Vampire: The Masquerade – Coteries of New York is a Twisty Narrative Worth Sinking Your Teeth Into – GameSpew

People are food, not friends.

Many vampire origin stories sound the same each time theyre told. The protagonist is an unsuspecting human who gets bitten by a vampire becoming the vampire themselves. Then, they have to adjust to this new strange world where they have a constant thirst for human blood.

Youll find that the story in Vampire: The Masquerade Coteries of New York is one and the same. You play as a person who has just joined one of three vampire clans the Toreador, Ventrue or Brujah in this visual novel from developer Draw Distance based entirely in the Vampire: The Masquerade universe.

Thankfully, that isnt all that there is to the story in Coteries of New York. Along with coming to terms with your new vampireness, youll be dealing with the complicated politics that comes with being a part of what is essentially a vampire gang. Youll meet dozens of different characters, all beautifully designed, that probably wont like you at first, but as you grow on your fellow clan members, youll pull together a few good allies. Including the main story, Coteries of New York has a few side paths that you can/will meander down during the story.

Although the game plays mostly like a visual novel youll click through dialogue and make dialogue choices for your character there are also other elements to the game that youll need to pay attention to. As a new vampire, your thirst for blood is uncontrollable. Throughout Vampire: The Masquerade Coteries of New York youll be battling with this thirst, begging to be quenched.

Whats difficult about this is that, oftentimes, youll be at your thirstiest during a key point in the game. You may be trying to make an impression in front of another vampire and have to decide whether or not to leave to get a quick drink and risk leaving a bad impression or insulting someone from another clan in their own territory. Its a slippery, blood-soaked slope and you have to be careful what you do.

Despite the fact that not many of the decisions you make will truly affect the story in a huge way, Coteries of New York is an intriguing and twisty-turny story that anyone who is a fan of the series will enjoy. Even those who have never played any of the other games in this universe (me) will find the story to be very interesting and well worth at least one full playthrough.

With that being said, each character in the game has their own unique narrative path, so it is definitely worth playing the game multiple times to see everything that it has to offer. Unavoidably youll come across dialogue youve read before, but this is the same in any visual novel.

If youre looking for a lovely, entertaining visual novel about vampires, then Vampire: The Masquerade Coteries of New York is one to look for. Its available now on Steam.

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Vampire: The Masquerade - Coteries of New York is a Twisty Narrative Worth Sinking Your Teeth Into - GameSpew

Reviewed and Recommended by Erik Baquero