From having a vampire (correction dhampyr) as a team member in my superhero line-up, it was clear that the next game I played would need to feature a vampire. This it did in spades. Enter: Vampire: The Masquerade – Swansong, where I would play as three different vampires in the Boston Camarilla court over the course of three nights following a Code Red incident. Thrust into the shoes of Emem, Leysha and Galeb, I would need to figure out the events of the incident AND put a stop to the machinations of those that would put the Camarilla in danger.
Unlike the other Vampire: The Masquerade games that I have played before (just putting it out there that I’ve never played the cult classic Bloodlines that released in the early 2000s although I am tepidly excited for Bloodlines II), which were dialogue-heavy visual novel-esque games, Swansong was much more action heavy with 3D character models and fully realised locations that the game plays out in.
Additionally, it helped introduce me to much more of the World of Darkness mechanics that were absent in the other games I played. In Swansong, I was greeted by character sheets and having to select certain abilities and skills to level-up after each chapter. These included, but were not limited to, dialogue options, environmental skills and vampiric abilities such as dominate and presence.
Another change from the New York games was that all of the characters had been vampires for a significant number of decades, if not centuries. These were not recently embraced fledglings, unsure of their place in the world of vampires, oh no. These were vampires that had made their mark on the world of the Camarilla and were familiar with the ins and outs of court machinations.
But getting back to the game mechanics, Swansong even included in-game dice rolls to see if certain dialogue options succeeded or not based on a percentage. This meant that I could save-scum certain dialogue choices with the hope of a success.
Yet, even if a dialogue option were to fail, Emem, Leysha and Galeb could still level up their traits, which would allow for a more favourable result in the future.
Beyond dialogue, characters could also pick locks and hack into computers and telephones. To do so, they would need to expend willpower. Often, though, I found it easier to look for a key or a code to unlock something that I wanted to gain access to rather than expend willpower as it was the only real resource that I struggled to manage as items that could replenish it were not as plentiful as I would hope and it was always easy to accidentally waste precious willpower on frivolous conversations that provided no additional information of use.
The other skills they had were deduction and education While they didn’t offer much in practical use, I enjoyed certain dialogue options that cropped up that occasionally helped guide me to what would be the appropriate response in a given situation. That and the fact that certain ‘education’ checks were better able to flesh out the world that I found myself thrust into.
Gameplay aside, the story of Swansong was an intriguing romp through Boston as each of the three characters completed their missions for the Prince. As they pieced together the events of the Code Red incident, they stumbled upon members of the Second Inquisition that were attempting to eradicate, as well as eliminate, all supernatural threats.
This culminated in a series of missions that had Emem looking for allies among the Anarchs (a rival faction to the Camarilla) before infiltrating the base of the Second Inquisition to wipe out any and all information about the existence of vampires, to Leysha trying to rescue her daughter, and Galeb on the hunt for the leader of the Second Inquisition.
All of it was quite fascinating and there were many hard choices that I had to make – especially when it came to Emem seeking the aid of the Anarchs to help her. In all honesty, I probably shouldn’t have followed through with the Prince’s plan but I wanted to keep Emem safe, especially after her encounter with the Hartford Chantry made me very protective of the Clan Toreador vampire.
But while I would have preferred playing through the game blind, I often found myself stymied by poor game design choices such as a lack of guidance. True, not all games need a minimap or a HUD indicator telling one where they need to go but the fact that the default movement speed was a leisurely saunter had me fuming. It was only when I was in Chapter 4 and struggling to get past slowed down gates that I learned that the ability to ‘run’ was a toggle feature that activated when pressing CIRCLE of all things.
Also, the volume was initially so low on my TV that I was forced to head into settings and change it.
Without a guide, I doubt I would have been able to have enjoyed my time with Swansong as much as I would have liked. And yet, by using a guide, I removed some of the wonder and splendour that would have come from a blind playthrough. The fact that one needed specific abilities in order to advance only served to mire my enjoyment of the game – as well as learning that if you released the werewolf, poor Leysha had a chance of being killed before she could save her daughter, Halsey.
Despite my misgivings with several aspects of the game, Swansong was a nice dip once again into the World of Darkness, serving to whet my appetite for Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines II, which, surprisingly enough is now being developed by The Chinese Room with a possibility of release in 2024.
It is still concerning that the game has had such troubled development but here’s hoping that it will turn out good and I can dive right into the complex world of intrigue, blood and vampires.
And even though I was always Team Jacob (granted, I never actually read anything past New Moon), I have to say I’m glad that VAMPIRES ARE BACK, BABY!
The Writing Corner 