Vampire: The Masquerade — Oaths & Ashes Review

Vampire: The Masquerade — Oaths & Ashes introduces a tense visual novel adventure filled with vampire politics, dangerous conversations, supernatural abilities, and a mysterious mission that leads to Berlin.

Vampire stories have always been a perfect vehicle for exploring dark political intrigue, supernatural powers, dangerous relationships, and the inherent conflict between the human and the hunger beneath the surface. Vampire: The Masquerade - Oaths & Ashes is a visual novel in the World of Darkness that takes all those familiar tropes and puts them into a narrative framework.

Rather than throwing you straight into a vampire action adventure, it focuses on the conversations, investigations, personal ambitions, and political machinations that unfold in the world.

 The prologue finds Alice Lytelton, a Ventrue keen to become Archon, in a precarious position: one misstep could see all her hard work go up in smoke. It all starts at the Opéra Garnier in Paris, where Alice is attending an opera with Thomas Egerton. Their objective is to track down Etienne d'Aubigny, a Kindred who has walked away from the Camarilla and is now with the Anarchs.

He's a key player in the game, and Alice must bring him before Justicar Lucinde to prove she is worthy of the authority she's been after. Of course, this is more than just a hunt. Alice is being assessed, and Thomas is another person in the mix, adding another layer of pressure. It immediately establishes the political nature of the whole thing and underlines Alice's personal ambition. 

One of the strongest things about Vampire: The Masquerade - Oaths & Ashes is its opening atmosphere. The opera house is a very atmospheric setting in itself, an elegant and rather creepy place where you can easily have conversations that are full of subtext and where everyone in the room could be hiding something.

Instead of just going for action, you build the tension through the little things, through the dialogue and the interactions between the characters. Alice will have to figure out what's going on while still maintaining the appropriate level of composure for someone in the Camarilla.

That's very much in keeping with the World of Darkness. Power doesn't necessarily come down to who's the strongest. Information, authority, manipulation, and loyalty can all be just as important. The Étienne investigation gives the first chapter a very clear purpose. Alice and Thomas track him through the opera house, using the subtle signals and coded behavior we've seen before.

It gets more complicated when a mortal is killed, and we're in for a real confrontation. Étienne tries to get the hell out of there, and Alice and Thomas are on his tail up to the roof. The result is one of the prologue's key moments, with Alice finally getting the chance to stake him and bringing it all to a close.

It's not a long action sequence, but it gives the opening story a real sense of progression.

Alice is a very interesting protagonist in that her ambition is intrinsically linked to her identity. She's not simply out there to do another job. She's a Ventrue who's spent two hundred years building her position, and becoming an Archon is about recognition, authority, and extending her influence within the Camarilla.

Her character also gives the player a range of options for how she might approach a conversation. She can be restrained, intimidating, charming, or manipulative, and the player can choose her approach. That's especially important in a visual novel, where how the protagonist speaks is as important as what they do.

Thomas Egerton also adds to the tension, though his role in the prologue largely underpins the mission's main thrust. Alice can't focus on Étienne without also considering how her companion reacts to her.  That relationship could be interesting to develop further in the course of the game, particularly if it's about rivalry, trust, and the politics of competition among the various people associated with Lucinde. 

After taking Étienne, Alice and Thomas bring him before Justicar Lucinde. That sequence departs completely from the investigation and focuses on the political ramifications of his treachery. Lucinde questions Étienne as to why he did it, why he left the Camarilla, and so on.

The interrogation doesn't end in any peace, though, and she has him beheaded, tearing off his head and declaring him a traitor. It's a stark illustration of the vampire world's nature: you don't just break the rules. You get a specific, permanent consequence. Lucinde is the key point here, as she embodies the authority Alice wants to serve.

What she does in that scene makes the difference between someone who has power and someone who still has to earn it absolutely clear. She shows absolutely no interest in offering sympathy or a second chance, and her dealings with Etienne are very much to the point in establishing exactly what the Camarilla expects of you.

That, in itself, provides a compelling basis for Alice's journey, as her ambition is to operate within a system as dangerous as the enemies she is out to get. The story gets more interesting when Lucinde gives Alice a new assignment in Berlin. Local Anarch factions are starting to pose a threat as the newly arisen Baron Danielle Diron tries to bring them together.

