Vampire: The Masquerade – Swansong Reviews

It's a book with extra buttons to be honest.

Well, I must be in a minority here because I quite enjoyed this. Yeah the graphics are a bit naff, but budget's a budget and I can look past that. The werewolf bit was a bit annoying but then the same was true of Bloodlines. There's no real combat here and I'm ok with that, too. Focusing on the intrigue and social aspect was a good take and for a change, I feel like a proper established vampire, not some lick who gets beaten up by a pack of kine. Great voice acting. I particularly like Galeb who has the perfect amount of Ventrue calm and confidence. Also great performance and writing for Leysha. I love a Malkavian but especially when they're written so well. So yeah, it's not the sprawling, open world WOD RPG we all hope for, but we're never gonna get that, and this is a decent enough slice of vampire action that really nails the vibe. Sure, it could be better, but it could also be a whole lot worse and it's certainly one of the better pieces of VTM media imo. If anything, it's a shame it wasn't longer, as Leysha's mechanics especially just cry out for a Hitman style sandboxy level, but sadly there are limited opportunities to use her mask of many faces. The stripped back mechanics are fine, but it annoys me you can't see the dice, they're just always blank. Not including Humanity was an interesting move. I kinda liked it as it gave me the freedom to just give in. I had Galeb murder pretty much everyone who stood in his path without a shred of remorse and it's refreshing to not be forced into some grey moral quandary. All in all, I'm pretty happy with the experience.

TLDR: DON'T DO IT, BUY SOMETHING ELSE PLEASE!!!! Bought this on sale thinking I forgot about this game, maybe it will be good for a story etc, etc. No it's straight boring as ****. Even on a 90% sale this is not worth buying. Spent 11.99 for the primogen edition. Learn from my mistake use your 11.99 elsewhere. Thank me later.

The story and characters are really good, however the game feels like it was made in 2007 and the gameplay is not smooth at all

Having fallen in love with the Vampire: The Masquerade setting back in the days of Bloodlines, I’ve always had a special place in my heart for the World of Darkness. Which makes it all the more frustrating that there are so few games set in this world—aside from some well-crafted visual novels. Swansong, however, definitely scratched that itch. Rather than an action-heavy RPG, Swansong plays more like a detective adventure with RPG elements, which works well for the political and investigative nature of the setting. The cast of characters, the intricate web of intrigue, and the overall vibe feel spot-on for the World of Darkness, pulling you into a world of power struggles, secrets, and manipulation. That said, the RPG mechanics could have used more refinement. Some skills are clearly more useful than others, and successful solutions tend to be fairly linear, which can make certain choices feel less impactful. While that aspect was a little frustrating, it was ultimately easy to overlook because the narrative and atmosphere carried the experience. If you’re a World of Darkness fan, Swansong is well worth playing. It might not be perfect, but the story, characters, and immersive setting more than make up for its mechanical shortcomings

If bloodlines was a fantastic if flawed open world rpg gem, swansong is a more formulaic linear story that feels like a console port of a mediocre game. The masquerade story world shines through, but the gameplay is too solid. Nonetheless if you want the most up to date masquerade game. This is it. So a cautious recommend for those who are into this vampiric setting and the masquerade universe, for everyone else perhaps wait for a heavy discount.