While waiting on the nebulous “release” of Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines 2 (in spite of its now-numerous setbacks and the highly likely possibility of it being complete trash), I found myself desperate for decent vampire content. Books, songs, shorts, games… Anything. If you, like me, struggle to contend with the reality that today’s vampires all seem to be defanged shadows of their former selves, then you’ll understand the feeling of wading through a constant morass of collective insanity to find the light at the end of it all.
In this case, the light was a little indie game called Red Embrace: Hollywood.
If you haven’t played this game, haven’t heard about it, or are about to look away from the page, I urge you to go find this game on Steam, or Google Play, and buy it. Right now.
What even is this?
RE:H is a visual novel, and is Argent Games’ first attempt at a game that can’t be classified as Boys’ Love. It’s also (and I say this without Bloodlines 2 having even been released to the market yet) the Bloodlines 2 we’ve all been waiting for. Even if you haven’t been waiting for Bloodlines 2, this is going to be your game. Trust me.
When people toss out the phrase Visual Novel, the response is usually confusion, or an eye-roll. I’ve had limited experience with Visual Novels, with the exception of a few otome games (which… Boy, is there a story here about not labelling your game “otome” when it’s anything but…) and both Coteries and Shadows of New York; that being said, I cannot stress enough how above and beyond this game goes to blast preconceptions of the term “Visual Novel” out the window.
The Basics
Hollywood’s simple premise is that you, insert-character-name/gender/hair colour/piercings-here, are a newly turned baby vampire, stumbling into a bloody and politically-charged underworld on the brink of civil war. Sound familiar? It should. Bloodlines had a similar premise, if a little more involved. RE:H has simplified the basics to make for a faster, more linear game. You can pick (or, if you’d rather allow the game to pick for you, you can play to the conclusion of your choice) a house for your vampire: the ambitious and charming Iscari, the quick-tempered, animalistic Mavvar, or the soothsaying, vision-encumbered Golgotha. While this affects your gameplay, the greater choice that the game poses is who you are going choose as your mentor.
Three men are presented through the game’s brief introductory mission; one from each house, and each with their own positives and downsides as mentors – Heath, Randal, and Markus. The game doesn’t entirely balance these mentors out through position, powers, or prowess; because it’s a story, more than a rush to finish with all the UNLIMITED POWER (!!!) in the world at your back. And the objective is quite simple… Survive Hollywood, and, if you’re feeling bold, make it your bitch.
Most Excellent Features
The game isn’t long, but it has multiple endings. Each mentor that you romance/befriend, offers up a number of endings, and if you complete a certain number of these, special endings for each of them open up to you. Now, the special endings are… wait for iiiiiiiiit… WHERE THE MAGIC HAPPENS! RE:H has what so many games today lack… A complete disregard for the status quo of a happy, or satisfying end to a story. And this is its most charming feature. I would argue, having played through every ending except one, that this game has exactly one completely satisfying conclusion. The others will leave you heartbroken, wailing, and cursing the developers.
Isn’t that what good storytelling should be like, at the end of the night?
Negative Reviews
So, you remember how I said that there’s a story here about calling things otome when they clearly aren’t? Yeahhhhhhhhhhhh…
RE:H’s older brother (Red Embrace) is what is known as a Boys’ Love (BL) game. Essentially, in a very similar fashion, as a player, you play a young guy, who has a choice between some handsome suitors. This is the basis of most otome games, where you choose who to fall in love with. While Hollywood is similar in allowing the player (in this case any gender, not just male) to choose one of three men, and giving you the option to romance them, it is considered to be far more violent, and wayyyy less likely to offer up some kind of and-they-lived-happily-ever-after-ness. Moreover, the game almost seems to punish you for being too quick to romance any of these guys.
After all, it’s just looking out for you! None of them are good enough for you, you gorgeous little butterfly, you!
If anything, RE:H seems to go well out of its way to provide no source of comfort in the arms of your chosen lover (*ahem* mentor). And your “love story” – if you choose it to be such – ends in something akin to tragedy with most choices. But, somehow, if you search for vampire otome games on Steam, this title WILL crop up. Can you really then blame players for almost immediately hopping onto the forums and blasting the game for not offering up the cuddles it never actually promised?!
Well… I guess you really can. Honestly, it’s all there in the game’s description, its NSFW warnings, its graphic violence and adult themes disclaimer… I mean, come on, people!
This game is a damn unicorn!
My opinion on the matter is highly subjective, as well it should be, but Hollywood was a breath of fresh air in comparison with the fluff I’ve had to deal with when it comes to vampires in media of late. The developers didn’t try anything fancy with their critters, nor did they attempt to rewrite the genre for the sake of political agenda or to be totes unique. They crafted an excellent story, with insanely compelling characters.
And. They. Wrote. It. Well.
The dialogue was superb. The game allows for the player to make every single decision, and at no point did I feel like my “character” was acting in a way I never would.
This was the closest thing I’ve found to an actual roleplaying session in a very long time.
Each mentor boasts one hell of an intricate story that extends far beyond the player choosing him, and into other storylines, all culminating in his individual special ending. NPC’s are quick to respond in kind to character prompting, and will hold grudges just as easily as they’ll doll out praise.
Really, I cannot say enough good things about this game. I’ve played almost 80 hours of it, and every time I start it up (to try and get that ONE ending which keeps eluding me), I’m stunned at how not sick of it I am. I’m also relatively convinced that I am in love with at least two of the mentors… If you’ve played the game, I’ll leave you to try and figure out which two that might be.
Now go on! Go and get it. Install yourself a good old fashioned vampire RPG.
Just be warned, there will likely come a time when the game will get a bit frisky, and you’ll be obliged to demand that it buy you a drink first.
