Vampiric Masquerade arrives in novel visual format for PC and Nintendo Switch. Become a vampire and look for allies in this dark world
A World of Darkness surrounds the reality we know. Secret societies that take over the city night. They hide in art galleries, parks and Internet cafes. Prom dresses or as homeless people. The undead suck the blood of unsuspecting humans, and conspire among themselves to dethrone those who believe their allies.
Vampires, undead, bloodsuckers, whatever. They are only synonyms that represent the same reality. Now you are one of them, so you better accept it quickly and prepare for the new life.
In Vampire: The Masquerade – Coteries of New York we dive into the life of a newborn vampire in the big apple. There are hours of dialogue in this visual novel with alternative routes, decisions to make, and three main campaigns to play with. In each campaign we take the role of a different vampire who joins a different clan, but the story remains essentially the same. As neonates, we must prove our worth before the vampire elite of our city and before our patron or patron, and make new allies that will travel every corner of this night world.
Based on how it is in the role-playing games of World of Darkness, and more specifically in the Vampire franchise: The Masquerade, Coteries of New York feels an organic incorporation into the universe, and it shows that he is very proud of him. In the hours we spend reading this story, there is much more world construction than characters, moments that surprise by their inventiveness and not so much by their involvement in the plot.
After a linear introduction, we get our pattern in this world and the game opens. Coteries of New York proposes a branched structure. Each night, the city map opens and a series of events starring various individuals are proposed. These secondary missions are the ones that define the development of the story to a greater extent, and if we do them, we will reveal new plots that will be interspersed with the main plot of the game.
Despite having decision power on numerous occasions through the dialogue system, they feel disconnected from the direction the game's history is going to take, whether we like it or not. They help define our character, and are taken into account in the short term, they also modify the development of the scene we are playing, but they do not have a much greater trajectory. The end, in fact, is unique regardless of the actions or campaign we play.
Choosing the side missions we want to play and the allies we want to have is more a lore development exercise than anything else. Do we want to know more about the religious side of this world? The secret clans? Or the anarchists outside of them? Each route opens a window to a specific side of this universe, and we decide which one we want to be part of our vampire campaign.
Reading and making decisions is what we will do almost all the time. It is very important to know in that case that the game is only in English, and that at the moment it cannot be enjoyed in Spanish officially. In this case it is more noteworthy than normal because, being a literary language, we expect paragraphs and paragraphs of reading not too light and full of technicalities. Many of those terms are in red and added to the glossary of the game world. And we can access this glossary anytime we want to take a quick look at the concepts that bring the game universe to life.
Vampiric thirst is another main mechanic of the game. As the nights go by our thirst will grow and we will have to quench it. Throughout the numerous events of the game, both secondary and the main plot, we will be presented with occasions to feed ourselves. Poor humans we have isolated, or individuals who for some reason will voluntarily give us their blood. The ideal is not to drink too much so as not to fall into our primary instincts, nor to allow enough time to die thirsty. This mechanic, which could be something with more crumb in another title, becomes here something anecdotal, with occasions to feed us on a very regular basis, which simply invites us to feed intermittently as opportunities appear.
The script of Coteries of New York, the raison d'être of this game after all, is competent and at times interesting. There are two approaches that collide a bit and that prevent the game's story from finishing presenting its best face, and it is not clear to which audience it wants to focus. There are numerous characters, plots and elements of the Masquerade universe here to satisfy veterans, but on the other hand, the game is constantly backing down so as not to lose new players along the way. There is redundant information in the numerous texts of the game, and moments of blatant exposure, to place those who have been left behind.
This is also weighed down by a user experience that leaves many things in half. Text blocks cannot be passed automatically, nor can they be omitted to help speed things up when replacing. Nor can the game be saved without having to leave the game, since the only possible option is a “Save and Exit”. Although the art of the game contributes a lot visually, and gives the whole a dark and urban aura, there is a lack of statism in the experience. There are no voices of any kind in the game, nor is anything special done with the text at the level of feedback, colors, font size, or animations to add some dynamism.
If this does not finish lowering expectations a bit, the game also presents occasional technical problems, with names or images of characters that are not where they should be, or even hanging. They are problems and weaknesses of a title that, for the rest, convinces in essence when it is well written, and serves as an adequate accompaniment for the future main release of the saga.
Code provided for the Steam version.
CONCLUSION
Vampire: The Masquerade – Coteries of New York is a good story told through a user experience that doesn't end up making it shine. As a game it is weighed down by occasional bugs, and as a visual novel, its visual section is attractive but it feels conventional and static. Its plot is an interesting compendium of secondary stories that are interspersed with a main thread that intrigues, but it is full of more targeted expository text to publicize the lore that moves the story forward, and the rhythm is usually resented by it . He will convince veterans for the fidelity with which he creates these stories with respect to the original material, and for newbies for how he immerses himself fully in a huge universe full of interesting and caring elements. But this incursion into the vampire world offers little more.
THE BEST
- An intriguing story set in a well-built and caring world
- It works well as an introduction to the lore of this universe
- Well written, and with defined and interesting characters
WORST
- Only in English, and its numerous texts are full of technical terminology of the world and literary descriptions
- The user experience lacks refinement, it seems conventional and static
- Occasional technical problems drag the experience, including hanging
Right
It is not the latest or the most original, nor does it have the best execution, but it can be fun if you like the genre. Good, but improvable.
