Reviews VideoGame / Vampyr 2018

An excellent narrative game with mediocre action to raise the stakes

Pun not intended.

The main selling point of Vampyr is its cast of unique NPCs, any one of which the vampire Player Character can lure into a dark ally and drain dry for experience points. There are 4 districts (slowly unlocked as the player progresses in the story, which is roughly 20 hours long, split into 6 chapters), each with 15 unique characters and a "pillar" character, who factors into the story (and whose fate will affect the whole district). The story itself is a gothic horror tale of a young doctor who has found himself transformed into a vampire just after returning home from the horrors of the First World War.

The characters who can be "embraced" (mooks fought in combat are fair game and characters the player gets killed through other means don't grant any XP) all have a "memorisation" level, which locks out harvesting a given NPC until you've progressed far enough in the story, meaning that there's a steady supply of experience through the whole game. Each character has 3-6 "hints" which represent secrets they're keeping, which can be unlocked through dialogue, spying on them at key moments, quests, and so on. Unlocking hints earns a bit of XP and makes the character worth more XP if they are drained. NPCs also fall ill, which reduces the amount of experience they're worth until they're cured (with craft-able medicines) and puts them at risk of death or infecting others if left untreated (and risks the district falling into anarchy, filling it with enemies and locking out side quests). Each NPC has a "social circle" of other characters their death will affect meaning that a large chunk of the game can only be experienced by biting a few necks.

This system strongly benefits the narrative side of the game; there is no "karma metre" or difficulty options; the fact it's only possible to make the game easier by deciding an NPC needs to die for the greater good gives you a massive incentive to think carefully about who to kill or spare. While it's rough around the edges, it's one of the few games that's actually managed to give moral choices some weight.

Sadly, it falls short in the main carrot and stick for these choices (aside from the interesting tidbits you can learn about the cast); the combat. DONTNOD were clearly going for a Dark Souls vibe (with a stamina metre, magic attacks, and dodging). Done well this could have lead to the player deciding if they wanted to keep trying, or sacrifice an NPC they won't miss for a needed boost, but the combat feels unsatisfying, clunky and the camera dodgy. The end result being that low XP runs feel artificially unfair and high XP runs are boring slogs. In addition, most areas are easily cleared as soon as you get there, meaning that (with no fast travel) rushing around becomes a chore.

Overall: A little glitchy, and with mediocre combat, but an innovative narrative experience if you're willing to put up with the odd frustrating moment and some busywork. '7.5/10