Vambrace: Cold Soul
The King of Shades has cursed the great city of Icenaire. Now cast under a permanent blight of frost fall, its former residents have returned from the dead as mad Wraiths. Survivors take refuge deep underground where they lead a desperate campaign against this unearthly power. Woefully outmatched, they are forced into hiding as the King of Shades amasses an army of the undead above them. One fateful day, a mysterious stranger appears in the city with an enchanted vambrace. She may now be their only hope… You are Evelia Lyric, bearer of the Aetherbrace and the only human capable of entering Icenaire. The survivors now look to you as their best hope against the King of Shades. Only one problem…you’re woefully outmatched, and survival is not guaranteed. Vambrace: Cold Soul is a narrative-driven game filled with memorable characters, brutal challenges, and deep strategy. To succeed, you must choose perceptive party leaders, camp to recuperate, navigate strange encounters, and survive deadly combat. Will you scavenge for supplies to sell or use them to craft new items for your next expedition? The surface of Icenaire is cold and unforgiving. So, prepare your party well before departing…lest you join the cursed city's undead.
Game Discussion
Steam User 8
A decent RPG with very slight roguelike elements. The story and world building is interesting. I really enjoyed it, but I can't recommend it without some caveats. There's just not enough room for experimentation with team bulding with being forced to bring along the main character in every run and not having space for extra units. I mostly only played the same team composition during my playthroughs. Event variety in runs is also a bit lacking and gets repetitive. Other than that, I enjoyed the game fine, it's a fun adventure, but it could have used some extra juice in the form of DLC or an expansion that added content, or a new game plus mode so you could make the main character super OP for fun. There's really no point in putting poins in anything other than damage at first, since the other relevant stats can get taken care of by team members.
I love the art style, and I'm thrilled the game is being followed up on with a sequel of sorts, even if tower defense is not really my cup of tea, I'm interested because I enjoyed this game enough.
Steam User 7
i played while not having experienced darkest dungeons.
i read there were lot of issues when the game first launched, but as i played this on august 2024, no particular balance or RNG issues (game was a bit on the easy side, i played on normal).
i had fun playing this, really liked that the devs put extra arts to go with the different costumes (the columbo and sailor moon were funny).
Steam User 2
Another The Darkest Dungeon clone in endless winter fantasy setting.
If you didn't play DD yet, so do it. Because I won't recommend this game to you. It's weaker than genre's father. If you're here after that game for the similar experience, so, you're in the wrong place. Vambrace: Cold Soul not so good as the genre's father. There are many details which didn't let me enjoy this game.
The story is great. Sometimes you have to make a choose which finally will influence on your ending. I am not agreed with mine, but ok. But had vibes of War Craft 3 Frozen throne ADD-ON. This is definitely good memory.
The repetitiveness of the gameplay can bore you. That's true. All dungeons similar from one to another. No tactics in fights. Same scenario in every bonfire. Buy heals, sleep, go next dungeon.
Many interface element still unfamiliar for me. After finishing the game, I don't know the meaning of curse statuses, classes names and I could confuse the buttons.
Graphics can be as a plus for someone as a minus for another. For me that was a positive vibe. Even if the developers used assets from their previous game - Coma (Coma 2). Everything in style of Korean anime.
Music is wonderful. I liked the sound design here. Especially Golden Skies track. Have nothing against it. Added in my Spotify.
So, as a verdict. Sophisticated in genre gamers won't find something for them here. But as a gateway, it is a great opportunity. Not so hard (even on Cold Soul difficulty), short and interesting 2D DD wannabe with a good story.
P.s. You can find all my short reviews here.
Steam User 2
Lovely 2D dungeon crawler with light survival elements. The strongest aspects of the game are its visuals, atmosphere and worldbuilding. The artstyle is fantastic, everything looks gorgeous and detailed, and most characters (from playable to NPCs and enemies) are beautifully designed. The writing is good, and even if the overall story is not something super special or unique, it's still above average because the dialogue is well written. What really kept me engaged though, were the tons of interesting characters that appear throughout the story. The effort put into the lore of the game's world is also very impressive. Sometimes you'll have to make decisions that will actually affect some of the characters storylines, unique items you unlock and the ending you get.
The game absolutely does not deserve the current "mixed" review score. I see a lot of players giving it a negative review just because, in their opinion, this is not as good as other games from the same genre, which I don't think is fair at all. This game might not be the best of its kind, but it's still a good game, with a lot of love put into it.
Steam User 1
Decent enough game. They did really good for the art, characters and the atmosphere. Gameplay wasn't amazing or awful, just functional. The story as well was kinda meh but the lore building was pretty interesting.
Steam User 0
The game is really good, the mechanics and the story telling and many options to customize your character, but the fighting mechanics and the bosses difficulty needs to be reworked.
Steam User 0
The art in this game is amazing. and don't get me started on the amazing atmosphere of the game.