Screenshots & trailers
Review sentiment over time
Weekly positive-review rate (green) and review volume (bars). Dashed lines mark significant patches; the amber line is the start of the current scoring window. Hover the dots to see what drove a dip or a jump.
How this score was computed
The VGC Score is a weighted blend on a press-comparable 0-100 quality scale. Steam approval rates are first calibrated (95% positive on Steam ≈ 89.5 quality, since Steam approval skews high). Press and tracked creator reviews each count ~2x a player review and share one cap against player evidence (creator buy/skip calls pool into an approval rate, calibrated like Steam approval); all-time sentiment is capped and halved (it's context, not verdict); reviews of the current build carry the most weight when a fresh patch anchors the window; and a 'typical game' prior keeps small samples from pegging the scale. Because press reviews and Metacritic user aggregates describe the launch build, their weight decays as the game ages (3-year half-life after a 1-year grace). That's how a game that launched rough can outgrow its old reception once updates win players over. Reviews under 2h playtime (the refund window), non-Steam activations, and free copies are downweighted.
| Component | Positive | Quality (0-100) | Weight (pseudo-reviews) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Press reviews (OpenCritic) | – | 62 | 15 |
| All-time Steam reviews | 66% | 64 | 477 |
| Metacritic user ratings | – | – | 0 |
| Post-patch Steam reviews (trust-weighted) | 58% | 58 | 2 |
| Calibration prior (typical game) | – | 72 | 50 |
Scoring window: last 30 days (no significant patch detected) · 6 reviews sampled · 4 total reviews in window · weighted 2.3 up / 1.6 down · computed 3h ago · full methodology →
Press & Creators reviews (30)
Individual verdicts from outlets we track: scored reviews first, most trusted outlets first among them. The small badge is each outlet's trust score: how well its scoring history aligns with players.
- 65
“I liked Vambrace: Cold Soul, but it's certainly not for everyone. It requires more patience than many gamers can afford, and that's even among those who are already into roguelikes. If you can settle into its groove, however (and won't lose it when you're sucker-punched right out of that groove), there's some good, challenging fun to be had here.”
read full review ↗ - 50
“Vambrace: Cold Soul is a project that uses the mechanics of Darkest Dungeon in the hope of marrying them with anime style and a good plot. Restrictions spoil the gameplay, turning it into a worship of grind and pure chance. Devespresso Games released a variety of patches, but it didn't really help...”
read full review ↗ - 40
“Vambrace: Cold Souls is one of the best-looking games we've seen on Switch, it really is a stunner, but in terms of gameplay, it's a pedestrian affair. Dungeons are boring and difficult, combat is bereft of any real strategic depth or flair and it thinks nothing of wasting hours of your time for zero reward. The story gets off to a cracking start and it's obvious that an amazing amount of artistic talent has been channelled into creating the City of Icenaire and its surroundings, but, in the end, it's all rendered a little pointless by the fact it's attached to such a monotonous and dreary plod of an RPG.”
read full review ↗ - 71
“Certainly one of the most visually-attractive games I ran into at PAX East, Vambrace: Cold Soul made strong impressions with its looks, style, and obvious difficulty...”
read full review ↗ - 50
“Vambrace: Cold Soul is not bad, but it quickly becomes a mindless, repetitive, grinding slog of the same battles that require very little strategy, not to mention the lack of any sort of enemy variety.”
read full review ↗ - 70
“Vambrace: Cold Soul will surely keep you entertained and engaged if you prefer roguelike games. Unfortunately, bland combat, interface and info issues, along with some save file problems can hamper your enjoyment.”
read full review ↗ - 75
“There are costumes to earn from sidequests and achievements to earn that unlock in-game art, but there's no new game plus to expedite the process. That said, there are a few times when you get to make key decisions that affect the story slightly and reward you with different costumes, so there is some incentive to return. Turn-based RPG enthusiasts and those who wanted more story out of Darkest Dungeon will find a lot to like here, but those who want a more streamlined or directed experience are given the cold shoulder.”
read full review ↗ - 80
“Overall, whether playing on a keyboard or with a controller from the couch, Vambrace: Cold Soul is an adventure worth having. While not being an RPG in the traditional leveling up sense, there's plenty here to enjoy and the experience itself while being dark and snowy is still a very pretty one to look at with its choice of color palette.”
read full review ↗ - 70
“Vambrace: Cold Soul creates a compelling fantasy world for fans of the genre. However, progression can be slow due to the heavy reliance on RNG, which can be frustrating for some.”
read full review ↗ - 60
“If the art style and graphic execution are superb, its soundtrack fits the environment perfectly and the plot is carefully crafted, the gameplay experience falls short of expectations and as an RPG, it feels like a rather banal effort. While certainly not a bad game, Vambrance: Cold Soul gives the impression that it could be much more but instead, it doesn't leave the territory of an average experience, without any gameplay elements that would make it stand out.”
read full review ↗ - 90
“If you don't mind being actively abused and tortured for hours on end, Vambrace can become extremely addicting for fans of either Darkest Dungeon or classic SNES RPGs.”
read full review ↗ - 80
“It looks gorgeous enough, but will you ever warm up to the combat in this rogue-lite dungeon crawler?”
read full review ↗
Pure Nintendo
GameMAG
Nintendo Life
Nindie Spotlight
Cubed3
PC Invasion
NintendoWorldReport
Chalgyr's Game Room
GameLuster
FNintendo
GameSkinny
SwitchRPG…and 18 more tracked reviews.
Patch history
- 1.11 Hotfix - Tutorial Text (DB sheet) updateFeb 22, 2022
- Vambrace: Cold Soul Patch 1.11 available!Feb 18, 2022
- Patch 1.10 is live!Feb 29, 2020significant · resets scoring window
- Version 1.09 is Live!Jun 29, 2019significant · resets scoring window
- Version 1.08 is LiveJun 20, 2019significant · resets scoring window
- Version 1.07 is Live!Jun 5, 2019significant · resets scoring window
- Version 1.06 is Live!Jun 3, 2019significant · resets scoring window
- Say What?!Jun 2, 2019significant · resets scoring window
- UntitledJun 1, 2019
- Version 1.05 is Live!Jun 1, 2019significant · resets scoring window
- Version 1.04 is Live!May 31, 2019significant · resets scoring window
- Version 1.03 is Live!May 30, 2019significant · resets scoring window
- The First Update Is Live!May 30, 2019significant · resets scoring window