Written by Anthony L. Cuaycong
Title: Vampire’s Fall: Origins
Developer: Early Morning Studio
Publisher: Ultimate Games
Genre: Adventure, Action, RPG
Price: $12.99
Vampire’s Fall: Origins is technically the second offering in the Vampire’s Fall series, but it might as well have been a standalone title given its independent storyline and superior interface. In fact, it hews closer to Diablo II in look and feel, deliberately done as an ode to the computer role-playing games of old. The tone, art style, and handling should prove familiar to those steeped in Blizzard North’s seminal work at the turn of the century.
Developer Early Morning Studio does a great job of porting over the mobile game to the Nintendo Switch. Perhaps because Vampire’s Fall: Origins takes on an isometric view, it doesn’t push the hardware to present its dour, dark, decaying aesthetics. Meanwhile, it boasts of smooth and easy-to-understand mechanics. And coming from its original free-to-play release, it does well to eliminate the myriad microtransactions in the console version without sacrificing fairness.
Not unlike most multimedia online role-playing games, Vampire’s Fall: Origins’ plot is pretty much middle of the road. After going through typical character-creation choices at the start, gamers are treated to a backstory told through still images and text: The death of the kingdom’s ruler and absence of a successor has the Witchmaster, in command of dark magic and a horde of followers, planning a takeover. In Vamp’ire, one of the towns slated to be affected, lives the controllable character, who signs up to be part of the organized defense. Training sequences, which double as tutorials, follow, and set up what turns out to be an adventure-filled exploration of an open-world setup.
Interactions with townsfolk and other non-playable characters are standard, if occasionally humorous, fare, and lend to further appreciation of the overarching narrative. Where Vampire’s Fall: Origins distinguishes itself is in its randomized combat stages, where gamers need to strike a balance in the use of their character’s basic (“Weapons”) and special (“Control” and “Instinct”) skills. Side quests serve as level-up opportunities through the acquisition of either battle experience or actual gear. Note, however, that no small measure of grinding is required, as the game’s degree of difficulty rises, and steeply, without warning.
In sum, Vampire’s Fall: Origins proves well worth its $12.99 price tag. While no audio-visual marvel, it succeeds in presenting cues and effects consistent with its tenor. More importantly, it boasts of a complex but not complicated combat design that figures to keep gamers engaged. And because it plays without any technical glitches on the Nintendo Switch, it manages to meet its principal objective: The journey and not the destination is what matters most. Recommended.
THE GOOD
- Well-done homage to RPGs of old
- Smooth interface and easy-to-understand controls
- Excellent turn-based combat design
- Compelling, humor-underpinned, side quests
THE BAD
- Grinding required
- Online options not ported over
- No audio-visual marvel
RATING: 8/10
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