The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing

One of these days I'd like to finish this one, but what I did play was a fun looter ARPG. The environments are great and the gameplay is pretty fun. It's what you'd imagine from one of these games.

A Classic Hack and Slash with good Story

This is a neutral review.

This game is not a bad game, it's an average Hack and Slash RPG. When you analyze it superficially, it has decent graphics, soundtrack, gameplay and story. It's polished. It's entertaining, but only until midgame when it becomes a chore.

But, there were things I didn't like.
1) If you didn't buy the DLCs, you can pick only 1 class! the bounty hunter. I'm a gamer since the 80's and never in my life have I seen a RPG that limits you to 1 class in the vanilla version. This is, in my opinion, unacceptable.

2) The story could be better.
- In the game you are not the famous Abraham Van Helsing, but his son. Abraham got a call to help the region of Borgovia, but for some reason he wasn't avaiable, so he sends his son, who is the main character.
- You have only 1 companion in the game and it's the ghost of a woman. That ghost fights with you but it doesn't make any sense that a ghost fights against material creatures. Also she is practically useless in battle. The story is about the war between Borgovia's aristocracy and technocracy. The story forces you to take the side of the aristocracy ( and to even be ally with a vampire?! ). It would have been better if you could take the side of some people's liberation movement against both the aristocracy and the technocracy.

3) It has long loading times.

4) The skill system is well made but like in all similar games, you have limited skill points and you can fully level up only a limited amount of skills ( you will end up having just a few active and a few passive skills ). Like in all Hack and Slash RPGs, you have to be very careful what to level up, some builds will be efficient, some will not. You have to research beforerhand if you want to beat the game.

5) The game consists of a gazillion of battles against large packs of strong enemies. All enemies are grouped in large packs, and when you trigger 1 enemy in 1 pack, all the other members of the pack will charge at you like the blood lusted orcs from Warcraft 2. So combat for me (Bounty Hunter being the only class) de facto consisted of kiting enemies, which means firing and retreating, firing and retreating until you can thin the horde and finish the few remaining enemies. 28 hours of doing just that! Also it was frustrating to die always at the same manner: when a large pack of monsters surrounded me, I was blocked, and the health quickly fell down to 0 due to being overwhelmed. It was always the same thing. Luckily, the penalty for death is only a percentage of money you have, and it can be 0 if you agree to respawn in the town base.
For ranged characters the game does not give you a precise way of targeting, so it's hard to target the enemy you want, and it's even hard to point to the way you want to move when there are many monsters around you because the game would target a monster instead of targeting the ground to move out.

6) You can't manually save. The game saves automatically. So basically it's just 1 save file. That means you can fail quests, withouth the possibility of loading and retrying. Luckily, I failed only 1 side quest. I also didn't like that sometimes you find some some mysterious items/suspstanses you can eat. Some times they permanently give you bonuses to attributes, and some times they take away something permanently. There is no way of knowing what the consequences will be. For example, I ate something and it took away 50% of poison resistance permanently. And you can't load.

7) The game has 3 chapters. At the beginning it was quite interesting and fun, with interesting quests and side quests. To me it's clear they invested most of their creative energy to produce Chapter 1. Chapter 2 and 3 are not as interesting, they are rather dull story wise and quest wise. At a point in Chapter 3 I was really bored and couldn't wait to finish the game. It's like they either run out of ideas mid way or started rushing the game. The ending is a cliffhanger, because they want you to buy Van Helsing 2 and 3.

8) There is a tower defence mini game there is very poorly implemented. The only thing you can do after beating the game - scenarios - consist of doing the same maps against the same monsters - only super charged with extra health and damage. That was poorly implemented as well.

I played at hard difficulty, so somebody could ask me why I didn't play at normal if I found the combat tedious. Well, I'm an experienced RPG player so I often like to play such games at hard difficulty for the extra challenge. I read in the forums that even at normal the game is quite challenging, so there is no big difference. I was able to beat the game at hard, it's just that it was very tedious.

Again, it's not a bad game, it's ok. Players who like this genre might enjoy it. One thing is sure thou, there are much better Hack and Slash RPGs out there.

Love it ; it"s one of my fave"s, so cool! :)

Bleh

yes

Unironically the most frustrating game i have ever played. The setting is great, voice acting is great and overall monster design is amazing, however the balance is completely fucked. You constantly get bombarded by 50 billion enemies with 50 billion health each, so you just hit them 50 billion times for 50 billion minutes until eventually they maybe die. Death is meaningless, you just respawn so the game really isnt difficult, ist just incredibly frustrating to stand there, swarmed by 50-60 enemies, you cant accurately aim at individual enemies because they cover your screen like a swarm of flies, you cant move, you can just trade blows for 50 minutes of kite for 50 minutes while doing minimal damage. Seriously, why do they have so much health, some mini-bosses are completely ridiculous and its just not fun, its tedious, frustrating and unrewarding. Also you CANNOT CHANGE THE DIFFICULTY OF A PLAYTHROUGH. I started on normal, balance was good at first but now its a slogfest of 50 billion hp per enemy and i really wish i could tone it down, not about to start a new palythrough, absolutely pathetic balancing.

