Vlad the Impaler

68%
Game Brain Score Based on 522 reviews
  • story
  • graphics
  • atmosphere
Vlad the Impaler Game Cover
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In Vlad the Impaler, players step into the dark world of historical figure Vlad Dracula, battling supernatural forces while ruling over 15th century Wallachia. As Vlad, players must make strategic decisions to maintain power and protect their people, while satiating a thirst for blood. With a blend of strategy, action, and management, the game offers a unique take on the vampire mythos.

  • Mac OS
  • PC
  • Windows
Genres & TagsPlay Modes

Reviews

68%
Audience ScoreBased on 522 reviews
story132 positive mentions
stability12 negative mentions
  • The artwork and atmosphere are beautifully crafted, creating an engaging gothic experience.
  • The game offers multiple endings and replay value, allowing players to explore different character paths and choices.
  • The writing is immersive and captures the dark themes effectively, making it appealing for fans of horror and gothic narratives.
  • The story feels disjointed and lacks coherence, with choices often leading to unrelated events.
  • There are numerous grammatical errors and typos throughout the game, which can detract from the overall experience.
  • The gameplay is very linear, with limited choices that do not significantly impact the outcome, leading to a repetitive experience.
  • story438 mentions

    The story of "Vlad the Impaler" is characterized by its intriguing yet chaotic narrative structure, often described as a jumble of loosely connected events rather than a cohesive plot. While the game offers high replayability and visually stunning artwork, many players find the storytelling disjointed, with choices that feel inconsequential and a lack of meaningful progression. Despite its potential, the narrative suffers from inconsistencies and a lack of depth, leaving players wanting a more polished and interconnected experience.

    • “Interesting and challenging story that feels like reading a graphic novel as much as playing a game.”
    • “The story paints a picture of an intriguing, chaotic world that I'm dying to explore further.”
    • “The story is totally captivating and I couldn't get enough of the game at my first two playthroughs.”
    • “The story is a jumbled mess.”
    • “Unfortunately, it feels that this is not connected to the side quests at all.”
    • “Whatever choices you make are irrelevant; the storyline jumps from place to place with very little cohesion... this seems like an outline that should have been fleshed out before being released.”
  • graphics172 mentions

    The game's graphics are widely praised for their stunning artwork and atmospheric design, effectively capturing the gothic and medieval setting of Istanbul. While the visuals are not graphically intense, they are described as beautiful and fitting for the narrative, with a unique art style reminiscent of old book illustrations. However, some players noted that the greyscale color scheme can become monotonous, and the overall graphical presentation may not meet the expectations set by more graphically advanced titles.

    • “Set in a medieval Istanbul, the game features an awesome atmosphere, music, and visuals.”
    • “The artwork is gorgeous and the music gives it all a great atmosphere.”
    • “The graphics are phenomenal and the story is pretty solid to boot.”
    • “While it skirts the line between visual novel (there aren't many visuals, tbh) and princess maker, it gives a grisly, entertaining and bleak tale of Vlad Tepes' best friend who goes to Istanbul to uncover the evils that lurk there.”
    • “Ambiance is well set, but it lacks in gameplay and graphics.”
    • “There should be actual fights and more graphics.”
  • atmosphere114 mentions

    The game's atmosphere is widely praised for its dark, gothic, and immersive qualities, enhanced by stunning artwork and a haunting soundtrack. Set in a medieval Istanbul, it effectively conveys a sense of dread and intrigue through its visuals, music, and writing, although some players noted issues with narrative coherence and linearity. Overall, it is recommended for those who appreciate atmospheric storytelling and graphic novels.

    • “The atmosphere is perfectly conveyed through text, illustrations, and music.”
    • “Dark, atmospheric, immersive, with a fantastic soundtrack.”
    • “A wonderfully atmospheric adventure that puts you in a visceral fantasy world.”
    • “It creates a weird grip on you with its unpleasant atmosphere and tone.”
    • “This allowed me to focus more on the events and the atmosphere of the game, but apparently many people found it jarring.”
    • “Then it was nearly the atmosphere but that was ruined by one glitch that transported me, mid-dialogue, to a different dialogue scene entirely.”
  • music98 mentions

    The music in the game is generally praised for its atmospheric and immersive qualities, effectively enhancing the gothic and eerie setting. However, some players note that the limited number of tracks can lead to repetitiveness, detracting from the overall experience. Despite these criticisms, many agree that the soundtrack is a significant highlight, contributing positively to the game's ambiance and storytelling.

