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The Finger Guns Review; UPDATE: Switch Impressions of Victor Vran: Overkill Edition by Ross Keniston; The shiny new Switch.
Death really gets you into the groove!There’s something amazing about being able to combine action, adventure, role-playing and a fair amount of silliness in one game. That is what Victor Vran: Overkill Edition does, strumming to an electric guitar one second and then using it to clobber the demons of hell the next, all the while speaking with the smooth, soothing tone of Doug Cockle, AKA Geralt of Rivia.If you’re already intrigued, then I’m pretty confident that Victor Vran: Overkill Edition has the potential to win your heart. In the physical collector’s edition, not only are you rewarded with the main campaign, as well as the two expansions Motorhead Through The Ages and Fractured Worlds, but you’re able to get some great, demon-hunting loot too. Though as great as these items may be, the game itself blows it all out of the water.In the main campaign of Victor Vran: Overkill Edition you play as a lone demon hunter named – you guessed it – Victor Vran, who is searching for his friend, Adrian. The last he heard from Adrian was that he was in the demon and ghost infested city of Zagoravia, which is where you first start out on your demon-slaying adventures.
From the get-go, this game doesn’t mess around and throws you into the deep end as you’re quickly overcome by what appears to be an army of spiders that are more than eager to rip your face off.Thankfully the controls are very easy to pick up. Your L button will allow you to roll, which will save your life many of times as there is no block button. Your R button will let you swap between weapons, but you only unlock that ability at a certain level. The rest of the buttons, mainly X, Y and B are linked to specific types of attacks, with X being normal and Y and B attacks being special and heavy.What truly makes these attacks so useful to the player is that, irrespective of whether or not you’re a beginner, you’re able to jump in on the action with ease.
Weapons and their special attacks are varied, meaning you can be smashing the ground to cause a tremor at one point and then switch to a scythe seconds later to spin around, slicing your enemies in half in less than five seconds flat. Because of this variety, you won’t ever find yourself feeling bored.Stick out like a sore thumb, eh Victor?Yet it isn’t just the weapons that are varied. In the world of Victor Vran, it really is the player’s choice on how they would like to proceed.
You’ll have the chance to unlock new outfits and demonic powers, each one gifting you a different ability or stat that will either help or hinder you in your hunt to be rid of the enemies of Zagoravia. So, even if you don’t plan to use that outfit for that mission, you can always save it for another. Or, if you’re picky, you’ll craft your perfect weapon as soon as you hit level 16.The same can be said for Destiny Cards, a feature that allows you to mix and match which cards you’ll use in each mission. Of course, if you find yourself struggling and want to try a different card then you can swap them, but the inventory controls can be an absolute nightmare, swapping in weapons the player doesn’t want or equipping from other subcategories that you were certain you never selected. So be warned, you’ll need a little patience each time you head into your inventory.The top-down viewpoint probably isn’t initially the ideal choice in terms of perspective; the fact you’re unable to zoom in to see what’s going on can be incredibly frustrating.
However, after playing a while it becomes clear that the game couldn’t be better played in any other view. There still does need to be a way to zoom in on things, especially with weapon names being so small, but with the viewpoint that you’re given you’re not only able to look at your surroundings, but strategise on how to make your next move, which ultimately helps you out rather than causing any difficulty.As for the world itself, Zagoravia’s dark, gloomy landscapes and crumbling infrastructure can be intriguing at first as you never know what enemies are going to pop out at you, but it can get tiresome after a while. Thankfully the two expansions offer a lot of well-needed colour to the game, with muddy browns and yellows and ethereal blues and greens. It makes up for the dark, lifeless colours of Zagoravia.Seriously, can we get a little bit of light in here? Well, fine.The main campaign’s story all told is, while enjoyable, a very simple one that doesn’t really punish you if you don’t pay attention to it. All cutscenes, even ones that seem to be important, are skippable so if you’re not interested in the story and just want to take names and kick ass then you’ve got that option.
Unfortunately, those of us who look for a story with twists and turns at every corner might be disappointed.That isn’t to say that Victor Vran: Overkill Edition doesn’t have some beautiful moments. While the world may seem deadly serious at times, this is the game that lets you equip an electric guitar and serenade your enemies to death. Heck, you can even do that with a group of friends and online too. If that doesn’t tell you that the game is willing to laugh at itself sometimes, it isn’t easy to imagine anything that will. All I can say is that if you’re looking for goofy and serious at the same time, you’ll find that great mix plenty in both the main campaign and the two expansion DLCs.Overall, I’d say that Victor Vran: Overkill Edition is a must-have for fans of ARPGs and for those who want to lose themselves in a ton of content.