I really like this game. my biggest issue is combat..It never actually feels like am actually hitting anything. Almost like swiping at air and then things die but with no real impact

descent diablo clone with a nice story

The play style is like a better version of Diablo 3 & 4 part 1 of 3 and the game art is kinda gothic horror steam punk. The mythos follow more European legends and lore than mesopotamian mythos and lore. Expect more things along the lines of vampires and other similar monsters. Characters from the first transfer to the second game and parts of your progress from number two will transfer to number three.

NO

Forgot to review it, it seems. I played it some time after playing Diablo because I wanted something similar. The game was good, although also a bit buggy, I completed it without any bigger issues, though.
I wanted to get some good builds for this game, but I didn't seem to find any, so I made a custom one that was basically an engineer spamming mechanical spiders.

I loved my spiders.

TLDR: A dungeon crawler where you always have a companion to help you on your journey, be it with going to shop for pots or selling your junk. The max lv is 30, and that feels too low as many abilities will stay unused and most likely untouched. If you like Van Helsing, you may like this. But the gameplay itself is repetitive and lacks challenge. I have explored every single map fully and have completed every secondary quests and this game took me around 13 hours to beat.

Story: A letter arrives and summons your father for his assistance. I suppose you like opening your father's mail because your bratty self goes instead. The game has 3 chapters, each with its flock of mobs and sidequests to complete. The story itself isn't amazing, but it is nonetheless easy to follow. The casual banter between your companion and yourself is pleasant. No NPCs sound out of place and I have to say I appreciated the many subtle easter eggs.

Gameplay: While this isn't Diablo 3 or PoE, it manages to remain interesting until you start getting just enough levels to realise that you've found a working combination and you're going to stay this way until the end of the game (This reminded me when in PoE you just buff the ever living crap out of one gem to carry you through the game).
There are 3 classes if you've purchased the DLCs, which is a joke if you ask me, it should come with the base game. I've played as the base one and enjoyed the game without much difficulty. I barely touched the others.
You have a companion named Katarina, who can aid you in your fights, has her own equipment and her own inventory tab, meaning you can use her as a mule. Better yet, you can send her to sell unwanted junk and even buy health and mana pots.
The leveling system is simple and works well, though I would say it is overly simple and reminds me more of Diablo 2 with even less options for spells.
The interesting thing is that each strike can be modified on the fly; it's a bit weird at first, but once you get the hang of it its much easier to manage your health , rage and mana. For instance, I may choose that on my next swing, I use some of my rage to hit harder, or if I'm low on health, use a spells and more rage to recover health per enemy hit.
I also found the lack of movement during combat to be a huge hindrance. While there are a couple of ''Tricks'' to learn to warp through enemies or to phase through them, it shouldn't be so difficult to relocate.
I didn't quite get while you could only use up to 2 attacks unless you tabbed, or switched weapons. But whatever. It might be why I poured all my skill points into 3 spells instead of scattering them around the skill trees.
You can modify equipment with enchants, enhance it with essences if the equipment allows. And while there is more to do once the game is beaten, like beat it again with stronger mobs or play specific parts of the game that may drop higher lv loot, but.... that's simply not enough to me.

Graphics: Acceptable. However I found the spells and general actions of the main character boring and too similar. Each action should be very unique and not all look alike.

Audio: The dialogue is good, the sound effects are okay and the music and ambience all fit with the Van Helsing universe. However I found myself without music too often during boss fights. I'm not sure if they're trying to be dramatic, but it felt more like a bug than anything else.

In short, this IS a decent game... I just can't recommend this title over Path of Exile, which is free. Diablo 3 also has many praises and for good reasons. I should also mention there's a bug when moving inventory around and using the lab guy that can make whatever you're upgrading disappear. That's a big no no that was never fixed.

Lots of glitches. Forging weapons is hard to understand and is not needed anyway. It took around a 1 minute t finish final boss fight on normal difficulty level. I didn't change weapons for around a half of the total game play (20 levels). There was no need for it. Some locations for missions were simply copy-pasted from previous play run. No idea why when you're already level 30+ you receive unique/epic/legendary (aka the coolest) level weapons of level 12 :). I was already at the end of the final stages of the game.

Well, not a bad Hack&Slash at all. Combats are pleasant, weapons interesting. A good game to play while I was waiting for Diablo III.

