I’ll admit that initially I was pretty excited for this. The game’s gothic art, general tone, and feel all worked pretty nicely for me… so it sucked me in. Working through the tutorial was a bit slow, with some delays being caused by the directions and interface not always being a slam dunk for where to click and how, but I was still ready to go… but then it crashed. Coming back I had more problems so I moved onto the game assuming I could muscle through. Even with as many strategy titles in this general vein as I’ve played, there’s just something about the flow and rules of this that feels odd and a bit over-encumbered. The great thing is that there does seem to be a fair amount of room for choice, deciding how to use what energy and cards you have per turn to set yourself up best for success. However, until you really dig into how everything functions and making the interface work for you, rather than periodically fighting it a bit to get to the screen or action you’re wanting to perform, it can be frustrating. This is probably exacerbated by using console controls versus if you were playing on PC with a mouse and keyboard. The thing is, even removing the controls from the mix there’s something underwhelming here in that aside from some great cosmetics and some appropriate attributes the vampire theme feels a bit wasted and though it could have perhaps livened up the tactical combat it instead just falls pretty flat. If you’re looking for a change of strategic pace it may be an excellent option but if otherwise I think there are numerous better options on the system.