Vampires, kickflips, revolution, RoboCop

No matter your predilection, Nacon Connect had something for everyone

We have to hand it to Nacon. The publisher knows how to get our attention – with a lineup that included a bite of everything. Literally, in the case of Vampire: The Masquerade – Swansong (whose release date shifted to Feb 2022), which gave the show a gory introduction. Games based on the World Of Darkness tabletop have been springing up all over the place lately, but for our money, Swansong’s the one to watch.

It’s a narrative RPG, so don’t expect large skill trees of gore-soaked combos. But as it’s from Big Bad Wolf, the developer behind The Council, we’re intrigued. The action looks like it takes cues from the studio’s historical mystery, which combined dialogue choices and light adventure game elements with a skill system to create a unique breed of story-centric game.

Here you walk around crime scenes and morgues, investigating decapitated heads in a very vampiric take on the genre, which plays to the strengths of the original tabletop RPG. You play three characters from different Camarilla clans, each offering a different perspective on the web of politics and conspiracy that affects the existence of vampires and their ability to uphold the titular masquerade, the law that forces them to keep vampirism a secret in order to control humanity.

Moving from fangs to fists, we were treated to the welcome return of Zeno Clash developer Ace Team with Clash: Artifacts Of Chaos (out June 2022). With a fantastic, off-kilter art style, it’s like a mix between Oddworld and Absolver. Playing as a humanoid named Pseudo, you need to protect a small creature with a healing ability. To do so, you use the most dangerous weapon there is – your own hands – to deliver flurries that can disarm even the biggest foes. It’s wonderful to see the dev back doing what it does best.