Developer: Haemimont Games
Publisher: EuroVideo Medien
Platform: PC, Mac, Linux
Tested on: PC
Victor Vran – Review
About a month ago, we had the opportunity to give you our thoughts about the early build of Victor Vran. At this point, you can read how the finished game works. It seems that Haemimont Games did their best to get rid of the last bugs to give you the best experience, but are there any additions as well?
Story
Victor Vran, the protagonist of this story, gets a rather disturbing letter from his friend Adrian. It seems that something is amiss in the city called ‘Zagoravia’ and he wants you to come and help him. It didn’t took you long to decide what to do and before you know it you’re on your way to save your pal. Although it might have seen an easy task, you will notice otherwise upon your arrival. The city is swarmed with huge magical spiders and other demonic bad guys and slaying them seems to be the only way to enter the overrun city.
There is one small area that doesn’t seem to be infested and that is in the safe castle walls. Entering this safe haven was a joy but it seems that your friend Adrian left this place long ago. It looks that you will need to continue your search into the abyss the city has become and face the demons that are running wild. Even more, you might even need to slay your own problems.
The narrative seeps in at certain points and this is a positive aspect. The start of the story is of a high level and this is maintained during the whole game. Be ready to experience quite some questions and plot-twisting moments.
Graphics
The quality of the graphics isn’t the best but it has a particular feeling that really fits the setting. The surroundings have a rather depressing sensation as you will mostly see dark colours, destroyed houses and lifeless bodies. There are a few variations between the environments, as you will venture through the neighbouring gardens or take a stroll through several caves.
Both enemies and characters stand out as they have brighter colours and are better outlined than the background. Even more, the colour your opponent has, gives you an indication which attack(s) you can expect. Victor Vran himself, can choose some costumes as well and you can see your newly chosen outfit on your screen which is a cool aspect. This also goes for the several weapons you can equip.
The game has 3D graphics but it is altered with some 2D images. This is mostly the case in the menu or when talking to others. This really fits well with the 3D scenes and is a great addition to the game.
Sound
You can say that the music is, next to the story, one of the biggest assets of the game. You will be emerged thanks to some nice sound tracks that will accentuate the hellhole you’ve entered and the dreadfulness the whole story embodies.
There are some nice sound effects as every weapon has its own particular tune and it has to be said, the quality is great. This is also the case for the noises your enemies make. The voice acting takes the game up a notch as well. Every voice really fit each character and really has some familiarity. For example, Victor has a deep voice which can be expected from a fearless lone wolf.
Gameplay
Victor Vran is an isometric action-packed RPG in which you need to find your friend Adrian and uncover some other secrets as well. You’re sucked in a city of fiends and since you’re a demon hunter, it’s only your job to show them the door back to hell. This means that you will need an arsenal of weapons and the game offers you shotguns, rapiers, swords and much more. Every type of weapon has its own set of attacks and are more effective against certain enemies or have other stats for example. You can recognise these stats by the name the weapon has. For example, ‘Lightning Gun of the Bear’ will have an extra ability that will knock back enemies and there are about 28 of these possibilities.
Using weapons is one thing, but Victor Vran has so much more to offer. To become stronger, it is necessary to gain experience and level up so you can unlock several features. For example, you get the chance to equip two sets of weapons, gain the ability to use hexes or receive destiny points. These points are needed to use destiny cards which give you nice stat boosts or some extra properties to your weapons.
Some other important aspects are the consumables, outfits and demon powers. Items might save your life or turn the tides in battle as there are healing and damaging ones. You will need to reconsider which ones you will take with you as there are only two slots foreseen. The outfits are visually diverse but also gives you other stat boosts and have their effect on the last aspect, demonic powers. Although you’re a demon hunter, it seems like you can juggle with some dark elements as well, depending on the cards you’re ‘wearing’. These demonic powers are quite powerful and can only be used once the ‘Overdrive’ meter is full.
We’ve talked about getting experience, but now is the question where you can actually find it. You will need to leave the safe zone and venture into the pits of doom. These dungeons have several enemies that give you experience but there are five challenges par zone that give you some extras, namely experience, money or items. It is a fun bonus and makes the game more interesting.
When you gain the appropriate level, you get some new possibilities. For example, you can activate hex cards to increase the difficulty and give monsters some boosts. Activating more cards makes gameplay a lot tougher but you will receive more experience and gold. Another feature is that you can improve your weapons or other items by using Transmutation. This means that you will need to combine weapons, consumables or power stones which gives you something new with additional stats. Recipes to help you out are gathered in the ‘Codex’ so it is a good idea to take a look at it before blindly combining items.
The Codex is something really handy since you can find a lot more there. To start with, you can find an overview of the story so far as well as some hints (which can be seen as small tutorials), information about monsters and weapons for example and you can take another look at the cutscenes you’ve already witnessed.
Next to single player, you also have multiplayer possibilities. You can team up with up to four people and start slashing spiders together or tackling some challenges. It is not clear how the scaling works and there isn’t any more information provided, which makes it a lot harder to find a good group. Haemimont Games also added a nice feature that you can talk to others without having them in-game. This means you can be social in a single player game, hooray!
Overall it is a real fun game to play as it has loads to offer, mostly the different playstyles it harnesses in combination with all the other possibilities. It would have been nice if the online options were explained a bit more.
Conclusion
If you’re into dark action RPG’s, then this title is something to consider. You will receive a dreadful city that has its secrets, visualized with nice graphics and accompanied by some amazing tracks. The gameplay is full with exciting features and the foreseen weapons and consumables give you the possibility to make your own unique character.
Victor Vran - Review,
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[…] Get ready for another chapter of demon slaying with Victor Vran: Overkill Edition. The game made its way to the Nintendo Switch after being widely popular on the PC, Xbox One and Playstation 4. Victor Vran features local two player co-op and up to four-player co-op online. The Switch release features two expansions, namely Motörhead: Through the Ages and Fractured Worlds, both provide several hours of uncut demon slaying fun. If you didn’t know yet, Victor Vran is an isometric action RPG in which players can forge their own personal version of Victor by utilizing a vast array of powerful weapons, game-changing outfits and wicked, spell-like demon powers. You can find our review of the original game right here. […]