Alice's job is to ensure this alliance doesn't reach the point where it becomes a real threat to the Camarilla. She's given a signet ring, a clear indication of the assignment's weight. It's a strong way to introduce the wider story without giving away too much of what's to come. 

Berlin also generates interest in the direction of Vampire: The Masquerade - Oaths & Ashes. Berlin is a city where the various vampire factions have their own agendas, loyalties, and reasons for being at odds with one another. Alice's job isn't simply to find another person and bring them before Lucinde. She'll have to navigate a complex political situation where several groups could affect the outcome.

That, in itself, opens up the potential for the whole game to become a much more expansive story built on relationships and choices. When Alice gets to Berlin, the air is completely different from the Parisian air she's been in up until now. It's a more personal introduction to her new assignment. She checks into the Rainer Hotel, and her hunger grows harder and harder to ignore. 

That's a fundamental aspect of the vampire experience, really; you can't just go about your business and ignore the Beast in you. It's a constant threat, especially when you're among the living, and someone could become a victim. Her first night in Berlin is a case in point. A mortal woman turns up at her door with a 'welcome to Berlin' message, and Alice succumbs to her Hunger and feeds on her.

That sequence shows the protagonist's darker side and the difficulty of maintaining control while living among humans. It also raises the question of how V: TM - Oaths & Ashes will handle Hunger and the Masquerade in the full game (will you be expected to balance your personal needs with your character's political obligations?).

The Étienne score adds another dimension to the ending.

It's clearly linked to the prior mission and suggests that Étienne's involvement in Berlin may be more complex than Alice first realizes. Rather than answer all the questions in the prologue, VTM: Oaths & Ashes leaves you with more questions about Étienne's motivations and the wider picture around Danielle Diron. A very effective way to set up a mystery you can then explore in the main game.

The VN structure is probably the single biggest factor in determining whether you'll enjoy VtM: Oaths & Ashes. It's a dialogue-driven experience with a strong focus on character interaction and narrative choice. If you're the type of player who enjoys sitting back, reading the dialogue, looking at the characters, and figuring out why they're doing what they're doing, this will be right up your street.

If, on the other hand, you're looking for a game with a lot of combat, a lot of open world, and a lot of action, you'll probably be rather disappointed. The full game description also implies a much wider array of mechanics than the prologue has space to show. The game has two playable characters, each with their own objectives and mechanics.

The story will feature five factions and a dynamic political landscape that shifts based on your choices. Disciplines, Alchemy, and dialogue will all factor in and are expected to impact the game (some paths will be closed off, others will open). That said, the prologue doesn't really give you much insight into how much these things will impact the full game. 

For new readers, the WoD setting can seem a bit daunting at first, with its many vampire factions, supernatural powers, and political titles. The Camarilla, the Anarchs, the Justicars, and so on are all part of a much larger fictional world with its own history and its own rules.

The central issue with Alice, though, is fairly straightforward and provides a good starting point. You don't need to be particularly familiar with the setting to understand what Alice is up against, though if you're more familiar with the franchise, you'll appreciate a few references and the political context.

Ultimately, VtM: Oaths & Ashes is a very promising start to a vampire visual novel. The Paris investigation sets Alice's ambition, Étienne's treachery gives us immediate conflict, and Lucinde's assignment in Berlin fuels the political intrigue we'll deal with.

The prologue is fairly minimal in scope, and its brevity makes it very hard to get a real feel for the full range of mechanics that the game promises. It's a solid start, though, in terms of the game's core elements: character, vampire politics, and the difficult choices you'll face. If you're into narrative-driven games with complex characters and heavy supernatural politics, Vampire: The Masquerade - Oaths & Ashes is definitely one to watch.

The visual novel format might not be for everyone. Still, the mix of Alice's own ambitions, the Camarilla's total lack of sympathy, and the ever-present threat of Berlin's Anarch is very much there. The prologue does a great job of setting up the central conflict, and the full game will need to deliver on the promise of meaningful choices, multiple viewpoints, and a world that reacts to your decisions.