Vigil: The Longest Night

 PC
Metascore
75

Generally favorable reviews - based on 8 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 8
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 8
  3. Negative: 0 out of 8
  1. Cheat Code Central
    Oct 21, 2020
    70
    I suppose that ultimately, what counts in a Soulsborne or Metroidvania or action-RPGs is combat, action, bosses and exploration and in all these areas, Vigil: The Longest Night makes a pretty strong case for itself. It’s a great looking game with a dark and lush visual style and melee combat against some challenging monsters and human type enemies. A tighter story and less labyrinthian levels might make a very good experience even more compelling, but Vigil: The Longest Night will probably please fans of Salt and Sanctuary and those looking for a solid 2D Dark Souls-like game.
  2. TheGamer
    Oct 23, 2020
    60
    On a personal level, I'm still not truly gripped by everything here, but there are a lot of risky design choices and themes in Vigil. Developer Glass Heart Games should be commended for paying homage to the Dark Souls series while taking it in a slightly different direction.

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
7.6

Generally favorable reviews- based on 32 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 20 out of 32
  2. Mixed: 10 out of 32
  3. Negative: 2 out of 32
  1. robomartion
    Oct 16, 2020
    8
    Of all the recent Dark Souls inspired games from Mortal Shell, to Hollow Knight, to Dead Cells, to Blasphemous and of course Salt andOf all the recent Dark Souls inspired games from Mortal Shell, to Hollow Knight, to Dead Cells, to Blasphemous and of course Salt and Sanctuary, Vigil the Longest Night best captures the essence and gameplay that are vitally important to making a game like this work. The bosses feel challenging but not drawn out and the distance between check points is fair. The atmosphere and music is top notch and what Vigil: The Longest Night lacks in production value and polish it makes up for in really capturing what Dark Souls is meant to be: frightening, challenging and in the end rewarding

    For me it was considerably better than Death's Gambit and Blasphemous which although they have the polish don't have the gameplay or atmosphere to successfully drive home the Dark Souls experience. Vigil the Longest Night is on the opposite end of the spectrum where the polish is barely passable but has the gameplay and atmosphere which ultimately ends up being more important. I personally would rather this grittiness at the cost of polish to the sleek but cartoonish nature of Hollow Knight in a Dark Souls inspired game. The character progression is also intriguing and makes you feel like you are playing something like Diablo at times. The save system lets the game down somewhat as rather than resetting like in Dark Souls you will be going to back to previous save file and starting all over. Although this works it means that the only thing you take with you from your previous attempt is your personal experience and making progression in the game such as finding items or opening shortcuts that carry over after death won't be a thing. There are also some bugs and criticisms of responsiveness for example when rolling to avoid enemies that could possibly be improved. There are also some spelling errors in items names and the dialogue is bog-standard so you might just end up skipping through it. Where Dead Cells had the polish and responsiveness it didn't have the allure of what's around the corner or the RPGness (the attachment to your character) to keep you playing which Vigil: The Longest Night undoubtedly has. If you enjoyed Salt and Sanctuary and didn't mind the lack of production value of that game and are dying to dive into a similar experience again, Vigil: The longest Night will not disappoint. I think it is one of the best Dark Souls inspired games we have seen as it really knows what the formula is and how to make it work where other titles in the business of 'Souls-likes' have (even if perhaps knowingly or intentionally) deviated.    … Full Review »
  2. wokenoodle
    Feb 10, 2022
    6
    The best descriptor that comes to mind when I think about Vigil is “unfocused’’. An unfocused story and worldbuilding that comes off as tooThe best descriptor that comes to mind when I think about Vigil is “unfocused’’. An unfocused story and worldbuilding that comes off as too cryptic at some points and too basic at others, disparate visual elements that don’t bland together, directionless level design with paths that feel either too short or too long, and the combat that's... uh... going somewhere? Like, it’s functional, animations are alright, encounters might be tedious, but in a tactical way, and you get competently paced progression in the form of skills and equipment upgrades. But there’s no one central thing, no one deliberate design feature that would define the experience, it’s all just so mind-numbingly... decent. And forgettable. And so is the rest of the game, for me. Nothing will find a place in my memory apart from a few bosses, that were more of a spectacle than a fun challenge, a couple of mildly peculiar levels, and the fact that you play as a Hot Babe, that seems to be important to many for some reason.

    I will remember that I played Vigil: the Longest Night, an unfocused Metroidvania.    … Full Review »
  3. Curunir
    Mar 22, 2021
    10
    Wonderful soulslike metroidvania with gorgeous artwork, lots of exploration and huge locations, interesting NPCs and sidequests tracked in aWonderful soulslike metroidvania with gorgeous artwork, lots of exploration and huge locations, interesting NPCs and sidequests tracked in a log.

    I'm hard-pressed to think of any negatives with this one, everything about the game is smooth, fun and great to look at.    … Full Review »
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