STAFF REVIEW of Vagante (Xbox One)


Wednesday, February 9, 2022.
by Heather Webster

Vagante Box art Do you like adventure games? How about games where no two levels are ever the same? Where death is the end and you have to completely restart the whole adventure a new every time? Well, then I think I may have just the game for you. Head out into the dangerous adventure world set at the edge of the woods and hunt for unfathomable treasures. Many have tried and failed, will you be the one to gather the riches and have an excellent adventure? This roguelike action-adventure RPG has a playstyle that will frustrate you yet give you a sense of accomplishment all at the same time. With its permadeath and procedurally generated levels, monsters and loot, Vagante has the ability to keep you playing for hours.

Vagante is very customizable to how you choose to play. Every time you start the levels over after a death, you can choose your class, skin and background. As your play continues, you level up, upgrade your skills, find or purchase new weapons, unlock treasure chests and defeat large monsters like goblins and dragons. There are also multiple adventurers that you can choose play as the Knight, Rogue, Mage, Wildling or Houndmaster, and choose the class that you feel best suits your play style, but be aware that this selection does not mean that your stats will change, it will however greatly affect how your adventure goes. If you choose the be a Knight or a Wildling you will be melee fighting through your travels, if you choose to be Rogue or Mage you have options in your fighting style as they are a more versatile adventurer, and the Houndmaster is a cool option as he comes with a companion.


The Permadeath and permanent specializations unlock system is a cool aspect that gives players the ability to progress further in the adventure that will work with a broader range of playstyles, the characters won't be technically stronger, but instead their experience and learnings will make their skills improve over time, kind of like an 8-bit D&D game. With the ability to find potions and magic to enchant and upgrade your skills and attributes throughout the game, there are many different ways to play which really adds to this game's ever-changing and potentially never-ending style.

Vagante’s gameplay and styling really remind me of the Diablo series in the system of magic that they incorporated. Throughout your travels, you will find a variety of scrolls that give your character magical effects that can be used before they disintegrate. These scrolls include effects like magic mapping, removing curses, learning spells and identifying equipment you pick up. I think my favorite one so far is the magic mapping because it brings light into the full cave so you can see what's coming before you get there. This game also gives me some reminiscence of playing Terreria with its similar monsters and other graphics. It’s like playing the adventure version of a sandbox game.



There are many hidden secrets in Vagante that get filed into the book of secrets, which keeps track of the things you have unlocked like backgrounds, classes, music and more. Some of these secrets, in my mind, also include the various shrines around the caves I've discovered through various attempts, that if you destroy the shrine, you will most likely die, which means you have to start from the beginning all over again.

This game also gives me some reminiscence of playing Terreria with its similar monsters and other graphics. There is not a lot that is memorable about the audio within Vagante, but the footsteps sound like footsteps and the soundtrack fits the overall tone and gameplay.




Vagante supports up to 4 players local and online co-op, so you can join your friend's adventures anytime. With online play, I found there was no access to the tutorial, so I strongly suggest doing a run through solo before you head into joining others online, however, you can run the tutorial with your friends in local co-op, so even if your friends haven't played but come over and play you can run the tutorial with them. This game is a lot of fun both solo and multiplayer and I think this game will continue to live in my game library for when I have friends over that want to play or I see others on my friends list going for a few runs.

Overall, I have really enjoyed the overall challenge and experience of playing Vangante. With the ever-changing levels I often have felt frustrated every time I die and have to restart from scratch again, but the bonus is that you earn XP and level up each time, slowly making overall progress. So while you may feel like it's one step forward and two back, there is a great sense of accomplishment as you progress, even if it's quite slow at times. Vagante will be on my recommendation list to anyone who loves a good challenge and enjoys the fact that no two runs are the same.

**Vagante was provided by the publisher and reviewed on an Xbox Series S**




Overall: 7.5 / 10
Gameplay: 8.5 / 10
Visuals: 7.0 / 10
Sound: 5.0 / 10

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