    • “Dark, atmospheric, immersive, with a fantastic soundtrack.”
    • “The music alone is worth the purchase and the dedication and love for the storytelling can be felt in every passage.”
    • “Both music and illustrations blend in perfectly, creating an unsettling, morbid and mysterious feeling, mixing it with the exotic strangeness of Arabic culture, not often associated with gothic tales of vampires.”
    • “There are some cons like not a lot of music, one scenario, etc., which is disturbing.”
    • “Solid game, wish the music did not loop for hours on end.”
    • “The music is entirely forgettable, all five or so tracks of it.”
  • gameplay84 mentions

    The gameplay is primarily a choice-driven experience reminiscent of interactive novels, with limited mechanics and a focus on storytelling. While the atmospheric art and writing are praised, many players find the gameplay tedious, confusing, and lacking depth, often leading to frustration due to permadeath and unclear mechanics. Overall, it appeals to those seeking a narrative-rich, atmospheric experience rather than traditional gameplay.

    • “Art is a masterpiece; gameplay gives deep vibes as you could play in a gamebook.”
    • “The excellent writing and presentation will carry the game for a few adventures at least, and those intrigued by the mechanics of the game will stick with it longer.”
    • “In the key events, your success is based on stats, so careful character development (giving the light RPG feel) and discovering the outcomes of the individual choices is a crucial part of the gameplay.”
    • “This makes gameplay tedious and frustrating.”
    • “The gameplay is just reading and deciding, be aware of that!”
    • “There is no real gameplay to speak of here; this is basically an interactive novel, where once in a while you can pick one of two choices.”
  • replayability38 mentions

    The game's replayability is a mixed bag; while some players appreciate the decent replay value stemming from achievements and varied choices, others find it limited due to its short length and lack of compelling gameplay changes. Many reviews highlight that while the game can be enjoyable for multiple playthroughs, it may become repetitive after a few attempts, with some players noting that the narrative-driven nature of the game often leads to diminished replay interest. Overall, it offers a blend of thematic depth and interactive choices, but its replayability may not sustain long-term engagement.

    • “Also, its replayability is quite high and since average playthrough time is rather short, you can spend all evening playing.”
    • “An absolutely amazing tale, with a lot of replayability for an interactive adventure.”
    • “This game is fun with very high replayability.”
    • “An unpolished choose-your-own-adventure game that is over entirely too quickly, has very little replay value, and gives you a mocking achievement when you skip over things you have already read.”
    • “The replay value is entirely based on achievement-earning though - actual changes in gameplay or reading alone aren't compelling, let alone varied, enough to keep you coming back after one go through.”
    • “Overall: horrendously overpriced, low content, low replayability, unfinished.”
  • stability12 mentions

    The game suffers from significant stability issues, with users reporting frequent minor bugs that can lead to frustrating freezes and unresponsive choices. While the auto-save feature helps mitigate some progress loss, players have encountered situations where they become completely stuck, necessitating a restart of the entire game. Overall, the stability problems detract from the experience, particularly for a choose-your-own-adventure style game.

    • “Too buggy for a choose your own adventure-esque game.”
    • “It can be maddeningly unhelpful and buggy.”
    • “But sometimes the whole sequence gets buggy and you can't go back or forward, so you are stuck and have to start the whole game again, because the save feature is just... I don't know?”
  • grinding4 mentions

    Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and frustrating, often exacerbated by bugs that further detract from the experience.

    • “This makes gameplay tedious and frustrating.”
    • “Even this super tedious gameplay is buggy!”
  • character development4 mentions

    Character development is a significant aspect of gameplay, providing a light RPG feel where players must carefully manage stats to influence key events and outcomes. However, some users feel that the impact of these stats on choices and success is not clearly communicated, leaving them uncertain about their effectiveness. Overall, while character development is appreciated, its integration with gameplay mechanics could be more transparent.

    • “In the key events, your success is based on stats, so careful character development (giving the light RPG feel) and discovering the outcomes of the individual choices is a crucial part of the gameplay.”
    • “I liked the character development; however, how much the stats affected your choices and success really wasn't prevalent enough, although I'm assuming they do.”
    • “In key events, your success is based on stats, so careful character development (giving a light RPG feel) and discovering the outcomes of individual choices is a crucial part of the gameplay.”
  • optimization2 mentions

    The game's optimization is heavily reliant on player choices that influence attribute development, but there is no assurance that these choices will lead to the desired skills, potentially resulting in disappointing performance despite seemingly good decisions.

    • “Your performance and availability of certain choices is based on your attributes, which are built up by picking certain storylets. However, there's no guarantee you'll build up the right attributes, meaning your skills can be a letdown even if you made 'good' choices.”
    • “Your performance and availability of certain choices is based on your attributes, which are built up by picking certain storylets: but there's no guarantee you'll build up the right attributes, meaning your skills can be a letdown even if you made 'good' choices.”
  • humor2 mentions

    The humor in the game is largely derived from the language barriers, which adds a unique cultural dimension that compensates for some of its shortcomings. This clever use of humor enhances the overall experience, making it more enjoyable for players.

Positive mentions (%)Positive
Neutral mentions (%)Neutral
Negative mentions (%)Negative

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Play time

5hMedian play time
5hAverage play time
2-8hSpent by most gamers
*Based on 6 analyzed playthroughs

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