Vampires walk among us in secret. They drive fast cars. Lord over us in penthouses. And are so refined in their taste that they will gently bite our wrists when feeding, hopefully keeping us alive for future snacks. Vampire: The Masquerade – Swansong explores the nightwalkers’ place in our world through a beautifully crafted narrative lens that embraces player choices in a deep and satisfying way.
In the opening seconds of the game, we learn that the vampires’ Boston Camarilla is on high alert; Issues that arise shortly after the coronation of a new prince to oversee their operations. The vampiric masquerade law that keeps their kind hidden from mortals may have been broken, and it’s up to you to delve into the mystery to find out what happened and who is to blame. What comes next is about 20 hours of remarkable discoveries.
As you collect clues and bloodstains, you’ll encounter gruesome crime scenes and interrogate intelligent beings bent on bending your will. Most of the notable narrative beats pay off with big twists and make you feel like you actually had a hand in solving the puzzles. You also feel like a seasoned vampire, using a variety of dark gifts to steer results in your desired direction.
This cryptic tale unfolds through the eyes of three different vampire protagonists, each at least a hundred years old, with unique perspectives on their society’s hierarchy. The story flows seamlessly between all three characters, some scenarios giving them time to breathe independently and other moments uniting them on the same hunt.
The most dynamic leading role is Emem Louis. Emem is full of conviction and able to visualize cues associated with the five senses. She is often in control of conversations and can quickly track down leads that lead to deeper mysteries. Leysha is equally interesting, but a joke given how quiet and forgetful she can be. Leysha can become invisible or mimic other people’s appearance to remain undetected during investigations. Galeb Bazory is the weakest of the main characters, struggling to take the spotlight as his comically gruff attitude and scenario designs aren’t as dynamic as the other characters.
In most video games, vampires are monsters who use their fangs and supernatural abilities to tear living beings apart. In this narrative RPG we see a different side of vampiric power. All three leads solve most of their problems through conversation and reasoning. Yes, they still feed on humans and rats to fill their tanks, but most of the gameplay is discussion based. Getting into the spirit of vampires is as wild and fun as it sounds. This unique invitation gets even better when you learn that vampires don’t always play fair and can use their unique gifts to hunt down imbeciles.
The vampiric forces are brought to life through surprisingly deep RPG systems used to manipulate dialogue. From the start of the game, you choose what powers each vampire has, and you can continue to upgrade those powers or add more as the game progresses. As the conversations unfold, the vampires can draw on intimidation, persuasion, psychology, and rhetoric to take the narrative in new directions only if their skills are high enough.
Even after reaching a competence threshold in a conversation, success does not come automatically. The humans you speak to (both humans and vampires) are also gifted in their own way and can counter your moves. You can use valuable willpower to increase your chances of success, but your opponent can do the same. You need to gauge how aggressive you are getting in these conversations and pay close attention to what’s really at stake or up for grabs. If you run out of willpower at the start of an investigation, you’ll have to play it safe for the rest, or scour the area for consumables that can help you (although they’re hard to find). Character development is heavily tied to vampiric power consumption and rewards you with extra skill points if you succeed. I admire how this reward system works as it ties directly to the heart of the gameplay.
If both characters are using the same amount of Dexterity—both providing +3 in Intimidation, for example—the success or failure of that narrative choice depends on a dice roll. You actually see a dice roll across the dialog box to see if you were successful. It’s a surprisingly intense moment that happens often and is just one of the ways that shows how dynamic and challenging these chats can be.
The dialogue system that Big Bad Wolf Studio has implemented is excellent to the point that I expect to see other developers’ games in the future. The player is consistently well rewarded by the backend RPG systems as well as the narrative script that breathes excellent work into every new character you encounter.
A seemingly harmless chat can suddenly become intense and morph into something of a boss fight. These moments are called confrontations, which force the vampires to use their abilities to get a certain number of achievements. Each confrontation comes with different victory conditions, such as “You can only fail twice”. Failure doesn’t mean you have to start over; The narrative just twists in a different direction. I don’t know how different each outcome is, but I’ve seen some dramatic changes in both setting and flow on a few missions I’ve replayed. The game also features a variety of endings, but I can only speak to one of them, which I found pretty good.
When the vampires aren’t talking, they’re investigating crime scenes. These moments are amplified by RPG attributes such as: B. the ability to pick locks or use more sophisticated electronic devices. Deductive skills and a higher education help to make informed decisions. Unique character-specific abilities also come into play. For example, Emem can teleport with a power called quickness, and Leysha’s stealthy abilities help uncover areas that others can’t explore. Big Bad Wolf does a good job of not overdoing solutions, pushing the player to read documents, analyze evidence, and follow the storylines to find clues hidden in rooms. The investigative elements aren’t as engaging as the conversations, but they’re still a lot of fun, especially exploring blood-soaked crime scenes.
You can feed on humans to satisfy your hunger (another counter governing ability use). The feeding delivers that well-known vampire quality, but feels wormed into and contradicts the investigative flow. And don’t expect to be blinded by the optics. The environments look nice, but most of the animation is mechanical, especially in the characters’ facial movements, which you can always see.
Swansong is this year’s Forgotten City, a standalone narrative adventure that rises from the chances it takes. Player choice is paramount, and it’s nice to see how those choices translate into small games that carry significant narrative weight. Rarely have I played a game where I wanted to restart a scenario to undo bad decisions like I did here. Swansong makes you pay for your missteps and should make an excellent game for water cooler discussions with others who have played it.
