I am technically saying I shelved this only because I haven't done the Dishwasher's Campaign yet. I've only completed Yuki's. However they seem like they may just be the same exact story but with a different playable character.
(Yuki's Campaign Finished: Ninja Difficulty)
Now to talk about how I actually feel about the game. I think it's a pretty alright action game that looks and sounds great with it's very grungy comic book art style which feels reminiscent of things like Johnny the Homicidal Maniac and The Crow. Then it has the soundtrack which doesn't feel like anything to write home about but still is a fun Punk Rock soundtrack that works for what the game is. When it comes to the way the game feels, it's fun when everything clicks with the combat but the moment you throw the wrong couple of enemies together in a group it becomes really boring as you figure out the best way to lame out the fight considering sometimes you just can't get enough hits in to do anything cool or interesting. Also the boss fights themselves tend to just be bad. Nearly everyone single one of them has additional enemies that spawn in just to somewhat waste your time focusing on them so you don't get randomly knocked over while hitting the boss. However even if the additional enemies weren't there it's very obvious most of the bosses just don't have much to them at all to make them really interesting. Finally the last things I want to talk about are the story and the 2 levels near the end of the game. The story all the way through is this unapologetically edgy revenge quest about how we have poisoned our society with some small horror elements thrown in. Honestly while there isn't much to chew on from it, I do actually like and respect it for how much it just goes all in on what it wants to be. However now I have to talk about the level right before the final level. It is just a absolute shit show, it has a Boss Rush in it that is alright and even fun but it's then immediately followed up with the game throwing every non-boss enemy (including mini-bosses and bosses who become regular enemies) from the roster at you in some of the worst most unfun configurations it could. Then it tops it off with a Boss that is actually fun and somewhat cool. However there is a problem with it too even. That problem being that they are also just the actual final boss in the final level but they have more moves and are more interesting in the actual final level. The actual final level in itself is very good and interesting, but the weird thing about it is it's just doing what the level before hand did in it's encounter structure but straight up better.
Overall Vampire Smile is a fun but often mediocre/frustrating action game which I feel mainly stands out more for it's art style and music then it's actual gameplay.
(Yuki's Campaign Finished: Ninja Difficulty)
Now to talk about how I actually feel about the game. I think it's a pretty alright action game that looks and sounds great with it's very grungy comic book art style which feels reminiscent of things like Johnny the Homicidal Maniac and The Crow. Then it has the soundtrack which doesn't feel like anything to write home about but still is a fun Punk Rock soundtrack that works for what the game is. When it comes to the way the game feels, it's fun when everything clicks with the combat but the moment you throw the wrong couple of enemies together in a group it becomes really boring as you figure out the best way to lame out the fight considering sometimes you just can't get enough hits in to do anything cool or interesting. Also the boss fights themselves tend to just be bad. Nearly everyone single one of them has additional enemies that spawn in just to somewhat waste your time focusing on them so you don't get randomly knocked over while hitting the boss. However even if the additional enemies weren't there it's very obvious most of the bosses just don't have much to them at all to make them really interesting. Finally the last things I want to talk about are the story and the 2 levels near the end of the game. The story all the way through is this unapologetically edgy revenge quest about how we have poisoned our society with some small horror elements thrown in. Honestly while there isn't much to chew on from it, I do actually like and respect it for how much it just goes all in on what it wants to be. However now I have to talk about the level right before the final level. It is just a absolute shit show, it has a Boss Rush in it that is alright and even fun but it's then immediately followed up with the game throwing every non-boss enemy (including mini-bosses and bosses who become regular enemies) from the roster at you in some of the worst most unfun configurations it could. Then it tops it off with a Boss that is actually fun and somewhat cool. However there is a problem with it too even. That problem being that they are also just the actual final boss in the final level but they have more moves and are more interesting in the actual final level. The actual final level in itself is very good and interesting, but the weird thing about it is it's just doing what the level before hand did in it's encounter structure but straight up better.
Overall Vampire Smile is a fun but often mediocre/frustrating action game which I feel mainly stands out more for it's art style and music then it's actual gameplay.