Vambrace: Cold Soul

 Xbox One
Vambrace: Cold Soul Image
Metascore
66

Mixed or average reviews - based on 6 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
5.7

Mixed or average reviews- based on 9 Ratings

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  • Summary: The King of Shades has cursed the great city of Icenaire. Now cast under a permanent blight of frost fall, its former residents have returned from the dead as mad Wraiths. Survivors take refuge deep underground where they lead a desperate campaign against this unearthly power. WoefullyThe King of Shades has cursed the great city of Icenaire. Now cast under a permanent blight of frost fall, its former residents have returned from the dead as mad Wraiths. Survivors take refuge deep underground where they lead a desperate campaign against this unearthly power. Woefully outmatched, they are forced into hiding as the King of Shades amasses an army of the undead above them. One fateful day, a mysterious stranger appears in the city with an enchanted vambrace. She may now be their only hope...

    You are Evelia Lyric, bearer of the Aetherbrace and the only human capable of entering Icenaire. The survivors now look to you as their best hope against the King of Shades. Only one problem... you're woefully outmatched, and survival is not guaranteed.

    Vambrace: Cold Soul is a narrative-driven game filled with memorable characters, brutal challenges, and deep strategy. To succeed, you must choose perceptive party leaders, camp to recuperate, navigate strange encounters, and survive deadly combat. Will you scavenge for supplies to sell or use them to craft new items for your next expedition? The surface of Icenaire is cold and unforgiving. So, prepare your party well before departing... lest you join the cursed city's undead.    … Expand

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 6
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 6
  3. Negative: 0 out of 6
  1. Xbox Tavern
    Aug 28, 2019
    79
    There’s a lot to like about Vambrace: Cold Soul. From the gorgeous art work, through the brilliant world building and atmosphere to the deeply involved systems at play, there’s clearly been some love poured into this game. The difficulty – especially early on – and the obscure nature of some elements of the HUD are the main snags in an otherwise brilliant bit of software. If you’ve got the time (and patience), there’s a brilliant experience to be had here.
  2. TheXboxHub
    Aug 28, 2019
    70
    If you wish to enjoy the gameplay of Darkest Dungeon without tearing your hair out, then Vambrace is very much for you. It couples a Game of Thrones narrative with engaging side-quests and a more than amply challenging progression.
  3. Generación Xbox
    Sep 18, 2019
    70
    In general, the game offers interesting proposals finished off by a magnificent technical aspect, as well as a good story and some interesting exploration components. But these virtues end up being buried by the monotony of their playability and the superficiality of the meta-game.
  4. XboxAddict
    Oct 9, 2019
    70
    Vambrace: Cold Soul has amazing qualities about it, particularly the graphics, UI and combat. If someone were to ask me a week from now, I'd still recommend Vambrace: Cold Soul. The amount of detail is fascinating to me. I'm gonna get out of here before a Spook gets to me. See ya!
  5. Official Xbox Magazine UK
    Oct 12, 2019
    60
    Stunning art direction can’t quite save Vambrace from RPG mediocrity. [Issue#183
    All this publication's reviews
  6. Cubed3
    Oct 16, 2019
    50
    Vambrace: Cold Soul is not bad, but it quickly becomes a mindless, repetitive, grinding slog of the same battles that require very little strategy, not to mention the lack of any sort of enemy variety. Enemies come in different forms, but basically consist of similar attacks, with varying curses, and Lyric and her party members are hardly any better. The gameplay loop of exploring, fighting and healing only suffers due to the tedious battle system and the similar-looking dungeons. Beyond that, the story and lore of Icenair is a rich world that deserved better treatment, as the various codex entries enrich the world. Vambrace: Cold Soul had a lot of potential, and while it pulls off some things well, the mechanics hold back an experience of what could've been.

