Review of VED

It seems like every month there's another unique RPG adventure waiting for players. Be it in a massive franchise, for example Dragon Age or a brand new IP like Black Myth: Ukunplayers received a wide range of experiences. This month, one of those adventures comes in the form of an animated RPG VED. The first game from Lithuanian developers Karaclan, VED promises to tell a magic-filled story that players can immerse themselves in. And while the game's art style can be a sight to behold, almost everything else about the experience falls into place.

VED puts players in the shoes of a young hero named Cyrus who discovers that he has powerful magical abilities. Because of this, he is quickly drawn into a wild story in which he masters his abilities, battles all kinds of powerful enemies, and hopefully saves the world. It all adds up to a game that has some exciting combat encounters and some unique mechanics, but the actual story and writing seem mostly lackluster, ultimately making for a forgettable experience.

The world of VED is extremely unique

At the same time VED not all bad. The story may be lackluster, but the game's aesthetics and combat can be quite exciting. The entire experience is presented in a beautiful, hand-drawn art style. Everything looks like a painting, with characters that move and act like art in a museum. It makes for a truly beautiful spectacle that players can get lost in staring at for hours on end.

If players get bored of looking at one world, there are actually two completely different worlds with their own unique visual effects. One of them is the dirty and violent city of Micropolis, filled to the brim with gangs, warring factions and evil-looking characters. Another appears whenever Cyrus teleports, and is filled with fantastical creatures and magical floating islands. Both do a great job of hooking players with VEDCombat makes things even better.

VED combat can be challenging fun

The combat here is excellent, and that's a good thing, since players will be fighting a lot of things during their adventures. When they arrive on a mysterious floating island world, they must first equip themselves with powerful abilities that are unlocked by upgrading the cute Troglodyte village. Once they are satisfied with their load, they must set out to discover the many secrets of this land. To do this, they teleport between different islands, each with a new threat or scenario to engage with.

Some islands can be met with friendly NPCs, while others have random events that require players to roll a D20. Depending on what they do, they often get buffs or debuffs while running around the enchanted land. Then, if they're brave enough, they can take on one of the many enemies that dot these islands. If they are unable to defeat the threat, they return to the village and must do it all over again. But luckily, the islands they've already cleared remain clean.

At the start of each combat encounter, players can choose one of three buffs or debuffs to apply to an enemy. Depending on which buff, they will be rewarded with more energy that acts as VEDcurrency of Russia. If they think it will be too difficult, they can also skip them as they are completely optional. They will lose bonus energy, but will still receive the standard amount if they win.

The battle itself is turn-based, but with a few twists. Players have to choose their attack, choose where they want to hit the creature, and hope the creature doesn't knock them out first. However, instead of simply having a set of attacks they can always choose from, the player's available moves are determined by where Cyrus is. The hot lane is divided into four sections, each representing a separate location on the battlefield. Some attacks move the player, others hold them still, and it's up to them to work around it.

VED's history and works leave much to be desired

In any story based RPG, the actual story should be exciting. Players don't want to sit through a bland or uninteresting story, they want the dialogue to feel natural and the narrative to make sense. with VEDit feels like Caraclan is struggling on almost all of these fronts. So instead of wowing players with fantastic adventures, they mostly fail.

The story is about a boy named Cyrus who has the ability to teleport. When he teleports, he ends up in a magical floating island world. Outside of this world, he must travel through the city of Micropolis and juggle its many factions seeking to make their mark on this world. Because of this, every decision the players make matters, with the end of each chapter telling you what they chose and the decisions they missed.

It should be an intriguing story, but nothing about it feels natural. The dialogue seems to flow strangely and it doesn't sound like anyone talking. The characters speak in run-on sentences, they end their conversation abruptly, there are a lot of exposition dumps, and it feels like the script is in desperate need of editing. Caraclan said it was all translated into English, and while that probably made for some awkward dialogue, the fact that the entire story is like that weakens the overall experience.

Along with that, VEDthe voice acting is a bit rough. The dialogue probably doesn't help, but it often feels like a script is being read rather than the words being spoken. It can really hold you back from getting into the game, and it can get a little taxing to listen to often. Of course, not every game needs award-winning voice acting, but it would be nice if these characters were a little stronger.

VED it's far from a perfect game, but it has some great qualities. The hand-drawn art style is gorgeous to look at, showcasing just how powerful this game can be. Also, the battles are often exciting, as things can quickly fall apart if players aren't careful. However, the story and dialogue hold the experience back considerably. And it ends up leading to a pretty lackluster experience overall.

VED now available for PlayStation, PC, Xbox and Nintendo Switch. Game Rant received the PC code for this review.