Vampires in video games have long been portrayed as powerful creatures who can shape the world with their will. An area less explored is what if a vampire is shoved into competing in a capitalistic world. Brocula tells the story of a male vampire who suffers from the drudgery of part-time jobs and menial labor as he tries to earn enough bucks to repair his castle.
Brocula deviates from the cliche of powerful vampires to tell us the heartwarming story of someone who tries to adjust to daily human life and build meaningful relationships. There are a lot of activities in this life-sim that are both a plus and a minus for the game’s performance. The demo only allowed me to serve coffee to bats but the gameplay trailer revealed most of the exciting content, which will also be covered in this game review.
A Vampire In Debt Needs Your Help
The introduction scene of Brocula tells us the plight of the main character within a minute, not wasting any time of the players who want to dive into the game. Our ‘bro Dracula’ had an unfortunate accident after which he woke up in a hospital, giving every penny he had to pay the bill but still finding himself deep in debt. Worse, he finds an eviction notice taped on his dilapidated castle. He tries to come out of the precarious situation by finding a job at the cafeteria – the exact moment where the game begins.
During the day, Brocula does part-time jobs at a coffee shop, garage, and restaurant. The whole point of him being a vampire is justified in the evening. Sermons can be delivered at the church after which Brocula can choose the cult members whose Lifeblood he wants to consume. Killing your followers doesn’t decrease their numbers in the next sermon, which is a mechanic that can be exploited after every adventure in the forest where different challenges await the player.
Farm, Manage, Rebuild, Adventure: Brocula Will Keep You Hooked For Hours
The amount of effort into Brocula is incredible, especially considering that it is an ambitious attempt by a single indie and Indian developer. Prateek Jadhwani’s debut title has a lot of dynamics to keep a player busy, including managing a coffee shop, working in a garage, farming and selling crops, rebuilding the castle, and adventuring in the forest. A player has full freedom to roam the world and choose their job. Among the list of interesting features is the Loading screen that reminds the player of the classic Batman movies when the screen zooms in on a bat symbol and zooms out.
During my demo play, I found that the game also has an item durability system as my fishing hook broke after three attempts. Fishing can be done after completing a press-at-the-correct-time mini-game. Logging is also possible in the game but one needs a Wooden Axe to get things started. The demo had most of the dynamics locked, which was unfortunate as players couldn’t really sink their teeth into the content.
There are a few NPCs in the game as well, each having a surname corresponding to a Day. I didn’t have the privilege to meet them but they seem fine fellows in the gameplay trailer, with one egging Brocula to complete his list of recipes. A few NPCs roam the streets but they have no lines and serve no purpose except bumping into the main character.
Brocula Has Fixed Most Of Its Mistakes
Following the game’s release, I noticed that the players weren’t pleased with some of its mechanics. The biggest issue has been the energy system. Brocula’s relaxing gameplay highlighted by its calm atmosphere and repetitive soothing piano tune eventually becomes a struggle to maintain energy for each task. The developer has created a rocky bridge that connects ‘strategy’ and ‘energy management’ with the ‘relaxing’ genre.
After managing to complete a day’s work by long-pressing the E key time and again, I found that the only way to move from one area to another was by using zebra crossings. Sprinting depletes energy so I had to walk all the way to the farm. Movement can be clunky if Brocula isn’t sprinting and there is the occasional problem of NPCs bumping into your character and taking you off your path.
Energy can be restored by a good night’s sleep which brings out another issue. Unlike life-sims such as Stardew Valley and Harvestella, a day in Brocula doesn’t start at a specific time. Instead, the main character wakes up only after his stamina is filled and I had to watch time being fast-forwarded as the character lay in bed.
The developer has taken note of these problems. In fact, the latest patch has increased the Day/Night time, stamina consumption time, and decreased the number of ‘button holds’ for each action. Destroyer Doggo’s passion project may not have the best reviews but it does have the potential to be one of the best indie-developed 2D simulation titles.
Help Brocula Get Out Of His Miserable Situation
Whether it deserves the ₹ 549 price tag on Steam currently is under debate as it is early in the market but it could make up for it with future quality-of-life improvements, story additions, and better voice work. The Brocula Demo is available for you to get a glimpse of what to expect from such a magnificent project. It doesn’t even need the high-powered processors or storage space that modern games require, capable of running smoothly in PCs with 2 GB RAM and 4GB Graphics.
