Immortal Realms: Vampire Wars Review

Reading Time: 4 minutes

Fast Facts

Immortal Realms: Vampire Wars

Developer: Palindrome Interactive
Publisher: Kalypso Media
Website: https://www.kalypsomedia.com/uk/immortal-realms-vampire-wars
Genre: Strategy
Platform: Nintendo Switch
Age Rating: PEGI 16
Release Date:
Price: £35.00

A code was provided for review purposes.

Take command of the legions of troops loyal to one of three Vampire blood lines. Drawing on pretty much every cliché and gothic trope, you can imagine Immortal Realms: Vampire Wars liberally applies its source material to everything that it does. The question therefore, is how well does the game use its inspiration and does it make sense? 

Vampiric History

There have been tales of vampires in Western Europe for thousands of years. As far back as Ancient Greece stories were told of the dead coming back to feast on the blood of the living. In the middle ages people talked of bodies rising from the grave and ended up staking corpses to the ground facing down beneath 6’ of consecrated ground… you know… just to be sure. However it was the great gothic authors of the 19th Century who really shaped the myths we have today, Lord Byron and of course Bram Stoker. I would highly recommend to anyone interested in the story of Vampires.

Set in a land ruled by Vampires, the player takes command of one of three families, each of which embodies a huge vampire cliché, to the point of predictability. This is fine of course. It would be more surprising and possibly a little jarring for a game about vampires to stray from the stylistic status quo. There’s no risk of daylight sparkle vampires here. 

Somehow Lacking Something

The game play is reasonably solid. During the campaign the player must march their armies around the map, finding and conquering different landmarks and enemy armies. In the battles the game takes on a Fire Emblem style grid and look with players commanding units to take move and combat actions in an initiative order. Again this works well enough for what the game hopes to achieve, there’s nothing to really write home about.

The highlight of gameplay is through the use of cards on the battle map to recruit extra units, heal wounds or take extra actions etc. In battle these cards take the form of spells which use the hero’s mana, a set amount is given for the battle so this must be used wisely to avoid running out. Well thought out usage of your magic can be the difference between a heroic victory or a crushing defeat. 

This use of cards and hex based movement helps to give the game the feel of a digital board game, which is fantastic…. in theory. Some of my favourite video games are actually digital board games, it’s a genre that I love. However here it seems to be missing something, and to be brutally honest I’m not one hundred percent sure what that is. 

Aesthetically the game is drab, making use of a colour palate of muted and washed out colours which seek to add to the gothic horror theme and feel of the overall product. However this is done to such an extent that the game is almost uninspiring to look at. Similarly the music and voice acting adds into this camp, dark gothic mix to create a game that feels like a caricature rather than a serious thematic strategy experience. 

The Last Stake

This is not the sort of game that is going to take over your gaming schedule for months at a time. However I have found that it is a good game to jump into for an hour or two, complete a few battles, and explore the game map. It’s a game that promises so much. However, in reality there are more enjoyable games at this price point for me. That is not to say I hated it, not by a long shot; the game is ok, but that’s it. 

Rapid Reviews Rating

You can purchase Immortal Realms: Vampire Wars from the Nintendo eShop here.