The Sun Always Rises Somewhere: A Vampire: The Masquerade - Reckoning of New York Review

By Manuel

Players: 1
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, XBox, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, PC (Steam)

Back in 2019 a visual novel was released titled Vampire: The Masquerade - Coteries of New York. This was the first in what would be a trilogy of games that told the tales of vampires living (or unliving as it were) in New York. It was followed by Vampire: The Masquerade - Shadows of New York the following year, before taking a break in releases for a couple years. It's now 2024, and the final game in the trilogy, Vampire: The Masquerade - Reckoning of New York, is now available. Releasing on all major platforms, we're going to be taking a look at the Steam version today. Will this wrap up the trilogy in a satisfactory way? Will it tell a tale worthy of diving into despite the long gap? Is the story worth enjoying on its own merits? Let's dive in and find out!

It's Christmas in New York, and there is more to this town than just Times Square and pizza. Vampire: The Masquerade - Reckoning of New York (Which I'm simply going to refer to as "Reckoning of New York" from now on)  places you into the role of a vampire of the Ravnos Clan named Kali. Ravnos vampires are usually tricksters or vagabonds who rarely get involved in the politics of the vampiric underworld, with Kali herself being involved in a smuggling ring. Despite not being too invested in vampire politics, things change when Kali's Sire, one Reynard Cassel, turns up on the hit list of some of the biggest names within the undead underworld. They want his head, and they want it now. The problem is that he's currently missing, so Kali is forced to take his place in front of New York's vampire elite. Rather than kill her outright, she's offered the deal of having her unlife spared if she can bring them Reynard. Though close partners prior to the events of this night, she has no idea where he is either. Be that as it may, she now has to find her missing sire in a matter of nights. She's not alone in these endeavors though, as she's accompanied by the Anarch vampire Padraic. Together they seek to figure out what exact dealings Reynard Cassel was up to prior to his disappearance, and hopefully also find out his current whereabouts. If they happen to uncover a plot that blows the lid off the New York vampire scene along the way... well, that's just what's going to happen. Did I also mention that the city is swarming with hunters for reasons that aren't immediately clear? Because it totally is. I guess it is New Year's after all, and that means lots of fireworks on the horizon...

Before I continue on with the review, I feel that I should mention now that I had very little prior knowledge of either Vampire: The Masquerade, or the World of Darkness before this game. Not only that, but I also didn't play the first two titled within this trilogy. I am familiar with all the above of course, but I entered into this game simply as a casual, but intrigued, newbie. I bring this all up so that I am forgiven for any lore mistakes I'm sure to make, and to also get ahead of any "Did this guy even play the other games?" type comments. I do think me being new to the franchise brings an interesting perspective to this review, as I'm sure you're now wondering how well this game welcomes newcomers. The quick answer is that it does an admirable job easing those like me into the world, but there's a bit more to it than just that. I didn't know this before going into the game, but Reckoning of New York stars an all-new protagonist, and mostly puts past characters and events into the background. Long-running plotlines are still present, with many of them being wrapped up by this game's end, but you're not placed into a world full of already existing characters and events. There's also an in-game journal and glossary that does a decent job of explaining the complex lore and lexicon to new players. I don't want to make it seem like it's too inviting though, as there is sure to be several scenes where words and terms start to lose all meaning, but I was surprised how quickly I was able to simply go with the flow of things and enjoy the game.

Even though I mentioned having no knowledge of Vampire: The Masquerade earlier, I do have a small confession to make. Close to twenty years ago I played a game called Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines, and have been curious about the greater series ever since. Seeing new games being released on Steam over the past few years made me wonder if they were at all like that one I played so long ago. As you might have realized by now, that's not the case at all. Bloodlines is more of an Action RPG, while Reckoning of New York is most definitely a visual novel. Like most visual novels, it does have a sort of Choose Your Own Adventure twist to it that comes via dialogue and action choices, but it really leans heavily on the "novel" aspect. I would almost want to refer to this as a kinetic novel, as in one that doesn't allow players much choice, but there are a few things about it that go against that. Even though most of the game's action or dialogue options lead to essentially the same results, there are gameplay elements that keep it somewhat interesting. Kali is a vampire, and that means drinking blood, using vampiric abilities, and dodging vampire hunters. Vampiric abilities are used if you have them during in-game choices, but the other two have meters associated with them that you have to keep in check. Taking care of these tasks does feel like busywork for the most part, but you can turn off the meters themselves if you wish. While I did find them a bit too distracting to be fun, I did appreciate the break in simply reading they provided. With that said, reading is what you'll be doing the most of here, so hopefully that's something you're not against.

