Vlad Circus: Descend Into Madness

Combat is very unfun, you constantly have to pray to heal yourself, which takes more time. Constant backtracking since there's very few hints. Running is a chore. The game. Gives you 8 seconds on running, then you're just magically tired again for about 3 seconds. I had to hack the game to give me infinite running to making getting around normally. Then it's actually possibly to softlock yourself. I'm giving this a thumbs down, which is a shame as I did kinda like the game.

A beautiful, tense, and tightly driven story of a man who suffers from the loss of his friends and family and tries to piece together fragments of his past. this is a must try solid 8/10

Really loved the art style, setting, music, and atmosphere. Running around the map got really annoying really quickly, so I wish there was some kind of fast travel once you'd been to a place. Overall I really enjoyed it though, and I look forward to picking up the sequel when it goes on sale!

I enjoyed this, overall. It's an interesting premise with a neat cast of characters. There is a lot of back and forth though, and limited inventory space meaning even more back and forth to go back and get items you need for some other location. The ending was pretty weak honestly. I don't mind the 'tone' but it felt pretty lazily executed when they could have done more with the concept. It's ok if you get it on sale like I did. I suggest at a heavy discount. If I bought this at 20 dollars I'd have given it a 'Not recommended' rating instead.

[u]Vlad Circus[/u] is a sad, creepy story about mental illness following grief. It blends classic point-and-click puzzles with light survival horror elements, and the mix works well. The story is well paced and follows the aftermath of a tragic circus fire. Some moon logic puzzles felt silly, and there was too much backtracking, but I still found it creepy and engaging. If you liked [u]The Last Door[/u], you might enjoy this.

Vlad Circus: Descend Into Madness is a hauntingly beautiful experience that values dread and storytelling over cheap jump scares. If you enjoy slow horror like Signalis or classic Resident Evil puzzles, this is a gem.