I was kindly sent Vasilis on Xbox for review, and as always I will give my honest opinions.
First of all I have never seen a game visually quite like this, I am sure there has been one or two before, but for me it was a first, the whole game is hand drawn in black and white, Vasilis the main character is a woman who has lost her husband Peter, and she starts off looking for him.
The game is set in a city that is under riots, and rebellions, people being killed, buildings set on fire. The city is being run by workers and students and it is your job as Vasilis to navigate this to find clues about your husband, and eventually bring him back to life. Yes I know without wanting to spoil too much, people have built towers that bring people back to life.
Although the storyline seems very strange, it is inspired by real life political events from Ukraine in 2014, although I don't personally recall towers being built to resurrect the dead, but maybe I missed that on BBC News.
The game itself is separated into about 5 chapters, and each chapter has you walking about speaking to people and trying to figure out the next thing you have to do to progress. Whether that is having enough money to buy a amputated hand from the morgue assistant to help bring your husband back to life, or telling people to go to a set area to unlock the next event.
The game can be slightly buggy at times, and some of the conversations can be a bit confusing, but that can be put down to the game being written by someone whose English is not their first language.
I am not sure exactly who the game is aimed at, it can be quite a trippy game at times, the visuals are excellent despite being black and white, and truly are of a unique style. The in game map is basically useless and doesn't really help you, and I often found myself wondering around aimlessly going everywhere multiple times and trying to talk to everyone, as I tried to figure out what I was supposed to do next.
Despite these problems, I did find myself coming back to the game, determined to get to the next part of the story, and that really is the games best point, the story is one that will have you intrigued, and if you can get past the dodgy controls and infuriatingly slow main character, (she walks everywhere and you cant speed her up), then as the story progresses there is a feeling of satisfaction, plus when those gamer points drop and you are not quite sure what you did to get them, if you are a gamer point fan as I am, that always gives you motivation to finish the game. With that said I have not quite finished the game yet, I believe I am on the final chapter, so should finish it pretty soon.
I think if you are fan of games that are just completely different, both in visuals and style, and enjoy a good story then you will enjoy it, but if you are just after quick thrills and arcade style action this game wont be for you.
Watch the trailer below, this is one you will have to make your own mind up on.
I score the game 6/10
Vasilis will be released on Nintendo Switch™, Xbox One, PlayStation®4 and PlayStation®Vita on February 26’th!