I recently decided to watch What We Do in the Shadows, Taiki Waititi’s bizarre vampire mockmentary. It was the logical next step in my ‘things to watch/play while I wait for Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2’ journey, and I regret absolutely nothing. Yet, I know that, by the end of it all, the streets of Seattle will likely still be shrouded in shadows; I’m Transylvania dreaming of a release date, but it just isn’t here yet. Swooping in to save me, however, is Cabarnet, a stylish 2D vampire RPG that just dropped on Steam – and it’s been on my wishlist for some time.
You’re thrust into a two-dimensional version of 19th-century Eastern Europe. Cast as Liza, a young vampire fledgling who’s struggling to balance her human morality and undead animalism, Cabernet challenges you with navigating a world that’s fraught with political tension. Will you let your conscience be your guide, or allow the beast to roam free? The choice is yours.
Akin to other vampire games, you’ll have to choose your victims carefully. If you’re a VTM player you’ll be familiar with resonances but, in short, different blood grants you different skills and buffs.
Where games like Bloodhunt focus on ambushing prey, Cabernet champions stealth and careful planning. In order to lure your victims to their potential demise, you’ll have to get to know them. The local drunkard isn’t particularly interested in going to the opera with you, for example, but will absolutely tag along if you promise to cover an evening’s worth of drinks.
You’ll level up four key skills: music and arts, literature and writing, science and logic, and history and politics. Getting the right balance is the key to success, and will impact your playthrough as you go along. You can bolster each of these by, well, eating people, or you can charm the locals into working alongside you. It’s not all about food, you know, so make sure you scope things out before you go in all fangs blazing.
Cabernet is out now on Steam, and is currently available at a 10% discount. You can pick it up for $17.99 / £15.07 until Thursday March 6, then it’ll go back up in price. If you’re looking for a new vampiric adventure, you can grab it here.
While we eagerly await the Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 release date, check out our list of the best RPGs to keep you busy. Alternatively, we have a guide to all of the upcoming PC games for 2025 and beyond to help you plan out your year.
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