Vampire: The Masquerade – Swansong Reviews

Honestly, this feels more like what a V:tM video game should be than Bloodlines does. That's not to say it's a better game than Bloodlines. If you are expecting any combat whatsoever, this isn't your game. However, as a fan of the Frogwares Sherlock Holmes games, I am also a huge fan of Swansong. It's a great game *if* you are already somewhat knowledgeable about the world.

I'm glad I finished this game, even though I enjoyed the story it wants to tell. VtM Swansong feels like it's feels like it's tripping over its own ambition to deliever an exciting and progressive game. I liked some parts of it,[b] let me begin with the things I found thrilling:[/b] + You get to play 3 different characters and perspectives and all of them feel different from each other. You get to play villians (or let's say people who have very gray morals), you don't need to be a hero here. I found that refreshing! Of course, considering the world/setting we play in, that's normal, but anyway, since the characters were decent and interesting enough it worked for me. It felt a bit like Galeb and Emem got more love and attention from the developers than Leysha (even though she was my favorite protagonist because she had to overcome so many things in her life!) + The atmosphere is nice, too. The game manages to give me a certain elegant basic atmosphere that remains in every scene - it's as if the arrogance of the vampires rubs off on me, the style is charming and good, even if the graphical drops... well... I'll get to that in a moment: [b]What I didn't enjoy at all:[/b] - The graphics were, sometimes, very odd, and led to a weird style. A serious conversation but the lower half of my conversation partner's face simply slides down 20%? Meh. There was an NPC floating around in the background somewhere and some people rolled their eyes in cutscenes as if they were annoyed. Swansong glitched and bugged far too often for a game with that price tag. - But let's cut to the one thing that made me almost give up: [b]the gameplay![/b] Why did the trailer let me think this was an action game or a rpg, even? It's nothing but a walking simulatior with puzzles and dialogues! This is very clearly a game that expects you to replay it multiple times, since it is basically impossible to get through the whole of the story without a walkthrough. Sometimes I locked myself out of resolutions and scenes because I missed (even with a walkthrough!) to pick up a tiiiny small object somewhere! Same happened to me also because the game has increasingly high requirements for skills. Which means that unless you know exactly what skills you need you'll be unable to see a bunch of content. This is very frustrating! - Especially because the game doesn't let you save at will. Forgot something? You have to play the whole scene (and some scenes are very very long!) again with every conversation, every skillcheck, every puzzle.. haha. fun. NOT. You thought you'd be a Jack of trades and picked several skills instead of one? Go replay an hour. - The game only gives you XP for wins, things that Swansong thinks are "the right" outcome. Missed something? Missed a lot of XP, too. That makes improving skills (which you need for certain checks) even more difficult and tiresome. This isn't roleplay, it's trick-play and enervating. - The music is completely interchangeable, sometimes I didn't even notice it, it's so inconspicuous. - Voice acting is not bad, but not good, either. I found Harsley's childish lisp particularly bad and annoying. - [b]Why does a dialogue system have to be so overloaded?[/b] Thousands of skill checks, so roleplay is no longer possible because you would never win some options anyway! That really ruins the mood of the game. So many dialogues are a fight, how can one manipulate a vessel properly, hello? Cut me some slag! The system behind it works okayish once you understand it, but it is way too complicated and overloaded for the story the game wants to tell. Passed a skill check ? Well, too bad, the npc has a bonus and now it's a tie! now it's pure luck if you win this conversation! Making many important conversations a "duell" with skillchecks was just not a good gameplay choice. I would have prefered EITHER a visual novel or a shooter - or, wild idea I know - a roleplay game where both are possible? - The movement speed is way too slow, especially if you need to re-do a part of the game because you had to replay it all again.. - The game wants you to read sooo many inane documents that even i had enough after a time. (and I usually enjoy that kind of thing).. I probably missed a lot of good lore here but it was just a bit too much. [b]Conclusion: [/b]The meritless XP & dialogue system does not allow any meaningful roleplaying which is especially sad, because the games overall design promised me a game where choices are important. "Swansong" feels more like a movie where the player can miss a few scenes when skipping forward. It's a game that pretends to offer depth and freedom but instead gives you a foretold story with no chance to actually explore anything. Don't buy this game, not even in a sale - if you really want to know its story look up some let's plays on youtube! There are better games to be played in the world of darkness.