The inventory can be troublesome at times, and you may find yourself tiring of the environment around you, but that doesn’t make the game any less enjoyable.
The most popular monster stories are still those of vampires and werewolves, and we can understand why, as in many ways these are the most realistic. We’ve seen many movies that revolve around Dracula, be it with a monster hunter in the lead or not.
The stories of Van Helsing have been adapted to fit both the big screen as well as the small screen in the comfort of your home. This time however, we trade in the adventures of Van Helsing for those of Victor Vran, who has already passed our revue twice. This time it’s the Overkill Edition which was just released on the Nintendo Switch. We dimmed the lights and sat on the edge of our seats when we started playing this new monster hunter’s tale.StoryVictor Vran, a known demon hunter, travels all the way to Zagoravia after he was invited by his friend, Adrian.
He arrives to the grim looking town, only to find it infested with ghastly creatures that have clearly taken over the land. While initially he doesn’t care what happens to the residents of said country, he soon joins the queen, who already asked for his help before he found Adrian, and saw what happened to him. His change of heart manifests in the form of him killing every monster in sight, hopefully freeing this land from the dark and grim curse that is currently holding it.The story progresses as much as you’d expect from a game such as this, which means it stays fairly shallow. Nonetheless, the narrator, or at least the spirit that’s pestering you, adds some flair to what’s going on, and the cutscenes properly convey what is going on, creating some tension which is certainly uplifting for this type of game.GraphicsGraphically Victor Vran looks a lot like a Diablo game, meaning it’s a top down experience with fairly grim surroundings you’ll have to traverse through.
The game uses a fairly varied amount of enemy models, making sure it doesn’t become bland too quickly. The effects are decent, and the developers did their best to add special effects per weapon, making the game a bit prettier in the sense of abilities. The environments are varied enough, but of course everything is rather dark and grim, and sometimes some areas feel a bit empty, but overall things look nice for a Switch port.SoundEven though the music abruptly stops when opening the menus of the game, the soundtrack is more ambient rather than in your face.
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The music is calm and provides a decent background for the many sounds of your attacks and of course those made by your many enemies. The voice acting is superb and truly adds to the experience that is Victor Vran. While many of the conversations are fairly short, they are properly voice acted and just give the game that much extra in terms of how it was developed.GameplayVictor Vran: Overkill Edition is a port of the hit PC isometric hack and slash RPG game, which is very similar to the likes of the Diablo series.
From start to finish you’ll occupy yourself by clearing the lands of the monsters that roam upon their soil, all while gathering gear, gaining experience and of course uncovering secrets in the zones you’ll be exploring. Overall the concept is simple, and nearly identical to other games in the genre, but the game does have its own quirks, making it somewhat unique.While the map you can venture on is rather big, you’ll always find yourself in enclosed zones, with a fairly straightforward goal, namely finding a specific dungeon in said area, etc.
Every zone has special objectives you can clear in order to gain bonus experience, items or gold. These extra goals make it fun to continue exploring after reaching your primary objective, or to try out different weapons, as some require you to slay enemies with a specific weapon type.The skill system in Victor Vran is fairly original, as most skills simply depend on your equipment.
Each weapon type comes with a main attack and two special skills, and you can switch freely between two weapon types, as you can have a secondary weapon equipped. This creates a fun flow in the combat. Leveling up will just improve your unknown stats and thus won’t give you any special skills. Your demon powers are also a piece of your equipment, making it so you can opt for the playstyle you like the most.Other than weapons, you’ll also be able to equip a costume, some consumables, and destiny cards, the latter being passive upgrades for your character. Overall the gear system is simplistic, but it does the trick as experimenting with weapons is quite fun in this title.Just like the Overkill Edition on the PC, the Switch version comes with all the released DLC, which means you’ll have ample content to explore, and while the DLC basically handles the same, you’ll still be able to collect some new loot and story progression.
Overall it’s best to start with the main story, but the DLC is selectable from the start.ConclusionVictor Vran: Overkill Edition is a decent port of a good game, expanding the Switch library further. You’ll be treated to a Diablo-esque experience, albeit with a good old-fashioned monster hunter story behind it, fun visuals, great voice acting and decent mechanics, making this a pleasant gaming experience.
If you can’t wait for when Diablo III hits the Nintendo Switch, then this one will probably keep you occupied for a reasonable amount of hours to come.
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