Reviewing (mostly) every game (or DLC) in my library, 623:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️☆☆ (8/10)
♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥. Tbh, I wasn’t expecting much from [i]The Vampire Regent,[/i] but I am quite pleasantly surprised! I actually like it almost as much as I did [i]Vampire: The Masquerade — Night Road[/i]. Which segues nicely into my next point, actually. To get the obvious out of the way: [i]Vampire Regent [/i]is basically "We have World of Darkness (“WoD”) at home." And I mean that as a compliment. It’ll feel familiar to fans of WoD, as it’s one of the most gritty worlds I’ve read, and it shares many similarities to WoD in respect to lore and description. Still, the authors were able to put their own creative spin on vampiric lore, plot, and choices. It actually reminds me of William Loman’s[i] A Kiss from Death[/i], in which more experimental mechanics ask for the reader’s trust and belief. Sadly, [i]Vampire Regent[/i] also shares [i]A Kiss from Death’s[/i] weakness of not being character-focused enough, and the writing being a tad on the drier side. Still, this is an underrated gem of a game! [b]As always, thank you to the staff for the free copy![/b]
[b][h2]Pros:[/h2][/b]
✅ [b]Concept.[/b] For once, you don’t play as a fledgling vampire. Nah, you are the Big Bad, Regent ruling at the top. It’s such a blast to be an established, competent leader. As Regent, you’re not concerned with petty matters like survival or wealth. You have it made, with a sweet place and blood bags delivered to you! Instead, you are placed in a leadership role where you are expected to solve problems by allocating resources or by delegation. However, you can also get your hands dirty (literally) and take care of things … personally.
✅ [b]Mechanics.[/b] RIP to my boy William Loman, for I’m going to praise [i]The Vampire Regent[/i] for something I disliked in [i]A Kiss From Death.[/i] The gameplay is similar to that of Lucas Zaper’s other game,[i] War for the West. [/i]Every evening, you are allowed one choice between the main plot, random side stories, character interactions, and improving your stats. There are three main stats: Physical, Perception, and Manipulation, and improving each is tied to an action. For example, practicing your fencing improves your Physical stat and grants you the chance to interact with an RO (along with some side characters). Or you can play poker, improving your Perception and gaining money and information. However, my favorite by far was the Auditorium. This event is not tied to any particular stat increase, but it instead functions as a story rogue-like, almost? Each event gives you a new problem to solve (because no one is as powerful and big-brained as you, ofc) with the quest, resolution, and side effects ranging from a couple of lines in one scene to a major boon in a later plot point.
➡️ [b]Replayability/choices that matter.[/b] The above point leads to my next one. Listen, you guys know I’m too much of a soft-hearted perfectionist to replay games. But I honestly was tempted to boot up another playthrough because the game is both wide and deep. The randomized story events are a fun element that encourages you to play again to find what you missed, and there are so many branching storyline options—choices upon choices. I mean, I had to reject some characters/side quests because I wanted to spend my time elsewhere. Characters can live or die based on your actions. I was quite impressed with how the authors handled the Auditorium’s mini-quests.
➡️ For example, there was one situation involving conflicting factions attempting to smuggle weapons and contraband. Your first choice is whether to pay attention to it. You could then choose whether you go by yourself, send some low-level initiates, some higher-level vampires, or a mixture of the three. Now, when you go to the scene of the crime, you can try to sneak past, talk to the enemy, scope out the area, or go in ripping and tearing. Depending on your choices and the number of allies, you can be wounded or have the plan go off without a hitch. Then, there’s the question of what to do with the contraband. There’s like, five options to choose from: keep the weapons for yourself, sell them on the black market for a TON of money, give them to the mayor for goodwill, destroy them, send them to a helpful ally… what I’m saying is that there’s a ton of love and care for every scenario, big or small.
✅ [b]Worldbuilding.[/b] This game was a fresh take on an ancient struggle. Is it similar to the [i]Vampire: The Masquerade games?[/i] For sure. Is it a complete rip-off? Hell no. I loved how the world is similar enough for me to feel familiar, but there were still some differences. Yes, there’s a code to be hidden from humans. There’s a Regent/Prince. There are super cool powers, like talking to the dead, visions of the future, and manipulation. But it’s doing its own thing! The vibe, lore, and character dynamics make it feel inspired rather than copied.
✅ [b]Clear stats.[/b] I thought three stats were too few, but I ended up glad of it, as the game is more focused that way. I very much appreciated the clarity of stats, as well. The game tells you when a skill is increased, and if an option’s success depends on said skill. I also liked the flexibility of the system. I built a low Physical, high Perception, and high Manipulation character. To my concern, there were lots of physical fights. However, my high Perception allowed me to get useful insights into the enemy, lowering the difficulty of the Physical check. As a result, I could taunt, charm, and play dirty to win a knifefight. Three personality spectrums are tracked, as well, along with your influence with certain characters and groups.
✅ [b]Main plot.[/b] I don’t really care if a plot is “good” or “bad”; all I care about is (a) if it’s wild and (b) if it’s fun. I don’t want to spoil anything, but I absolutely had no idea where the plot was going. It was indeed wild, and I basically got whiplash from the plot twists (especially in the second half!). I don’t feel like the writers wrote so many switcheroos just to fake out the player. Instead, looking back, everything makes sense in hindsight, and the narrative is quite intelligent and strong while still allowing the player to understand it. The ending, too? Chef’s kiss
[b][h2]Cons:[/h2][/b]
🟥 [b]Slow beginning.[/b][i] The Vampire Regent[/i] starts rather slowly and starkly. It begins in media res, and the game will throw names, situations, and important choices right at you. I honestly questioned wtf was going on. For the first hour or so, I was making random choices, trying to figure out what the story was. But I rolled with the punches and clicked on random options. Before I knew it, the plot weaves bits and pieces together, creating a magnificent narrative.
🟥 [b]Limited romance.[/b] To my knowledge, I could not romance the evil vampire MILF 🙏🙏🙏. But seriously, I had one male vampire try to come on to me (it was actually pretty sweet and respectful) and one female RO named Alice, whom you can only meet if you go fencing … which I did not until half the game was over. Her romance was surprisingly tender, which I enjoyed! Love can melt even a cold vampire’s heart. Her backstory was nothing we haven’t read before, but it made sense for her as a character. I only wish she appeared more in the main plot, and there were more romance scenes.
🟥 [b]Not character-focused (enough).[/b] It’s quite a bummer because for each intriguing side character (your two councilors, George Russel, your maker, the mayor, Alice, etc.) with some hinted backstory, there are a couple of people you meet only once or twice throughout the game. It’s realistic, as a boss has many underlings, but even with the contacts list (an excellent design choice!), I struggled to remember who's who.