User Reviews

Write a Review
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 0 out of 4
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 4
  3. Negative: 1 out of 4
  1. Xbox_Alive
    Sep 11, 2019
    7
    Vambrace: cold soul as an gripping 2D RPG with an extremely extensive story that is thrilling and captivating. the world of vambrace: coldVambrace: cold soul as an gripping 2D RPG with an extremely extensive story that is thrilling and captivating. the world of vambrace: cold soul has a very a engaging and interesting map design with almost all npc's having custom dialog for a certain area. i personally think a new player could be over-welled with the tutorial at the start of the game much like what i was due to how many controls there are. the tutorial also feels cramped and doesn't allow the player to do one thing multiple times to get used to that part of the controls. although the the tutorial is very condensed i do feel that the game has a well thought out story with lots of side quests and other types of content that all add up to the whole plot of the game. the art style is also amazing i can definitely tell that the artists took heavy inspiration from the Japanese art style of anime and put there own twist on the art style that makes it fell unique but yet very familiar. the combat in the game is quite easy to get the hang of when attacking but trying to heal while in combat can feel like a severe task because the controls for the inventory are quite confusing. in conclusion i would say that the controls are abut confusing at first but are some what manageable and this game has a very extensive plot that will surely grip any RPG fan.… Expand
  2. Awanka
    Nov 18, 2020
    6
    The combat and dungeon exploration is kind of like Darkest Dungeon, but it follows a much more linear progression. The combat is also "much"The combat and dungeon exploration is kind of like Darkest Dungeon, but it follows a much more linear progression. The combat is also "much" more simplified, which isn't to say that it's bad, but it lacks the character development options and delightful complexities of DD. On the other hand, it's kind of nice to just build a party and go in without thinking about it too much.

    The sticking points for me are that Vambrace: CS is "much" easier than DD, so the combat becomes dully routine after a while. Also there are some points in the game where you get forced into long side-tracks for the sake of the narrative. These can be kind of frustrating.

    All-in-all, I had a fun enough time, but I wasn't eager for more when it ended.    … Expand
  4. Daelus
    Aug 20, 2020
    5
    Very clearly a wannabe Darkest Dungeon that tries to copy it in almost every way (right down to many of the EXACT same curios) but it is notVery clearly a wannabe Darkest Dungeon that tries to copy it in almost every way (right down to many of the EXACT same curios) but it is not nearly as good at any of them. It is a very small game and fairly short While I am predisposed to like a DD clone this game fails badly in 2 ways; first the NPCs in your party are static, they cannot level' secondly and most importantly, RNG dominates this game and includes actual survival in that you REQUIRE campsites to survive the dungeons yet you can go through several dungeons that lack any and therefore you will die to frostbite with no ability to do anything but start the level over.....disgusting take on "roque-like:!… Expand
  5. Broyax
    Apr 5, 2020
    0
    Il était une fois un étron indé qui s'était fortement cogné la tête contre la cuvette et qui s'était pris... pour un jeu de rôle ! leIl était une fois un étron indé qui s'était fortement cogné la tête contre la cuvette et qui s'était pris... pour un jeu de rôle ! le pauvre... mais malheureusement personne ne lui a dit qu'au lieu de faire un jeu de rôle (un genre si difficile à maîtriser à vrai dire) il a fait de la merde !

    Et pourtant, il a cru y croire et il a torché une espèce d'interface ainsi que quelques mécaniques bancales et branlantes qui ne tiennent pas debout... évidemment. Il a continué de sortir les idées du fond de son cul alors qu'il poussait très fort pour sortir une histoire qui tenait pourtant tout entière sur le tiers d'une demi-feuille ! qu'il est économe avec le papier-cul, cet étron indé à deux balles et 32 couleurs !

    Mais surtout, surtout, qu'il est bien, qu'il est formidablement nul à chier, cet étron indé ! vraiment on vambrace (enfin, de loin !) et on t'invite mercredi soir à dîner : tu nous parleras de la suite, peut-être ? t'es si doué avec les allumettes !    … Expand