Oh, this is a really interesting bundle!
It’s quite a different bundle. Usually, they seem to be just one thing. Like, all video games, or all books, or all software. This is a proper mix of stuff around the theme of the World of Darkness. Needless to say, it’s caught my interest!
There seem to have been a few wee narrative games that have come out about WoD in the past few years. I’ve not played many of them myself, so I’m not going to have a hugely beneficial insight into the overall merit of these titles. I am quite interested in finding out more about them, though.
That said, let’s dive in and pledge 90p for this “bundle” of a single item:
Yes, the first tier contains only a single item. Namely, this is Coteries of New York. There is a trailer attached to it on the bundle page, but this trailer is absolutely useless. It tells you nothing about the game. Nothing. What’s even the point in that? So far, this bundle is just making me angry. I had enough of that last week.
Delving a little deeper, this is an interactive novel. That’s fine. You play through a story, interacting with the story via dialog/decision trees. Reviews are mixed, with a trend towards positive. A consensus seems to be that the story starts off pretty strong, but has a weaker ending. The Game of Thrones comparison was made by a couple of reviewers. Overall, I think this sort of approach is a good one to take with WoD fiction.
This first tier is definitely worth the price of admission. At tier 2, you’re now paying £4.52, but a further three items have been added in:
Like Coteries of New York, Night Road is also interactive fiction, though less gorgeously illustrated. Whilst Coteries of New York gives a huge amoint of scene and character art, Night Road is text-based. It’s an actual novel, to CoNY’s graphic novel. It does seem popular, though. The Vampire crowd do seem to enjoy their interactive fiction.
A direct sequel to Coteries of New York, Shadows of New York deals with Clan Lasombra. We like Clan Lasombra. Ultimately, it’s a very similar game to its predecessor, being an interactive graphic novel. It seems beautifully illustrated and reviews are generally quite positive.
Heart of the Forest is the first non-Vampire content in this bundle, focusing instead on Werewolf: The Apocalypse. Another visual novel, the artwork seems really cool, and I love the layout they have chosen for their AI. Reviews are very positive, with the most common complaint being that the game is a bit on the short side. It’s probably a good sign that people want more!
So, it’s now really clear that this bundle is all about interactive fiction. It’s also really clear that Paradox is pretty open with their licensing.
What do we get if we make the jump up to £9.04? Well, we get another 7 items added to the bundle:
Three of the additional items for this tier are interactive novels in the same vein as Night Road. All of them are also themed around Vampire: the Masquerade. The vast bulk of content for the current iteration of the World of Darkness is Vampire-themed, so this isn’t too surprising.
Parliament of Knives is the most interesting of the three novels to me, taking place among the powerful Kindred of Ottowa, Canada. I’m not familiar with previous Canadian WoD content (though I imagine Werewolf probably explored it at some point…) so it’s cool to see this particular focus.
Out For Blood returns us to the more familiar setting of Chicago, but casts you as a Vampire Hunter. You will investigate the Kindred, learn about them, hunt them, and possibly become one of them. Like parliament of Knives, this reviews pretty well. Both are pure interative novels without sound or artwork. That’s fine, but you just need to know what you’re getting, y’know?
Sins of the Sires is the final interactive novel in here and the reviews are very negative. Set in Athens and focusing on an ancient kindred looking to end the Masquerade, the story is apparently a bit short and rather scattered. Possibly worth a try, since you’ll get it along with the rest of the bundle, but it might be a good idea to adjust your expectations on the way in.
The final video game entry in this bundle, Afterlife is based on Wraith: The Oblivion. I am genuinely surprised to find this here. I’m surprised that anyone is doing anything with Wraith at the moment because I’m not sure that Paradox, the current iteration of White Wolf, or any of the regular licensees of the tabletop properties really know what they’re doing with Wraith yet for this edition.
Afterlife is a horror-themed VR game that has met with pretty mixed reviews. Here’s a trailer:
It seems interesting, and it gets a good writeup from some Wraith fans, and for its use of sound. Overall, it seems a bit lackluster, though. That said, if you like VR horror, it could be worth a punt. I’m neither into this sort of horror nor VR so it’s clearly not built for me.
The remaining three items in this tier are books. They’re books with which I am very familiar. The most important of these books is the latest edition of Vampire: the Masquerade. This is the book that you need, as either a player or Storyteller, to run a game of this fantastic RPG. The other two books are the Camarilla and Anarch supplements, fleshing out the details of these in-game factions, both in terms of background and game rules. These alone are more than worth the jump from tier 2 to tier 3.
What’s the verdict on the bundle, then? Well, let’s start by acknowledging that this is pretty niche. Don’t think of these titles as video games, because they’re not. These are interactive novels and graphic novels. That’s fine, but you need to know what to expect. The addition of the PDFs for Vampire: The Masquerade is a nice touch. It would be cool if these stories and the availability of these PDFs encouraged someone to make that jump from the screen to the table.
Yeah, I’d call this a solid (albeit niche) bundle at a good price.
You can click here to visit the bundle page at Humble Bundle.
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