Cabernet

Un juego apañado, recomendado si te gustan juegos narrativos con ramificaciones

A Total Masterpiece! I finished it in 2 days and couldn't do anything else and loved how the game have a few secret ending too!

Я никогда раньше не писала отзыв на игру, но эта игра...Просто покорила меня. Пишу в слезах, хаотично. Кажется, это моя первая игра со славянским контекстом, преподнесенном в таком интересном формате, как в Глоссарии. Можно вспомнить детские истории или даже узнать что-то новое, даже будучи выращенным в славянской культуре. Это мой самый главный плюс. Сама история ужасно интересна, от персонажей до самого основного сюжета. И все такие разные, и все такие классные...Понравилось находить общий язык (или не находить)! Конец игры оказался неожиданным. Вообще, в течение игры ты задумываешься о многих вещах, в том числе, естественно, и о смерти. Здесь она преподнесена, в целом, даже как-то романтично... Заплакала я именно тогда, когда услышала любимую Алину Орлову в титрах. Вот здесь меня прорвало. О ней не так много знают, мне кажется, и ее появление ощутилось как личное обращение. Спасибо за такую замечательную игру. Мне очень хочется поделиться с ней со всеми, особенно с моим парнем, который только изучает мою культуру.

献给希望

The game is great, I was really enjoying it but it's very buggy and now I'm stuck in a screen and I can't continue playing. So 8 hours of playing the game for nothing, I'll never see the end of it.

[h2]While janky and full of issues, Cabernet is clearly a game that was made with love. If “19th century vampire interactive fiction” sounds appealing to you, you will definitely like this game.[/h2] Overall, I enjoyed this game. It’s a really refreshing take on the interactive fiction / walking simulator genre that was very evidently crafted with love from the developers who made it. Cabernet is a game that really tries to lean into interactivity and nonlinear storytelling with real impactful choices and actual game mechanics that affect your story beyond just having dialogue options here and there to pick from. You can tell that they really wanted to make something new here with this one, even if it sometimes doesn’t live up to what it’s trying to do. [h3]Mechanics[/h3] The action points and skill system is designed in a manner that you have too many things to do and not enough time to do all of them, which gives room for lots of meaningful choices and weight to those choices. The addition of vampire powers and feeding mechanics with risks of accidentally killing people relevant to the plot is also an amazing addition. I wish more games in this genre would take risks and be willing to innovate like this because I don’t think almost any other game in this genre actually tries to make mechanics that make your choices meaningful in this non-linear sort of way. That said, I feel like the game loses its pace in the final act where they built in way too much downtime and not enough things to do so it’s easy to get to a point where you “do all the things” and then just have to read books for several days because there’s literally nothing left. They should have either cut up the timing to improve the pacing or fleshed out the final act plotline more to fill the space. [h3]Setting & Plot[/h3] The setting is pretty neat. Cabernet's setting plays with a mix of World of Darkness-y vampire illuminati type stuff but in a late 19th century nonspecific Eastern European setting. It’s an interesting twist that I don’t think anyone else has done or will probably ever do in another game and it’s worth playing just for that. If you like vampire media, this game is sort of a niche must-play. It doesn’t take itself nearly as seriously as WoD and the way the vampire powers work makes for some interesting plot holes, but overall I’d rate the execution of the worldbuilding as pretty great and fun to get immersed in. The characters are all pretty interesting and fun and it’s neat unravelling their stories and seeing how it all plays out. While in many cases the writing feels telegraphed with dialogue that can feel stilted at times, there are certain characters and plot points that genuinely take you through some unexpected developments and I appreciate that. The main plot is also generally interesting, but I can't help but like the character stories a bit more. There is also yuri in this game and I can’t help but thumbs up any game that gives wlw representation in the very limited representation there is for queer women in video games. [h3]Politics[/h3] One point that I can’t avoid talking about with this game is the political messaging. In my opinion, it gets a bit heavy handed in a way that misses the mark. I really like titles that are cerebral and force you to think about politics, and I would generally consider myself to have relatively progressive political views, so I feel weird talking about it in this game. Spoilers below to get into what I mean. [spoiler]In the final act, the game has a proletariat revolution plotline where the communists are portrayed as sort of unambiguous good guys that you are somewhat railroaded into supporting.[/spoiler] [spoiler]To get into an example of how bad it gets, there’s a scene where a peasant who is a stand in for lumpenproletariat comes and argues with you about how communism could never work and you are forced to le epic debate bro pwn him with facts and logic about how the bourgeoisie and the elites are bad and communism is epic, and then everyone claps. It’s like being forced to read one of those silly made up reddit stories where people paint their political opponents as embarrassing ugly straw men, which feels really awkward and out of place in an otherwise really thoughtful and intelligent game like Cabernet.[/spoiler] [spoiler]The developers do, to their credit, sorta try to hedge this by having two revolutionary characters where one is clearly meant to be more of an extremist than the other, but the game story still feels way too willing to paper over the tragedy of the revolution in order to peddle a very specific political narrative. It also sucks that the climax of the game gets so wrapped up in this plot thread.[/spoiler] It feels like the developers have this very idealistic and romanticised view of the Bolshevik revolution that only a western Russophile/tankie could have. As someone whose family had to suffer through the communist era and know what that’s all about, I’m sorry but I just can’t take that seriously. It feels out of touch the way this cultural material is handled and I can’t help but feel bad that this is a criticism I have to levy against this game given how much I otherwise enjoyed it. [h3]Art Direction[/h3] The art is ok. There’s lots of assets that you’ll see recycled over and over and it often has the vibes of an amateurish mid 2000s flash game. But all of it does the job and at least it’s something original; there aren’t really any games that look like this in this day and age. Same general feeling for the voice acting work. It's impressive and awesome that a game from a small studio like this made the ambitious decision to have their game fully voice acted, but it would unfortunately be a stretch to call the voice acting good. I appreciated it, though, for what it's worth. The soundtrack is peak. 10/10 no notes. Perfectly fits the atmosphere of the game and it blends so well that it's easy to overlook and not notice it. Great work from whoever did the music here. [h3]Jank[/h3] The game is pretty buggy. There’s weird jank trying to play on a Steam Deck with an external controller (you have to re-order the controllers in Steam controller settings to make your external controller the second controller— don’t ask why this works but it does), and there are times when you might have to reload a save because scripted events break. That said, I would rather have an ambitiously made game with lots of bugs than a boring and linear one without them, so it’s tolerable. This is a tiny indie production that is playing with ambitions to shake up the interactive fiction genre formula and one-up games way out of its league. I can't help but respect that immensely. Giving this game a little bit of grace for what it is goes a long way. [h3]Conclusion[/h3] In conclusion, Cabernet is a total mess but it’s a fun and innovative mess. If you are an interactive fiction junkie like me then this game is definitely worth your money and you will get a kick out of it. I can wholeheartedly say that I look forward to any future titles from this developer, even if I do substantially disagree with their politics.

incredible art, rich story, and choices that feel like they matter a lot. there are so many different ways to play this game and go about interacting with the world. Great game, I'd easily pay way more for this.

Simplesmente um dos melhores jogos que eu ja joguei e talvez o melhor de historia ate agora.

Initially frustrated because I couldn't get it to play well on my pc. I have found a solution and so far, the story is worth it.

Delightful storyline where all your choices matter as well as your character stats