Play it on: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Switch, Windows, macOS, Linux (Steam Deck YMMV)
Current goal: Recruit more relatives to my circle
Vampire: The Masquerade – Coteries of New York has been sitting untouched in my Steam library for a while. I recently started a game vampirethe original tabletop role-playing game, the Coteries of New York adapts parts of, now seemed like a good time to finally give this visual novel a try.
And damn, I'm glad I did. Until now, Coteries of New York turns out to be a great inspiration for my campaign; It does a great job of keeping the game's world fresh and active in my mind. vampire is a dense TTRPG. Characters are not heroes, but monsters who lead a hellish existence. And the setting has a lot of privatized lore and terms that can take a long time to memorize confidently. Sure, you can always get this information by reading the rulebooks while listening to wonderfully terrible music (I highly recommend Soma FMs). Dark zone for late nights dreaming of Kindred), but having creative work to experience and learn from definitely helps.
I love that too Coteries of New Yorkunlike some other, better known ones vampire released is a visual novel, which makes it a nice change from the more active video games I'm used to. The genre allows me to focus more on the dark gothic vibes of the World of Darkness setting than I could with a standard RPG – although I still wish I could Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Heart of the Forestit had one few more RPG mechanics. This game that exists in the same universe as vampireeffectively combines the visual novel format with the role-playing game.
However, I would like more game mechanics Coteries of New Yorkstill does a wonderful job of conveying the dark sense of fear and despair that should define a good World of Darkness game. I played as the Toreador character Lamar, mostly hanging out with his newfound Malkavian girlfriend Hope. But there are even more vampires from the various clans in the area that you can meet. And if the clever and faithful writing in Hope's section is anything to go by, I have more confident narrative treasures to discover in the dark streets of New York City. –Claire Jackson