Too short. Put it on hard mode and felt the last boss was cheap.

Imposible que este más bugueado, tres días intentando crear un personaje y cuando pude se borro sin ninguna razón

i didnt expect the story is to short, i know for the next story in other game. but actually this is great game.

For €1,49, you can have an absolute blast. It's not sucking me in like Grim Down has, but it's really close to it. I can already tell it has awesome replayability with various classes and game modes, so I absolutely recommend it. It's a steal!

If you like Van Helsing - you will be proud tp play as his son
If you like old school games - you'll like the game
if you like diablo-like games - you'll like the game
if you like good friendly banter with your companion - you get the idea
just play this, it's cool!

Full of bugs, unplayable

Game is terible, the stoy seems nice, but the glitched and the optiization are terible, you want it stable? it lock at 53 fps, in some regions of the game from max fps its goes to locked 30, no vsynk, game may be good, for those who can make it work.

a really good action game

fun

abrupt ending, otherwise recommend just for a good alternative to diablo.

БУГАГАГАШЕНЬКИ Я НАСАДИЛ ЭТУ НЕЧЕСТЬ НА СВЯЩЕННЫЙ КОЛ!

nice game

Really good.

Dangggg this game was incredible

The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing is a superb action-RPG set in a gothic-noir world filled with dark magic, science, and monsters. The game blends fast-paced, Diablo-style combat with a deep, engaging narrative that draws you into its mysterious atmosphere. As Van Helsing, you take on hordes of enemies using a variety of customizable skills and abilities, all while being accompanied by your witty ghost companion, Lady Katarina, who adds both humor and extra combat abilities.

What really sets this game apart is its world-building. The combination of steampunk and dark fantasy creates a unique setting full of secrets, dangerous creatures, and eccentric characters. From exploring ruined towns to battling mechanical monstrosities in twisted laboratories, each area offers something new. The dynamic environments and strategic combat elements, like trap-setting and switching between ranged and melee attacks, make every encounter feel fresh.

The leveling system allows for plenty of customization, from skill trees to equipment choices, letting you shape Van Helsing into your preferred playstyle. Plus, there’s a tower defense mechanic later on that adds an extra layer of strategy, which is a refreshing break from the standard action-RPG formula.

If you’re a fan of ARPGs, this game delivers in both challenge and depth. The witty dialogue, combined with fast-paced, tactical combat, makes it one of those games that’ll keep you coming back for more. There’s plenty of content here, including a solid endgame with new difficulties and modes to test your skills. Definitely worth diving into if you're looking for something that blends classic ARPG mechanics with a unique twist.

---{ Graphics }---
☐ You forget what reality is
☐ Beautiful
☐ Good
☑ Decent
☐ Bad
☐ Don‘t look too long at it
☐ MS-DOS

---{ Gameplay }---
☐ Very good
☑ Good
☐ It's just gameplay
☐ Mehh
☐ Watch paint dry instead
☐ Just don't

---{ Audio }---
☐ Eargasm
☐ Very good
☑ Good
☐ Not too bad
☐ Bad
☐ I'm now deaf

---{ Audience }---
☐ Kids
☐ Teens
☑ Adults
☐ Grandma

---{ PC Requirements }---
☐ Check if you can run paint
☐ Potato
☑ Decent
☐ Fast
☐ Rich boi
☐ Ask NASA if they have a spare computer

---{ Difficulty }---
☐ Just press 'W'
☐ Easy
☐ Easy to learn / Hard to master
☑ Significant brain usage
☐ Difficult
☐ Dark Souls

---{ Grind }---
☐ Nothing to grind
☑ Only if u care about leaderboards/ranks
☐ Isn't necessary to progress
☐ Average grind level
☐ Too much grind
☐ You'll need a second life for grinding

---{ Story }---
☐ No Story
☐ Some lore
☐ Average
☐ Good
☑ Lovely
☐ It'll replace your life

---{ Game Time }---
☐ Long enough for a cup of coffee
☐ Short
☐ Average
☑ Long
☐ To infinity and beyond

---{ Price }---
☐ It's free!
☐ Worth the price
☐ If it's on sale
☐ If u have some spare money left
☐ Not recommended
☑ You could also just burn your money

---{ Bugs }---
☑ Never heard of
☐ Minor bugs
☐ Can get annoying
☐ ARK: Survival Evolved
☐ The game itself is a big terrarium for bugs

---{ ? / 10 }---
☐ 1
☐ 2
☐ 3
☐ 4
☐ 5
☐ 6
☑ 7
☐ 8
☐ 9
☐ 10

Might be a good game, might be not. who knows! because for the life of me I cant get it to focus its window on one screen. If you are using 2 monitors, the game wont lock the mouse to the game window which means you will be losing focus on the game a lot if you play any of the 2 ranged classes.

