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Robert Eggers's newest movie, Nosferatu, reminded all of us of two things: vampires are cool, and vampires stalking the streets of 19th-century villages are even cooler. Following the story of the blood-sucking monster Count Orlok and his army of rats chasing after the beautiful Ellen Hutter, Nosferatu is a film that left me feeling shocked, awed, and desperate to find the best RPG that let me explore a similar gothic world to the one I had just witnessed on screen.
In performing my sacred goth gamer duty, I've found the most Nosferatu-coded and interesting demo that unpacks vampire lore and relishes in Victorian-era aesthetics: indie developer Party For Introverts' upcoming game and vampire RPG, Cabernet.
Eternally damned
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While there are already established vampire RPGs out there, such as Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines and Vampyr, watching Nosferatu made me want to dive into the lore and the social contracts of vampirism more than Dark Souls-like combat or rival clan politics.
Set in the town of Wisborg, Germany, in 1838, Nosferatu is filled with themes of twisted longing, temptation, and nightmares incarnate. Count Orlok is a devil out of folklore, giving characters their darkest wants, be that power from promises of immortality, a purse full of gold coins, or pleasure laced with companionship.
As each character falls for their desires, there are dark consequences, typically ending up with death, loss, and tragedy. The movie left me questioning the impact of eternal life on humanity, so you can imagine how pleased I was when I found a demo for a game with the aesthetics of the film, a focus on letting players forge their own morality as a vampire, and a main character that looks eerily like Lily-Rose Depp's Ellen Hutter in 2D form as well.
Cabernet is a narrative RPG set in 19th-century Eastern Europe. You play as the newly awakened vampire Liza, who finds herself awakening early in a dark cell. After making a deal with a mysterious figure in the basement, you stumble into an opulent party filled with the upper crust of vampire high society. The short demo introduces you to the supernatural – like learning to transform into a bat, charming your target's mind, and contemplating feeding from the neck of a human groundskeeper.
All that may sound like a bit of lighthearted fun (after all, you don't even touch the guy, let alone drain him completely); however, as you interact more with the party's guests and see a pretty bloody mess later on in the story, you learn that some of your new undead brethren view humans as playthings. You also learn of the power hierarchy in the vampire society you are now a part of, where punishments are dished out to those who step out of line.
Cabernet puts this new undead life in your own hands. In the demo, I was able to raise certain skills by selecting choices at my funeral at the start of the game. By raising said skills, I found that interactions with the environment and insights into conversations with my fellow vampires were unlocked. While my literature skill was too low to realize I was a vampire straight away while mingling in the fancy ballroom, I did manage to embarrass an ancient soldier and raise my relationship with the undead party guests enough to start forging potential alliances - storing away useful gossip, and (of course) squeezing in some flirting.
The demo also let me start making judgments towards humans and introduced how my actions may raise either my humanity or nihilism bar. From the short taste of the game that I've had, it really does seem like your future choices will determine if you will keep your morality or if you give in to the temptation of total power and the sweet call of fresh blood.
Drinking from the vein
One thing that both Nosferatu and Cabernet have in common is that they remind us that there is no such thing as a good vampire. Yes, they can be oddly romantic, but at the end of the day, they only want one thing: hemoglobin. All vampires hurt humans to survive, even if they whisper temptations in your ear or give you a fanged smile while declaring their love. During our hands-on preview of Cabernet, co-founder Arseniy Klishin explained how the team positioned blood to be like alcoholism, a compulsion and a disease that ultimately kills humans.
"It seems like a perfect parallel," Klishin said. "I'm surprised that it's not being used more frequently in vampire lore. Vampires rely on drinking to exist. They hurt people by doing so, and there's so much in there that I felt like that's when it actually clicked, and we want to make a game. There was the vampire subject, but then there is how we can relate to it personally."
In the game's demo, it's hinted that Liza's family has a history of alcoholism as well. I'm dying to see how that backstory works into our journey. Like Ellen in Nosferatu, will we have to face prejudice about our past, will we become possessed by our dark passenger? It's all very exciting, and so far, all the elements are there to craft a truly amazing gothic story.
Undead style
But the thing that has truly made me excited about Cabernet (and will grab all Nosferatu fans' attention as well) is the stunning art and setting of the title. Exploring the 19th century in games never gets old. It's moody, imposing and filled with strangely beautiful and macabre imagery, be that a cobblestone street lit late at night or a graveyard with expertly-carved tombstones in the mist. Cabernet's 2D art style also adds to the setting's charm, as backgrounds and character models look like they have just stepped out of an old painting with a Tim Burton cartoony twist.
Too often, vampire films and even the best horror games are plagued by terrible lighting. Darkness hides all the details of the world around them. Cabernet's general look is full of muted colors, sharp detail, and feels as if it could be an illustration straight out of an Anne Rice novel.
Cabernet looks to be everything I want out of a vampire game, and its demo proved to be one of the best balms to my Nosferatu-induced vampire fixation. Currently, there is no release date for Cabernet – but, it does plan to be released sometime in 2025, and I'll be eagerly waiting to stake my claim on a copy once it launches.
For more on the hottest new vampire flick, read our Nosferatu ending explained guide. Or, for more scares we also have a list of the best horror movies of all time.
