Vigil: The Longest Night is an intriguing, if slightly rough around the edges, debut title from Taiwanese developer Glass Heart Games. It has some interesting ideas at its heart and delightful creature and environment designs that will likely get me coming back to replay it now that I’ve gotten the hang of its mechanics. Unfortunately, these ideas are slightly undercut by some clunky controls and slow-moving story elements.

Speaking of controls, a couple post-launch updates brought some definite quality of life improvements. The most notable of these made it easier to go down stairs, something that previously often got confused with crouching. Also, movement feels overall smoother than it initially did. Still, while this has brought some much-needed fluidity to combat and avoiding traps, the presence of fairly significant, at times even lethal, fall damage continues to be rather frustrating in a game that offers so much verticality.

I had to repeat a section multiple times because the jump controls remain kind of heavy and unwieldy. I fell to my death not through my own error but because the game simply didn’t seem to register that I jumped. This meant that it took me far longer than I hoped to progress past the early sections, and it’s a disappointing barrier from a game that otherwise has lots of potential.

Vigil’s existence as a love letter to such games as Castlevania, Salt and Sanctuary and (perhaps inevitably) Dark Souls is clear. At times it feels like the intended homage, and at others it feels a little too on the nose. Your mileage may vary as to whether or not you find it too derivative. Personally, once I got into the meat of the game, I found it brought enough new things to the table to provide some fresh interest. However, I wouldn’t necessarily hold it against players unwilling to stick with it that long.

Still, a fair bit of the story may not be everyone’s cup of tea due to being unpacked through NPC dialogue and exposition, which makes for a slow pace and a lot of reading. However, Vigil’s sense of ambiance and atmosphere is solidly enjoyable. The shimmery, almost ghostly edges to people and creatures along with the interplay of light and shadow over platforms and landscapes is effective at creating the ominous, slightly surreal sense the developers were clearly going for.

The soundtrack makes delightful contributions to the atmosphere, too, with enjoyably broody compositions from Finnish composer and vocalist/guitarist Jouni Valjakka. Equally, I had a great deal of fun with the creature design, particularly when it came to the boss fights. The variety of weapons and skill tree builds that are available give the player the opportunity to inhabit Leila within this pleasingly bleak landscape however they see fit.

What initially attracted me to the game wasn’t just the visuals or combat, though. I was drawn to the promise of Taiwanese lore influences on its story, and I have to confess, it took me a while to place where these elements came in. I’m more than happy to concede there was something I missed in the early stages of the game, not least because I spent a bit too long in them just trying to avoid the fall damage. Still, it’s a real shame that some of these mechanical elements tested my patience before I got around to the parts of the game I showed up for.

Admittedly, it might have started as a perhaps predictable opening. The story centers on Leila, a warrior known as a Vigilant, whose search for her sister Daisy gets knocked off-course by her responsibilities to the greater good. Nonetheless, once I got there, the elements I’d been keeping an eye out for still had my attention. It came together to blend its familiar elements with enough new material to create a satisfyingly grimy fairytale.

It’s one that I’m likely to replay to fully wrap my head around the many lore details baked in and tucked away. Equally, the creatures, mythos, and multiple possible endings to the game breathe some fresh air into what could have otherwise been a well-trodden template, and I’m definitely glad for it.

In summary, Vigil: The Longest Night is a promisingly enjoyable journey into some unearthly, gloomy thrills. However, some clunky mechanics or occasionally frustrating platforming may require some extra patience from you on the way there.

A PC Review Copy of Vigil: The Longest Night was provided by Another Indie for this review.

Phenixx Gaming is everywhere you are. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram.

Also, if you’d like to join the Phenixx Gaming team, check out our recruitment article for details on working with us.

Phenixx Gaming is proud to be a Humble Partner! Purchases made through our affiliate links support our writers and charity!

Vigil: The Longest Night

$24.99

7.5

Score

7.5/10

Pros

• Enjoyably atmospheric graphics
• Great soundtrack
• Great creature design
• Brings some new ideas to a familiar formula

Cons

• Fall damage is frustrating
• Some controls are on the clunky side
• Finding the story requires a lot of reading