Vane Reviews
Vane is a unique experience and for that in itself Friend & Foe should be applauded. As an artwork, it’s compelling. But as a game, it’s recommended with strings attached: this is a harsh, uncompromising world and you’re going to need to struggle to survive.
Vane is an intriguing game with a variety that encourages you to dig deep into its dubious world, but its sluggish controls hamper this peculiar experience.
Review in Arabic | Read full review
Vane is the kind of game where you can see what the developers were going for. It has moments where the vision comes together and perhaps you've turned a corner, but all too quickly it goes back to its old, disappointing ways.
Developers Friend & Foe wanted to give freedom to the players with Vane, and on that aspect, they succeeded. Unfortunately for me, this also became a major disappointment, as there was maybe a bit too much freedom to properly lead me through the story and through the experience it should’ve been.
It can still look visually striking when viewed from a distance while its audio design, with a brooding electronic score, can also be wonderfully atmospheric. Sadly, it's not enough to salvage a wholly disappointing experience that never reaches the lofty heights it begins with.
It seems like during the years of development, Friend & Foe has forgotten what it wanted to say with Vane.
Review in Russian | Read full review
Vane is a 2-hour atmospheric adventure game that due to its numerous technical problems and confusing language will take up to 5 hours to finish. It is a unique experience with stunning art design and music that unfortunately has been lost in a sea of bugs and gameplay problems
Review in Persian | Read full review
It is boring walking simulator with crow. As dry as desert in this journey.
Review in Slovak | Read full review
A beautiful world begging to be explored falls victim to unclear direction and clunky controls making for a disaster instead of a delight.
Vane is a game that sticks to its ideals at the detriment of everything else. It's a noble idea to let players figure out everything on their own — until you realize that the large environments and the number of interactive but ultimately useless elements mean more time wasted in activities without a payoff.
Aside from occasional camera troubles, Vane stands out as one of the most immersive titles of 2019. Whether exploring the world as a child or a bird, the visuals masterfully blend together in a beautiful environment worthy of exploration. In relying on visuals instead of dialogue, players can form a deeper appreciation for the world around them - one open to interpretation. Vane is not a particularly long adventure, but it's one that'll leave audiences reflecting long after the credits have rolled.
If you love pretentious indie games then you may enjoy Vane but those just looking to have fun will likely get irritated with it.
Vane comes across as an interesting concept, yet a light one that lacks polish.
The industry can always use more risky passion projects like this, even if they don’t always reach their full potential.
In the pursuit of crafting an indistinguishable game world and granting advanced levels of autonomy, the developers forgot to make Vane any fun to play.
Featuring deep puzzle solving mechanics, a unique graphical style, and a tale that will leave you guessing until the very end, it’s definitely a game worth experiencing at some point. The technical issues and bugs currently present at the time of release really do hold Vane back from being a good game to just being mediocre, and that’s unfortunate.
Vane is beautiful in its expression. Players will find themselves stunned by the world the game depicts, but, unfortunately, the title seems to be an expression of style over substance. Vane looks and often sounds amazing, but the developer has pursued making a work of art at the expense of something that is fun to play. Overall, Vane could certainly be considered a work of art. Nevertheless, though it was clearly aiming to be the next Shadow of the Colossus, it hits wide of the mark, as Vane lacks the depth and impact of that classic title.
Vane may have strived to create an immersive experience for gamers, but its technical flaws leave it feeling disjointed and unpolished. It feels like a disappointment for what it could have been and it is hard to recommend the game in its current state.
It's very clear where Vane draws it's influence from, the problem is that despite beeing a beautiful a project with satisfactory puzzles, it can not at any time reach the level of its predecessors, and worse than that, it inherits from these projects a bunch of technical problems that here are even worse. There are very good things inside VANE, but the sum of its factors does not result in anything remarkable.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Vane’s arresting visual design, inventive mechanics, compelling environmental storytelling, and tense, viscous atmosphere converge to create a truly exceptional experience and PS4’s first essential exclusive of the year.