Going back to the story, I have to say that it is the most important aspect of the game as a whole. This may be obvious considering the genre, but it will make more sense when you see what I have to say about other aspects of the game. Not only is the story the most important, but I think it's also the thing executed the best. The plot really drew me in, and I found would've beat the game in one sitting if not for some glaring issues I'll get to in just a bit. Kali is a decent player insert too, as she has the right level of knowledge of the vampire world, but also encounters certain characters and events for the first time too. In doing research for this review I learned that many Vampire: The Masquerade fans were not at found of Kali. I guess I can see why, but I personally found her referenced negative points to be positives to me. She's flippant, full of referential humor, and a bit on the cheeky side. Simply put, I couldn't help but like her. She also plays well off of the main cast, and that includes the other main protagonist, Padraic. Their dynamic really stood out to me, and it made me want to learn more about them both. It might be a bit of a stretch to say that I grew to care for Kali over the course of the story, but I liked her nevertheless. At the end of the day this game made me want to learn even more about Vampire: The Masquerade in general, and that was largely thanks to Kali. Though I can't really speak too much as how this game's story compares to what was found in the first two games, I can say that it stands up well on its own. Maybe my views will change after playing them, but that's what I have to say for now.

Despite enjoying the story told in the Reckoning of New York, the game itself isn't without its flaws. I mentioned the light gameplay elements earlier, but I didn't really point out how tacked on they feel. You could take them out and not really have much of a different experience, as evidenced by the fact that many of them can simply be turned off. Even the vampiric powers used during story scenes felt pointless, as they usually only resulted in a different line or two. Those elements were just a minor annoyance, as the bigger issues involved game-breaking bugs, and a save system that only makes them worse. This is a game that relies solely on autosaved checkpoints, and I found that I'd somehow locked myself into a game over loop more than once. I'm now fairly certain that these were due to bugs that have mostly been ironed out, but I encountered another such occurrence days ago. These sorts of bugs, as in where you're literally stuck watching the same scenes play out and over and over again, wouldn't be an issue if you were able to save whenever you want. Being able to do exactly that is something of a hallmark of visual novels, but is totally absent here. I was forced to completely restart the game each time this happened, and there also aren't the advanced dialogue skip options you usually see in games like this either. Thankfully the game is fairly short, but I guess that's an issue and of itself. Admittedly, you do unlock Padraic after clearing the game with Kali, but his route is the exact same as Kali's, but from his perspective. I guess this makes sense as far as the game is concerned, but that doesn't change the fact that it was a huge missed opportunity. Anyway, here's hoping that they fix the bugs still in the game, because restarting from the beginning each time the game saves when you don't want it to is just annoying.

If there is any one part that I feel ruins the experience of Reckoning of New York, it would have to be the game's audio. I'm a bit torn on this topic, as it seems to be the consensus among the fandom and the developers that the soundtrack is supposed to be a sort of "music to read by" type of thing. The problem is that I've never played another visual novel that had music as boring as what's found here. I hesitate to even call it music either, as it's pretty much just a few random chords mixed with atmospheric noise. I'm not even exaggerating either, as there is not one piece of music here that anyone would refer to as a "song" in the traditional sense. Add to this the fact that there is no voice acting at all in the game, and you have one of the most silent experiences I've ever had in all my years of gaming. I've played many a visual novel that didn't have voice acting in them before, but never one that had no voice acting and no music. I know it's something that those who dislike the genre like to say, but I honestly have to wonder why this wasn't just released as a book. If they weren't going to bother much with the gameplay or audio/visual side of things, why bother releasing it in this fashion? I guess I can go on and on about how bad the audio is, but let's just move on.

