Taking on the evil King of Shades and his undead minions is not an easy thing to do – especially if you’re a stranger with no friends who’s trapped in a city engulfed by ice…
After giving their unique spin to the survival horror genre with The Coma, Korean developer Devespresso Games turn their gaze towards mechanics-heavy dungeon crawling. There is absolutely no denying that Vambrace: Cold Soul was heavily inspired by Darkest Dungeon. It’s basically everywhere in the various game mechanisms, the UI, and the punishing difficulty. However, the game is notably different in one respect: there is a stronger focus on narrative.
Unfortunately, narrative and gameplay don’t always gel as well as they should. Walking around in the game’s hub area and its different buildings can feel like a chore. Sure, you get to talk to all kinds of interesting characters. Cat people! Mechanical creatures! However, getting lost in the barracks is way less exciting than you think.
This part of the game also feels entirely separate from the dungeon crawling. As such, narrative and actual gameplay feel almost entirely disconnected. In addition, the writing itself couldn’t quite win me over. Vambrace: Cold Soul bombards you with too much exposition and ill-fitting gaming references that undercut the serious narrative.
Some of the game mechanics “borrowed” from Darkest Dungeon feel a little off as well. For instance, when fighting enemies, the game doesn’t display both groups on one screen. Instead, the camera switches between them all the time. You also have to wait until an animation is fully played out and the camera resets on your characters before you can take your next action. This makes already-slow fights appear even more sluggish. They just don’t feel like the nail-biting skirmishes they certainly are.
Make no mistake: death is everywhere in this game, and making progress feels like a drawn-out and arduous process. Tactical retreats are necessary. Go home with your loot, craft a useful item or two, lick your wounds, and live to fight another day. It takes a while until everyone in your party is equipped with even basic protective gear, and upgrading this equipment can take another few hours.
That doesn’t mean that I didn’t enjoy Vambrace: Cold Soul. Devespresso’s titles have a very distinct look and feel. The character design in particular stands out, and some of the enemy designs are pretty clever.
The game also has some tricks up its sleeves to make the dungeon-delving experience more varied. There are events, other characters, and rooms that let you rest. This shows that Vambrace: Cold Soul isn’t just a copy of an immensely well-designed game, but tries to bring its own things to the table. However, I would have loved to see more of these neat little additions that shake things up a bit.
In the end, I do think that there is some enjoyment to be found here, but it takes a strong-headed kind of player to soldier through, endure the slow pace, and conquer these dungeons, step by tiny step.
Vambrace: Cold Soul is available now on the Humble Store, Steam, and GOG.
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