A small developer studio called Devespresso Games, based in Seoul, South Korea has developed a brand new roguelike fantasy-adventure game called: Vambrace: Cold Soul. The game is set to release at the end of May and will take you on an adventure through a frozen landscape, dark dungeons and cursed cities. While using unique powers, you must find your way by defeating enemies in a lovely combat setting. The developers of Devespresso Games put some great effort in this new game, hoping you are willing to go on the quest and discover the secrets!
- Combat: I usually try to avoid games like this, since for me most of the time the combat feels weird and you can’t really react to what the enemy is doing. And in this game that’s still the same. However, how they implemented the turn-based combat tactic surprised me and I was able to enjoy it! Of course, it wasn’t the most flashy and that sort of things. But you could take the defensive postures or just go full in on the attack. You will need to plan your moves ahead or you will probably die and have to start over. So kudos to the developers on how they made this working!
- Do what you want: Another reason why I try to avoid games like this is that the story usually sucks or they all feel the same. But Vambrace: Cold Soul managed to do something different. You can choose what you want to do and you literally have the adventure in your own hands. If you want to go on expeditions in the dungeons all day, just do it, you can! Or if you want to visit the cursed city, be my guest and walk around. Okay, yes, there is a story that needs to be followed but at certain points, you can just forget about that for a bit which feels nice.
- Instructions: Another great aspect of the game are the instructions. Where in some games, it can make you feel lost, here it’s pretty clear what you need to do. In the main interface, every button you can push says which key on your keyboard it is. And if you find a new menu or something, a window will pop-up which tells you what it for and how it can be used. Everything needs some practicing of course, but it’s nice to know that it’s there. You can clearly see that the developers wanted to make a fun and easily playable game, and it’s things like this that make it work.
- Voiced: Some cutscenes in the game are voiced when parts of the story get told, but most of them are unvoiced which is when two people are interacting with each other. Now it’s good to see that they divided these two, which makes it clear when something important about the story is getting told. However, the game would have been much more interesting if everything was voiced. It would grab your attention more and it will give you the feeling that you’re actually a part of it. Now it’s just a bit of both and personally, I’m tempted to just click through the non-voiced ones because they feel long, boring and uninteresting.
- Graphics: Another thing that will surely leave you behind with mixed feelings, is the graphical aspect. When you’re out exploring dungeons and fighting enemies, everything looks good and very detailed. Like the character design, they are beautiful, just like the surroundings that you will find yourself in. But when you’re not in a dungeon and you walk around through the city, it just looks like shit. You really get the feeling as if the developers were like ‘nah, don’t wanna do that, just put it in there, it will be alright’. It really is a shame, because it’s such a difference. Let’s just hope that they fix it in the future!
- Sound: Another thing which is kind of similar to the point above is the sound. At some points in game, it’s really fitting and at some points, you are wondering why they made the choice for that specific sound. Another thing about it is that it is too repetitive. You are hearing the same thing over and over again which in some ways started to get on my nerves. So let’s hope the developers of Devespresso Games fix it in a patch because it will seriously improve the experience.
- Slow: While playing the game, some moments can feel really slow. For example, when you are walking around exploring a dungeon with a few characters, it feels kinda stupid and makes you want to skip it but you can’t. When I encountered it, it was really killing the game experience and I absolutely hated it. Yes, it is part of the game and you have to love it or not but my experience was that this could be done differently. I understand that it’s necessary to walk around in a group, also since you can encounter multiple enemies at once, but there must be another solution for this.
- Cutscenes: I already discussed the voicing part of the cutscenes above. But this is about there simply being TOO MANY CUTSCENES! At some point, I had the feeling that I wasn’t even playing a game but that I was playing a game called Conversation Simulator 2019. Okay, maybe this is an important part for games like this, but if you are not in into it, this just isn’t the game for you and maybe the best thing you can do is spent your money on the new ESO DLC.
CONCLUSION
Score: 75%
If you like games like this, then Vambrace: Cold Soul is a must have for your library. The way they worked out the game story/combat is perfect and will blow you away. You have a bit of free choice on what you want to do and everything is explained so that you will know what you are doing. However, if you are not into games like this, it’s better to stay away from it and avoid it. Because I’m 100% sure that it will frustrate you at some point and it will just be a waste of your hard earned cash.
Developer: Devespresso Games Publisher: Headup Games
Played on: PC
Steam game store link: Click here