Vampire: The Masquerade - Swansong Reviews
Vampire The Masquerade Swansong sticks to the source material very closely, adding very little to distinguish itself from many other adventure games, except for some bugs and inconsistencies. Only suited for long time World of Darkness fans.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Vampire: The Masquerade – Swansong has players step in the shoes of three different vampires to solve a mystery, building upon the wealth of Vampire lore, but doesn't have much bite.
Another entry in the Vampire: The Masquerade world, this time bringing us some RPG detective work with three new characters.
Vampire: The Masquerade – Swansong has some novelty as a dialogue focused RPG but is hampered by mid-production jank and subpar level design.
With its gameplay mechanics that are woven into the narrative, Vampire: The Masquerade – Swansong brings a fresh take on the narrative-driven games genre with its vampire detective title, even if the overall execution could have used some more polishing.
Vampire: The Masquerade - Swansong is certainly a super-stylish narrative RPG, and it's one that gets off to a strong start, offering up a truly intriguing premise, before falling victim to tedious investigative gameplay, undercooked conversational aspects and a host of bugs that make progress frustrating at points. There's just too much jank here, levels are too rigid, there's not enough freedom in how you go about your investigations or use your vampiric powers to really make things sing and, as a result, we're left with a game that fails to fully live up to its early promise. It's not a bad effort, but with a little more care and polish, it could have been so much more.
Vampire: The Masquerade-Swansong promised to return us to the metaverse of The Masquerade with a narrative title, perfect to know and explore everything it can offer. Unfortunately, it remains in a messy story, perhaps too ambitious for what the study of itself could really give and with a plot and character development that does not offer everything it promised.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Vampire the Masquerade: Swansong impresses like a good song with its content and form of communication. This is a meticulous and thoughtful project. It determines the essence of choice in games and condemns to irresistible consequences. You want to know this story in another variant and start over with sharpened abilities. Exploration is rewarded not only by satisfkation, but by experience points. The story drips with blood, luxury, the content of dialogues and multidimensional characters. Visual workshop deficiencies pale with such content.
Review in Polish | Read full review
An engaging experience to sink one's teeth into, Swansong may have its faults, but it offers a blood-curdling plot and amazing characters that simply can't be found anywhere else.
While the game's narrative aspect is truly engaging, it's difficult to appreciate all the dialogue options and plot twists with so many flaws that plague Vampire: The Masquerade ' Swansong. With grotesque facial animations, clumsy exploration options, lots of bugs and a lacking introduction to the World of Darkness, Swansong is a game for die-hard fans who are tired of waiting for Bloodlines 2.
Review in Slovak | Read full review
Slowburner detective about vampires. For those who values story and characters more than game mechanics.
Review in Russian | Read full review
Vampire: The Masquerade – Swansong tells an incredible story, one the player can truly influence, but it falls short in many of the efforts to translate the World of Darkness into video game form. A must-play for fans of the universe, but fans of the narrative-driven RPG may find more frustration than enjoyment.
Vampire: The Masquerade - Swansong has grand ambitious, but its dated presentation, shallow gameplay and uninteresting story make for another disappointing outing from this brooding universe.
Vampire: The Masquerade – Swansong is a fun and intriguing third-person investigation game but one that is also a tad disappointing in certain areas. The visuals leave a lot to be desired, the voice acting from a lot of the characters is poor, and some patches need to come along to fix some of the more annoying bugs. Outside of those things I really enjoyed how different each of the three Vampires felt and the number of ways situations could play out depending on information you found or how your skills are leveled. If you’re looking for a new game to play that has a lot of player choice then you’ll likely enjoy your time with Swansong.
Vampire: The Masquerade – Swansong is a really engaging romp into the world of the masquerade. I really appreciate that it focuses on the less combat-oriented elements of the tabletop game, something almost every title in the franchise puts on the backburner. Some glitches and a relatively unimpressive presentation drag it down a little, but if you were looking for something focused more around politics and investigation instead of tearing people in two, Swansong is the game for you.
Is it actually fun to be a vampire? Let's find out together, in the latest attempt to export Vampire: The Masquerade to video games.
For fans of vampiric tales, dark narratives and grizzly visuals, there’s a lot to love about Vampire: The Masquerade – Swansong.
As a newbie to Vampire: The Masquerade, I wasn't impressed with Swansong. There were moments when I found myself enjoying the investigation aspect but these were still marred by technical issues, graphical inconsistencies, and an unsettling atmosphere.
Vampire: The Masquerade - Swansong should have been fantastic, but it wasn't. It has some excellent characters and an array of interesting missions. Somehow, though, it still falls short. With bland conversation and a flat atmosphere, every task is an uphill struggle. It's a real shame as it could, and should have worked well.
Despite its misgivings, Vampire: The Masquerade – Swansong remains an enjoyable experience. Players use to visual novels and text-based adventures will find a lot to love with this game. Similarly, players who can look past truly horrendous lip synching can revel in the beauty of the unique Deus-Ex type art style. The overall totality of immersion to be found is also immense. The game is slow and deliberate, and while the story really does not touch on any World of Darkness aspects beyond the surface-level, a lot of care and effort has been made to ensure players feel like they are part of the underbelly making up The Masquerade and its many coteries, camarillas, and seedy gangs. There is no denying how rough around the edges the game is, and likely will remain. Despite this, the title knows its place and comfortably fills a gap many Vampire: The Masquerade fans may have as they patiently wait for Bloodlines 2 to divine itself into existence.