Cabernet

Vampire stories come in many different shapes, but for most of my life, I’ve been drawn to those that explore the monster within the human being. Sure, being a vampire means you have to drink people’s blood, and living forever might have some serious effects on your levels of empathy. But at the beginning of every vampire’s lifespan, there is a choice to be made: do you retain your humanity, or do you give in to the nihilism that your new powers allow you? This is the question at the core of Cabernet, the latest game from developer Party for Introverts.

You are Liza, a young doctor in Eastern Europe who has recently passed away at the end of the 19th century. Somehow, you awaken in a cell, but it’s not long before you are freed from your imprisonment by an unknown figure—in exchange for a favour—but when you manage to make your way outside, you crash a huge ball that is taking place. It appears that the festivities have been arranged by Countess Orlova, a powerful vampire who is well aware of your situation. You are given a change of clothes and are then transported to doctor Volkov’s house to become his apprentice.

Cabernet plays in cycles, as you get to choose how to spend your nights within its village. There are places to explore, but most of all, people to meet. There is a surprising amount of vampires within the town borders, so all of its businesses are open until the early hours, meaning you don’t get faced with too many locked doors. Well, after you’ve received invitations, that is. If you’re well-versed in vampiric lore, a lot of Cabernet’s rules will make a lot of sense to you. The game doesn’t try to make vampires something totally new and different but embraces the tales of legend that have come before it.

And so you get dragged into the politics that come with being a vampire. The Countess seems to have big plans for you, but what price are you willing to pay to live a mostly trouble free life? As you meet the townsfolk, you’ll discover that a surprising amount of them are vampires already, but even more so are not. How you treat all of your neighbours will go a long way to deciding what kind of vampire you will become. All of this comes down to the choices you make, whether that be in conversation or through your actions. Doctor Volkov will ask you to do chores for him, by checking in with your downstairs neighbour, for example, but you are not forced to do these tasks. Instead, you can discover what the night brings. The town around you is alive, or undead at least, and things are constantly in motion. 

You have your typical vampiric traits at your disposal to help you throughout all of your quests: turning invisible, enchanting people (the game only allows you to feed on humans after enchanting them, as to not give away your vampiric existence), and becoming an actual bat. While you have to keep an eye on the clock, as to not be out during the daytime, you also have to keep your hunger in check. This is symbolised by a glass of blood in the upper left-hand corner of the screen. Not feeding regularly might cause you to starve, and when you reach that point, any old human will make for food, whether you like them or not. Luckily, you don’t only feed on humans, as there are wild animals you can hunt if you are a bit desperate, but the titular Cabernet will also ease your hunger. However, no matter what your food source may be, it always comes at a price. That could be money, but it might just as well be your sanity.

A lot of dialogue and actions will be decided by four basic stats: music & arts, literature & writing, science & logic, and history & politics. Throughout the game, you’ll be able to make adjustments to these stats, for example, by reading particular books. Keeping these stats as high as possible is important, as some dialogue options might be locked behind a high enough score, so choose wisely. The game mostly plays as a visual novel mixed with point-and-click exploring. Most of the story will come from conversations you have with the other characters, but exploring is made worthwhile as well. It’s especially fun to wander around as a bat, not only because you get to go higher up and discover new places, but also because you just travel a lot faster that way. In your human form, there is an option to run, but only when you’re not too hungry—the more famished Liza gets, the slower she will move around.

Cabernet tells a compelling story. Well, stories. While there’s a lot to be said about the class wars that the game clearly brings to life, it’s the more intimate story of Liza that really grabbed me. Her vampiric needs are compared to her father’s alcoholism, and without getting preachy, the developers have managed to shine a light on what kind of monster can lurk within any human being. A big plus for me is the fact that her father isn’t only portrayed as a drunk: there are some beautiful moments presented in flashbacks, where the bond between father and daughter takes centre stage. To me, these were anchor points, keeping Liza connected with her human side at times when she would struggle to do so.

Sadly, the game isn’t quite perfect on release. While I was lucky to escape bugs for the most part, it would seem that plenty of other players have struggled with quite a lot of them. Some have even reported game-breaking bugs that soft-locked them out of continuing the story. Just a little more time in the oven might have been a wiser choice, but with a game that plays this wonderfully and tells such a compelling story, I feel like the developers can be forgiven. Here’s to hoping they fix these issues post-launch, though, so more people can experience Cabernet as it should be.