Vambrace: Cold Soul Reviews
Vambrace Cold Soul is very much like Darkest Dungeon, but a lot simpler and less complicated. The visuals and art design are totally gorgeous and the story is dark and cold, but The gameplay has not so much depth or uniqueness to offer. The main audience of Vambrace Cold Soul would be the ones who enjoy turn-based combats and dungeon crawling vibes.
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Although the developers' love for the craft and medium is on full display at all times, Vambrace: Cold Soul does suffer considerably from just how much it proudly lifts from other titles.
If you don't mind being actively abused and tortured for hours on end, Vambrace can become extremely addicting for fans of either Darkest Dungeon or classic SNES RPGs.
If you fit in Vambrace: Cold Soul's niche audience, you'll definitely have a fun time but overall, it's a tough game to widely recommend.
Certainly one of the most visually-attractive games I ran into at PAX East, Vambrace: Cold Soul made strong impressions with its looks, style, and obvious difficulty...
It looks gorgeous enough, but will you ever warm up to the combat in this rogue-lite dungeon crawler?
Vambrace: Cold Soul is certainly a not an easy game, but I feel like you are rewarded with a pretty good story for putting in the work. Exploring the dungeons and managing very limited resources is both challenging and fun. The multiple endings do encourage you to play through the game more than once, at around 10 hours a run. this makes it well worth the $24.99 price point. If you’re up to the challenge there is a lot to love here, but if you’re a more causal RPG gamer, you may want to pass on this one.
All in all, what Vambrace: Cold Soul tries to do, it does well. It’s a beautifully crafted game, both visually and through its lore-rich story. What it lacks is the challenge and depth that is so clearly prevalent in the other dungeon-crawling rogue-likes that it has heavily drawn its influences from. It’s a good game, but the fact that it is so heavily inspired by Darkest Dungeon but doesn’t fully embraces the mechanics or quality that made that game so great, is what stops Vambrace: Cold Soul from being a real heavy hitter of the rogue-like genre.
If winter never came for you, then it's here now. Vambrace: Cold Soul does a fine job in its atmosphere and has the lore built around it that's believable and easy to get into. It's a harsh world and death could come easily. It's even more enjoyable thanks to the fantastic artwork and dozens of outfits to unlock. The turn-based battles aren't groundbreaking, but they're enough to present a challenge at the very least. What's impressive about Vambrace is its world. Every character has something new to say after every event and so much of it can be missed. Depending on your choices, you will get one of three different endings. The people you meet along the way play a huge role in what's to be seen. Even with its flaws, Vambrace: Cold Soul is a chilling ride that many players could warm up to.
Vambrace: Cold Soul creates a compelling fantasy world for fans of the genre. However, progression can be slow due to the heavy reliance on RNG, which can be frustrating for some.
Vambrace: Cold Soul is not a game for everyone: it can be harsh, cruel, and even unfair at times. Should players rise to the challenge, however, they will find a great blend of brutal gameplay and interesting storytelling.
Overall, whether playing on a keyboard or with a controller from the couch, Vambrace: Cold Soul is an adventure worth having. While not being an RPG in the traditional leveling up sense, there's plenty here to enjoy and the experience itself while being dark and snowy is still a very pretty one to look at with its choice of color palette.