Additionally the setting half the time don't work and even if you swap settings you have to 90% of the time restart to take effect.

If the game is trying so hard to make lose interest, the might as well not play it.

pretty good

The game lacks resolution options for 16:9 aspect ratio; the game also requires you to restart anytime you change a video setting. Change window to windowed mode? Too bad, restart. Try to change directx9 to directx11? Restart, try to freaking enable vsync? Restart again...

Obviously the devs don't care that much about the game, otherwise these wouldn't be issues present in a game like this in 2024. Never encountered this with any other PC game either. just freaking weird.

When on sale, it's worth the shot, but otherwise I don't recommend.

Even on normal, difficulty, the game is incredibly hard and the loot is scarce.
If you play ranged, you have to kite all the time, so I just end up respec my build, but the spells are not balanced at all. So I respecced 3-4 times before getting a decent build. Even so, I struggled with the last levels.

There are some bugs that make it difficult to find the next quests.
The crafting system is very disappointing, you can enchant, put essences on items, or forge artifacts but non of this is powerful enough to compensate for the unforgiving levels.

You only get one class by the way, the shooter, probably the most boring one. The others are DLC.

! All 3 Games were combined in The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing: Final Cut !
Go play that.

Edit - Also has an updated Textures DLC

Final Cut Description.
"Embark on an adventure in a gothic-noir world, where mad science threatens the peace between monsters and mortals. The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing: Final Cut is definitive edition of the trilogy with six playable classes and a new endgame mode with a huge variety of open missions!"

Works on Linux with Proton. Xbox controller works. Great game with interesting builds, no respawning enemies, fixed and and appealing level design, and good music. Hard difficulty seems about right. Crashes every two hours and you need to restart the game.

As an ARPG veteran, I'm currently doing a blind Story run (Hunter class) on Hard mode, and I don't think I've ever died so much in any game I've ever played. From the very first zone, the game has been an unforgiving bloodbath. I've been pushing through it in the hopes it gets better, but even after 13 hours it still feels like an uphill battle every step of the way. I really can't recommend it to anyone except the most hardcore ARPG players that are willing to number-crunch optimal builds to clear the content efficiently.

The Good:
- Graphics, performance, and music are fine for the most part. Voiceovers for main characters are solid.
- Areas are large, well-designed, and generally fun to explore. For most of the story, waypoints are smartly placed, which means you can quickly get back to where you died.
- Itemization is better than most ARPGs. Gear progression is consistent, item rarities and affixes are fairly intuitive, and the game provides summaries for understanding whether an item is better/worse than its equipped counterpart at a glance.

The Bad:
- Enemy design, affixes, and AI range from laughably stupid to frustratingly overbearing, creating a core combat loop where the fights never feel fair and you never feel powerful. Many enemies have implicit or added abilities so busted you'll feel like you're playing Diablo 3 on launch day.
- The skill system never feels good to use. Your precious skill points will be spread paper thin across melee, ranged, utility, and aura skills trees. Skills feel very rigid, with only one aspect of the skill scaling as the skill is improved. You're forced to take some skills just to get the ones you want, most skills cost multiple points to acquire or improve, and very few of them actually feel reliable without massive point investments.

The Ugly:
- There still seem to be issues/bugs that have not been resolved. For me, the most common one is my melee hotbar skills getting reset.
- Offensive skills have a power-up mechanic where you can charge them with any combination of three one-off effects per use. This system is tedious and clunky, forcing you to constantly activate the individual power-ups (or group presets) as they are consumed by your attacks. Even if the power-ups are reliable, between attacking, moving, using potions, and switching between active skillsets, there's just too much going on in combat to worry about micro-managing them.
- There is an essence mechanic that allows you to infuse gear with consumable essences, but the system is not intuitive (or at least not well conveyed) and the improvements they offer your character are often marginal at best.

1. Witcher 3 10/10
2. Grim Dawn 9.5/10
3. Torchlight 2 9.4/10
4. Van Helsing 9.5/10

The game is quite good.

Rather short but overall fun. Sadly thats not what she said.

Realy good game fun to play when you are bored , fullfilled story and masive atmosphere

there is a LOT and i mean ALOT of game breaking problems with the input when using a controller. after you start the game with the controller there is NO WAY to use the mouse to click something to correct the problem. idk who was supposed to be testing this game but they failed their job miserably. i can barely get through character creation because some options just dont work with the controller and it doesnt let you use the sliders or select the right thing. it just goes to another option regardless of what you do. the game looks pretty cool and feels decent enough but when i cant even create my character because of input bugs and just lack of response it puts a very bad taste in your mouth right off the bat which is not good for a game that isnt all that popular.

voice act.