Slower-paced vampire games that give a more complex look at life as a supernatural entity are my favorite. Naturally, there is still the possibility of devastation, but it also presents a chance to think more carefully about how we can survive as undead compelled to live off blood. One of those games is Cabernet, where Party for Introverts unexpectedly transports us to a new afterlife, asks us to make choices that may impact us later, and demands that we constantly improve ourselves in the hopes of expanding our chances of surviving later.
Liza’s future seemed bright. She practiced medicine. Depending on your selections, she may have had the charm necessary to navigate high society politics, a passion for learning, or a gift for singing. However, she is now deceased. She awakens in the head vampire Countess Orlova’s sealed subterranean dungeon after making some decisions at her funeral that alter her initial numbers.
She must survive and prosper in her new life after being thrust into undead society, forced to make a bargain with an unidentified person to get out of the room, and juggling new skills and vulnerabilities. But she still doesn’t know who she struck a bargain with or how she died! Additionally, her father, who is referred to as the who goes by the name “Doctor,” to carry on practicing medicine and further his study.
Since we spend every day in the game assisting Liza in adjusting to her new life and completing chores that guarantee her success, Cabernet is basically a vampire life simulation. To ensure that your stats continue to increase and reach a level where you can meet the requirements for specific activities and discussion options, you must do things like read books and dress appropriately. You must consume blood—also known as Cabernet—from people, animals, or approved sources.
It’s crucial to observe people and know how to respond to them in order to maintain a positive relationship. (Or perhaps you would want to do the exact opposite.) To acquire what you want, you must know when to employ your vampiric abilities, such as flight, invisibility, and beguiling. Since quests need to be recorded in your log, you’re fulfilling the ones that are required to progress the campaign as well as any optional ones that might lead to fresh invites to allies’ or residences.
It’s frequently really fascinating! Your level of enjoyment, however, may differ according on how attached you are to the personalities that surround Liza. Some of them fascinated me. For instance, Alisa is intriguing, and I really enjoy Arban and Hussar. However, there were other instances in which the way some characters were portrayed made others seem less nuanced than others. This mostly applied to humans in my experience, which made me question whether the purpose was to make the player focus more on their fellow undead.
The main plot lines occasionally seemed a little dull to me, even if I enjoyed the thought of living the vampire life as Liza. Undoubtedly, there is some curiosity here. Maybe it also depended on the decisions I made when I was in her position. However, learning the reality of how she died didn’t seem to have any bearing on “my” version of her, and I was more entertained by her daily activities and conversations than by learning who had a negative influence on Liza or interacting with the Countess.
Cabernet doesn’t let you establish save states since every decision you make in this game counts and you have to deal with the consequences of your vampire instincts. You go for a run? That’s all. You’re stuck with it. You don’t like how you answered the doctor once? Unfortunately, he no longer likes you as much. Did you squander all your money trying to get 21 in a card minigame only to discover later that it is rigged to make you lose? Whoops. It is possible to stop playing right now and go back to the last auto-save, but that can take some time, so I decided to play as planned and accept my decisions.
I’ll suggest that if the user interface were a little simpler to understand, it would be a little easier to do so. In particular, during my initial sessions of playing Cabernet on the Switch, I would forget that, despite the fact that the rest of the game used a conventional control scheme, the menus would automatically switch to mouse-based cursor control. Notifications that I had accumulated enough experience to level up and add additional points to my character sheet stats were somewhat easy for me to overlook. Additionally, if you aren’t consistently visiting the Quests section, you can miss out on anything because the quest tracker is really just focused on your important campaign ones.
The menu control mechanism wasn’t the only reason I thought the Switch might not be the perfect platform for the vampire game, even if I still liked Cabernet on it. There is a sort of rhythm minigame, but using the platform to play it didn’t feel very natural. Additionally, I encountered two crashes while playing, which may be annoying in a game where choices are crucial and you may have gained some advantages that “day” that were since lost.
One of the more unusual vampire games I’ve played is Cabernet, and I liked juggling Liza’s life with additional important responsibilities. The fact that several of her new peers are also very interesting and affable helped. I only wish the Switch version was more console-optimized or that some of the main campaign components were a bit more exciting, at least in the beginning.
Cabernet is available for the Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and PC.
With a contemporary twist, Cabernet is a 2D narrative role-playing game that takes place in a realm influenced by Eastern Europe in the 19th century. Help Liza, a young vampire, navigate her new existence among the gullible villagers. Will you continue to be the horror you have become, or will you maintain your humanity? The switch version was examined. Examine the copy that the company sent for testing.
I’ve never played a vampire game like Cabernet, and I liked juggling Liza’s life with other important responsibilities.