This isn’t a review, because I – Angela – do not review anything anymore, I don’t really care for the whole World of Darkness setting, and I’m so mired in gaming’s yesteryears that I’m currently replaying The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time on my DS. Cyanide’s highly-anticipated action role-playing game is one of those werewolf artifacts that seemingly everyone is excited for, but which is so clearly Not For Me that all I can responsibly do is tell you that it’s out now, and you can buy it. It’s available for Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X, and can be found on Amazon or your preferred digital retailer.
If you would like a review, I can safely point you to this video by Cannot Be Tamed, whose gameplay footage and assessment of the lore and mechanics lines up with the vibe I’d been getting over the past few months.
Would you care for an informed and nuanced editorial assessment of this game and its place in the historically rocky landscape of Werewolf: the Apocalypse video games? Keep an eye out for a guest post by a friend of the site and W:tA veteran. In the meantime, I’ll leave you with this take, which has all the nuance of a grouch (me) posting off the cuff on Discord (which is where it’s from):
It seems unwise to make a game in a lore-heavy setting and cut out all the interesting lore. If you’re going to do that for the sake of making the game more appealing to casual players, I think your best angle is to present the game as one where you get to be a cool scary werewolf who rips shit up. That approach requires that your werewolf have, like, a transformation scene, and combat that feels & looks visceral. You know, the things that might make a werewolf action horror game fun. I don’t see any of that either.