Discussing the game's visuals is going to be hard, as it was something I wasn't even sure if I wanted to address in general. I actually put off reviewing this game for a quite a while because I was under the impression that it used AI art, and I wanted to see if the community would eventually get to the bottom of it, and find some answers. After going through tons of posts online regarding this issue (Some of which go as far back as when the first trailer was released.), I can report that the developers have officially stated that the game does not use AI art. Even though I have to wonder how true that is, my next question has to be why the developers decided to create art that looks exactly like it was created by AI. Every character and background image has that weird uncanny valley look to it, with characters having that smooth plastic look to them, and animations all feeling very off. There are even some AI-type mistakes here and there with hands and the like that seem a bit too suspicious to not be a giveaway. I have to wonder why the developers would let actual human artists create work that looks extremely fake. This is made all the stranger when you realize that the art style in this game is a drastic change over what's in the first two games. Those used clearly hand-drawn illustrations, and this one uses art that is at the very least totally on the digital side of things. If I'm being totally honest right now, I still think that there was AI involved in the creation of this game's art. Maybe it was done on a base level and then drawn over, used to enhance or modify existing drawings, or maybe it was work contracted outside of the company and they used AI art in "secret". I don't want to start throwing accusations like that around, but look at even the screens in this review, and the trailer I linked below, and tell me you don't think the same thing.

The lack of anything to enjoy beyond the decent story makes me wonder how I want to wrap up this review. On one hand the plot drew me in and made me want to learn more about World of Darkness as a whole, but it also let me down in just about every way a game could. I'd much rather have taken in this story via a standard novel, or maybe even in comic book for. Like I mentioned earlier, it's not very long either, and most people will probably completely clear it in completely in well under ten hours. I lost some time thanks to bugs, but it still didn't take me all that long to read everything there is to read. There is some replayability to be had, but it's rather light. There are different ways to reach the end of the game, two routes to explore, and at least two branching paths in the final chapter, but it still felt a little hollow at the end of the day. I also can't help but wish that Padraic's was somehow different, or maybe just an option available from the beginning. Making it an unlockable, when it's essentially the same content told to you a second time, just felt like padding. With that in mind, I have to say that the game's current asking price of $19.99 feels just a bit too high for the amount of content you get. Considering this is barely a step above a kinetic novel, and factoring you can get the first two games in the series for about a dollar at most times, paying twenty for this one feels wrong. That of course is a matter of opinion, but I still stand by the fact that I'd much rather have put that money towards a series of books that tell the same story.

I'm at a bit of a loss as to what I have to say regarding giving Vampire: The Masquerade - Reckoning of New York a recommendation, as I'm not really sure who this game is for. It's been my understanding of the game that most fans of the New York trilogy view this as the weakest game in the series, and newcomers like me are probably better off starting elsewhere. I'd be a lot more forgiving if it weren't for the lack of sound, or if the game used visuals that didn't look like they were created by AI, but that's what we get here unfortunately. I don't necessarily regret the time I spent with the game, but I don't think I can say it's worth picking up unless you're intrigued by the World of Darkness on its own, or if you've already played the other two games in the series. If it's the latter, you pretty much owe it to yourself to get this one now. With that said, I guess I'll run off and play those games next. See you in the next one!

Check Out Vampire: The Masquerade - Reckoning of New York on Steam:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2658720/Vampire_The_Masquerade__Reckoning_of_New_York/

---

Story: B+
Gameplay: C
Graphics: C
Music/Sound: D
Value: C

Overall: C

Pros:
+ An interesting take on the visual novel genre, and the World of Darkness setting too.
+ The plot and characters all feel well-written, and the game does a decent job of easing in new players into this complex world.
+ Even though managing them can be tiring, having to deal with random events like feeding and evading hunters did break up the monotony of reading.
+ Plenty of dialogue choices, and even a second unlockable character, make this one decently replayable.

Cons:
- Several game-breaking bugs make this one hard to enjoy at times.
- Though the story is well-written, most of the player's dialogue or action choices lead to the same conclusions.
- Runs basically in silence. There is no voice acting at all, and the music is more of a collection of random noises than anything else.
- Even though the developers claim it isn't the case, the art in this game looks like it was created by AI. Even if done by a human, it looks bad due to this fact.
- Its current price point of $19.99 feels a bit high for the amount of content one gets.

A copy of this game was provided to us free-of-charge by the publisher for the purpose of this review. This did not affect our review in any way.

---

Gotta love that K-Pop reference!