn multiple discs. I bet that not a single developer or QA tester played this title on PC, because with a mouse it takes extremely long time to make a full rotation, which you have to do several times...
The XP system is also very unnecessary, you have like 5 occasions to blindly distribute some points before each character's chapter.
The plot seemed okay until it became too annoying. (I quit in chapter 5). This game could have been "Detroit: Become Human lite", because the gameplay is very similar, but the annoyances get in the way of any enjoyment.
SummaryWhat if vampires were real? What if these bloodthirsty predators lived hidden among us, meticulously and skilfully hatching ancient conspiracies? And what if you became one of them? In Vampire: The Masquerade - Swansong, you play as these alluring monsters in a sophisticated world where the lines between the real and supernatural are alw...