Hello, adventurers!
The Clans - Cursed Souls is an RPG/Horror RPG Maker VX Ace game made by Thefuryofblood and Clord originally for the Indie Game Maker 2014 contest. This game, while complete, was intended to be the first chapter of a 5-episodes game set in The Clans universe.

Lilith Bloodrose is our protagonist, a vampire master and adventurer that is looking for a missing artifact belonging to Arclaud, the first of the vampires. During her search she enters a mansion and soon it become clear that is haunted. So, trapped inside with other characters, she has to explore the place and find a way out. Will Catz, a technomage abandoned by her party be a ally?


Uhm, that big thing doesn't seem too friendly! Better speed up the pace!

The Clans - Cursed Souls is a classic rpg-horror game where you have to explore a place looking for useful items, clues and keys. Being an rpg expect battles, that are pretty difficult since you only have one character (later you get a second party member but that's it) so there aren't many options in terms of strategy. Items are also not so effective: healing items are pretty weak and new weapons (that are luckily pretty easy to unlock) don't seems to make a lot of difference in terms of damage. Despite this I liked the crafting system, it was a nice addition, Anyway maybe the difficulty was kept high to keep players on their toes and also mantain the horror feeling of being in a hostile territory where every battle is dangerous and you can never relax!

There are some other typical horror game elements like chase sections with invulnerable enemies that can insta-kill Lilith Bloodrose, so there are many ways to die easily. Another little problem I found was the lack of direction of some parts, but there are also some good aspects, like the collectible items, some nice manga panels. I know that their presence is a bit odd, and for someone they may break the immersion in the horror setting, but for me they were ok.

And then there is probably the aspect I liked more of this game: the graphics! Mapping is ok, and assets are well used, but the character portraits (of the most important characters encountered) are really good and same is for the monsters, even if the black background of the battles doesn't make them stand out, and this is a real pity. If portraits, mapping and the interface are good, music and sounds aren't of inferior quality, there are some custom pieces and they are well used, even if the RTP sounds stand out a bit more, and they are immediately recognizable.


Time for a battle! Take this electric bolt! These girls are unstoppable...

Final Verdict
"OK" is what I really think of The Clans - Cursed Souls. While not a really bad game, it lacks of that special something, that refinement, that balancing, that would have made it a better game. Also the fact that this is just a single, first chapter, leaves a lot... hanging. A pity, still I liked many aspects like the use of the mouse or the graphics, and how I wrote before this is still an ok game!