Nighthawks is a fascinating vampire RPG let down by its mechanics

There is a lot to like about Nighthawks, which probably isn't surprising considering it comes from Wadjet Eye, behind wonderful adventure games including Unavowed and last year's Old Skies. Written by Richard Cobbett – who previously worked on Sunless Sea – this vampire role-playing game sees you take on the role of a recently turned vampire in a world where the existence of vampires is exposed to the public. Vampires and humans must coexist with each other, but there's a lot of tension in the air.

Over the course of the five chapters, your vampire gets involved with the running of a nightclub, while getting drawn into conflicts involving different factions and agendas in the city. Many of the characters – good and evil – are memorable, while both the artwork and the voice-acting are excellent.

This is a visual novel with role-playing mechanics, so there is a lot of reading – in fact, it apparently features more than 800,000 words. The writing itself is mostly strong; though each chapter has a main objective that you're advancing, the majority of your time is spent experiencing a whole range of different side stories. Some are tied to companions and are longer arcs. Others can be found by exploring the city's different locations.

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When these stories are good, they're really engaging and showcase the best the game has to offer. The game takes place in a world with vampires and supernatural powers, but the most memorable diversions are the ones that harness that setting while telling affecting and very human stories.

I can list four or five stories that really stood out to me – some heartbreaking, others that had me on the edge of my seat – and I found these ones to actually be more interesting and impressive than the solid main storyline. It's here where the writing and the character work shine the brightest, but even outside of their respective quests, I enjoyed spending time with a few of the characters like the nightclub's affable human bartender Becca and local vampire magician Madame Lux.

Having said that, there are also quite a few stories that are either poorly paced and a drag to get through or just a bit dull with not much substance. Some conflicts are not particularly interesting, and feel like busywork to resolve.

There is time management in the game, but it doesn't add much to the experience. Time passes with every action you take, whether that's taking a taxi to another neighbourhood or engaging in conversation with another character, and you have to make sure you're back home before sunrise. The chapters give you a limited number of days before you must progress the main objective, but I found myself finishing every side story in a chapter with so much time to spare.

Perhaps the most disappointing part of the game is how the role-playing mechanics undermine the storytelling. Like a lot of RPGs, there is a lot of flexibility in the way you can build your character.

Your vampire has eight different skills you can improve over time, including brawler (for melee weapons), mechanic (for firearms), grifter (for persuading), and thief (for stealth). Levelling up these skills is important for passing skill checks both during conversations and when you're caught in a hostile scenario.

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At the start of the game, I only had a couple of these skills somewhat levelled up, leading to a fair few moments where I was failing skill checks and struggling to impose myself as a new vampire. I primarily focused on grifter and seduction, wanting to play as a smooth-talking vampire, and so it wasn't a surprise that the moment I had to rely on intimidation to scare off a few violent troublemakers, I looked pretty pathetic and got beaten up as a consequence. This was a good thing, as it added a sense of uncertainty before each encounter and encouraged me to forge my own path.

However, by the fourth chapter, having completed every side-quest along the way and taken full advantage of various equipment, nightclub perks, traits, and the local fight club, I found myself with maxed-out skills across the board.

On one hand, this conveyed my vampire's growing reputation and power as the story progressed. But on the other, since my vampire was perfect at everything, it didn't help to make her feel like a distinct character. Skill checks didn't matter at a certain point as I became near-invincible, and what I chose to specialise in at the start of the game ended up feeling meaningless, resulting in the role-playing aspect feeling heavily diminished.

The same applied to various meters I needed to manage, such as hunger and infamy. In my playthrough, there wasn't any challenge at all to keep them under control and I never felt under threat by them. Hunger can be dealt with in a few ways, including planning and going on a hunt for a victim to feed on, but because hunting revolved around skill checks and I wound up becoming too powerful, these scenes stopped feeling tense and quickly became repetitive.

Even the 'gift' power I could choose for my vampire during character creation didn't seem to have much impact. I went for the power of mesmerism, but the number of times it played a meaningful role during interactions with other characters was very low – especially when I could achieve the same success by passing a simple skill check.

Nighthawks has plenty about it, including a number of excellent side stories, but is dragged down by RPG mechanics that didn't do enough to make me properly commit to the idea of role-playing my vampire. I felt like I couldn't immerse myself in my character, and so I became detached with what was happening in the city. Some of the narrative and story decisions would have hit harder if my character was developing at the same time, and it's a shame that the potential hasn't been fully realised.