What to buy: Final Cut or VH 1~3 bundle?

[Pyo Wol 사신]

What's the pros and cons? Thanks!

[Psojed]

Hi, you can read about the differences in my old post here https://steamcommunity.com/app/400170/discussions/0/451848855027089261/

[Pyo Wol 사신]

Originally posted by Psojed:

Hi, you can read about the differences in my old post here https://steamcommunity.com/app/400170/discussions/0/451848855027089261/

thanks!

[flixization]

Expanding on that somewhat (I never finished this guide but it's decent):

It kinda makes Final Cut sound worse but IMO with the right mods you can whip it into shape and restore the missing content.

Differences between Final Cut vs. VH1 + VH2 + VH3

This is an attempt to break down the differences between playing the Van Helsing trilogy individually vs. Final Cut. I could not find a satisfying comparison so I played all the games and made one myself. By in large, Final Cut uses all the mechanics and designs from VH3, with the VH1 & VH2 resources ported in and adapted.

Classes
In VH1+VH2 there are three classes, and each one has two "aspects," each with its own skill tree, as well as some general "Tricks" (mostly passives and buffs) that are available to all classes. You can directly import your VH1 character in VH2 and continue the campaign with all the same skills and stats.

In VH3, the three classes got split into six, and the various skills were redistributed between them all, and several new skills were added. Roughly speaking, the original six aspects are now each their own unique class, as well as each of the six classes now having their own unique "Auras" skill tree for the buffs. There is no import feature so you must start a new hero.

Final Cut uses the same class system from VH3. You will now start at the beginning of VH1's story but with one of the six VH3 classes.

Consumables
Each potion in VH1-VH2 is an individual consumable. Each one must be purchased or found, and you can run out if you drink them all. There are also other potions that temporarily grant other bonuses. Scrolls are another type of consumable that grant temporary buffs. They are common quest rewards. If you want Katarina to drink a potion, you must place some in her inventory.

Potions in Final Cut are more like Diablo 3. You have one health and one mana potion, and they are always present and never run out - they only have a cooldown that limits their use. Katarina likewise has her own perma-potion and cooldown. There are no scrolls or other consumables that give temporary buffs whatsoever. The other potions are now consumables can only be used once that grant permanent bonuses. The higher tiers of these potions are cut, with ony the lowest tier available, meaning the total is cut from 45 down to 15.

Trophies
VH2 & VH3: Trophies are special items that can be displayed on a "Trophy Stand" to grant bonuses (and penalties) to allies. Trophies can drop in magic/rare/epic quality and any of them can be equipped on the player or displayed on the stand.

In Final Cut, only 20 pre-selected Epic trophies can be displayed on the stand. The other trophies can still be equipped on the character for a different set of accessory bonuses.

Quests
Quests are mostly the same, but some were cut:

VH1: "Werewolf on the Run" & "The Orichalcum Shipment" are cut completely. These quests had you revisit previous areas (The Rookery and the Industrial Port, respectively), but at night and with new enemies.
VH3: "Strange Inmates" dealing with refugees seeking shelter in the lair, is missing from Final Cut.

Maps
VH1: As mentioned, the revisits to the Rookery and the Industrial Port are removed in Final Cut, including the section where you have to "find" Nikkola Telsa's hideout in the expanded version of the Industrial Port map. Instead, you are immediately teleported inside Telsa's lab when the quest begins in Final Cut.

VH1: The Pocket Realm is removed in Final Cut. This is a chunky-sized Ink realm with monsters and a "Riddle Wisp" NPC. Instead, in Final Cut when you enter the Ink portal in Telsa's lab, you are immediately deposited on the Rooftops. This renders his dialogue when entering/exiting the portal somewhat senseless, since you immediately see him again instead of having an adventure in between. The encounter with the Riddle Wisp is also removed from the requirements to get the related achievement.

Chimera
VH2: The Chimera is a summonable creature available after completing the quest to capture it. It can be sent on missions to "hunt" for items, gold and XP. It can also be summoned into combat to fight alongside you. In both situations it will level up and need to be "fed" with essences as it gets damaged. It has special items that can be used to augment its powers.

Final Cut: the Chimera is limited to hunting. It cannot be summoned into combat. Mechanics, interface, and special items are stripped down and limited to the hunting missions. As such it will level up much slower. It is only available in Story mode and cannot be used in the endgame Adventure mode.

Vendor Mechanics
VH1: The Engineer is able to upgrade your Generator, your Artifact Forge, and your Traps used for Tower Defense. All such upgrades are pointless in Final Cut - The Forge starts out fully upgraded, the Generator has no function, and all traps are now specific to each Tower Defense mission, instead of being completely customizable. The Trap Plan upgrade and machine parts not longer drop. There are still two quest items that drop for the upgrades (Generator Plan, Elyctrical Transformer Prototype) but they are now useless.

Likewise in VH1 there is a quest reward that allows you to "upgrade" your Laboratory. In Final Cut the Alchemist NPC starts out offering all services so the upgrade drop (Ink Essence) is useless.

VH2: Vasily Mechanov joins the resistance after completing his quest, offering Runecrafting services. This allows to craft custom items with precision. In Final Cut he says he'll join but he never shows up in the Lair, since his "Runecrafting" mechanic is removed.

Quest Rewards
Rotting Heart (VH1) remains a useless quest item in Final Cut, instead of becoming a consumable if Van Helsing chooses to keep it.
Resonant Essence (VH3) is removed as reward that the Pied Piper bribes you with in Final Cut. Instead it's just random treasure.

Tower Defense
VH1: There are two defense missions to defend the lair, and you literally have to defend your own lair, by hand-placing traps in the connecting tunnels and fighting monsters to prevent them from entering your base.
VH2 & VH3: Tower Defense missions take place in separate maps from the lair. Traps are all pre-selected and pre-placed with the player choosing which ones to activate and upgrade for each mission.
Final Cut uses the system from the later games, and the two missions from VH1 are removed and replaced with new ones in the VH3 style. Also, two missions from VH2 are removed completely.

Journal
VH1: The journal is bare-bones and consists of only a basic quest log.
VH2: The journal is expanded to include a large bestiary, as well as profiles for all the major campaign bosses, mechanics tutorials, and some backstory entries for characters from the first game.
VH3: The expanded journal remains, with info on the world, bosses, and a special "Prometheus" section where journal entries unfold giving important backstory to the entire franchise as the campaign progresses.
Final Cut: The journal is similar to VH3, but everything except the quest log and tutorials are gutted. There are sections for Villains, NPCs, and World Info but there is barely anything there. The "Prometheus" tab is also present but the "Recordkeeper" NPC who unlocks the entries is absent so this section is also mostly empty.

Endgame
TBD

[HiFive]

You do know that you can get all 4 games for the price of the first 3, right? If you buy VH 1-3, you can get Final Cut for free.
https://steamcommunity.com/app/400170/discussions/0/490125103628159104/