For most of my life, I’ve wanted a good vampire hunting game. Ever since I watched Christopher Lee’s Dracula films, standing alongside Cushing’s Van Helsing in opposition to Lee’s Dracula’s all-consuming evil, I wanted a real game about hunting vampires. Not merely a game with vampire enemies, or a game inspired by Dracula, but a game that puts the player in the role of Cushing’s Van Helsing: not only daring, but forced to find a supernatural foe’s weaknesses and genuinely think about how to progress.
Lunacid did it. Lunacid, or at least its Castle Le Fanu area, comprises my favorite vampire hunting game.
I don’t mean a game that happens to feature vampire enemies, but a game that, for one area at least, fully engages with everything I want: Gothic, horrifying, moody, and yet the protagonist is neither powerless nor overpowered (the damage restrictions mostly make you stay in your lane). Even the startling streaks of technicolor are there.
Spoiler Warning: I will discuss some minor spoilers regarding Lunacid, but I do not give away any deeper secrets.
Imagine creeping through the dungeons of a vampire’s castle, a silver-forged rapier in one hand, a torch in the other, battling against the blades and fangs of the vampire queen’s duelists. The first truly satisfying fight I found was here, properly dueling and dodging through the stone hallways. Blocking their strikes, leaping out of the way of their charges. When her warriors die, they explode into flames which illuminate the dark (and seem to draw many more vampires into the battle).
But it’s not only vampires that can be found here, as bloody experiments squirm across the floor to devour you…
Exhilarating. Terrifying. Thrilling. Horrifying. Everything I want, in areas bathed in the flares of torches or an unholy purple light. For over an hour, I had the biggest grin on my face.
Even the most holy of heroes must contemplate using blood magic to unlock the vampire’s citadel. Is it worth the stain on your soul? Is it worth taking more damage to unseal their crypts (at least until you can be purified at a save point)?
Not only was it mechanically perfect, not only did the atmosphere strike the perfect note, the castle is centered on a retelling of Sheridan Le Fanu’s Camilla: the Camilla figure discovers her family’s cursed connection to vampirism, and seeks to corrupt her beloved taking the role of Laura, who is in this version a great hero fighting to preserve their nation.
What happened to them? was my main question as I stepped into the boss room. Will I be fighting Lunacid’s interpretation of Camilla?
Unfortunately, no. The boss is a let down in several ways. While he’s related to the Camilla figure, he is, so far as I can tell, someone that was not mentioned previously. Far worse, he is tedious fight. I entered the fight over-leveled, carrying weapons and magic laced with his elemental weakness, and the fight was a more-than-ten-minute slog as I slowly chipped away at his health, in no real danger at any time (and I had not bothered to level my HP beyond the required amount at this time).
But for awhile, Lunacid was exactly the game I wanted ever since falling in love with Universal Horror and Hammer monster films: gothic, fantastic, horrifying, yet heroic.
Featured Image: KIRA LLC
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