Vampyr Reviews
Vampyr delivers top-notch story and atmosphere, but it's held back by serious technical issues, frustrating exploration, and dull, uninspired combat sections.
Dontnod takes a thrillingly Gothic perspective on early 19th century London, but squanders it in a dreary and indecisive adventure.
Vampyr is a slow burn of an RPG, taking its time to ramp up its intriguing blend of science and the supernatural in an elaborately gloomy version of London. When it gets going you can see the potential of the way it offers you more power if you consume its interesting citizens. But Vampyr never commits to this idea to the point where I felt I needed to make that sacrifice to succeed in its relatively simple combat, which leaves it feeling toothless and vulnerable to having a lot of its fun sucked away by technical issues, despite its genuinely engaging story.
There are some brilliant, original ideas in here, but Vampyr tries to do too much at once and suffers for it.
As much a detective story as a horror one, Vampyr rewards you for taking an interest in the people around you and tests your moral compass with a lack of black and white options.
Vampyr attempts to deliver a gothic fantasy, and while it has bright spots, too much goes wrong to let them shine through
Dontnod follows up Life Is Strange with a surprisingly enthralling supernatural thriller.
The easy way out for Dontnod would have been to take the most time-worn tropes from dime store horror novels, season to taste with period melodrama and serve it all up for players to enjoy. Vampyr reaches for more, and I'm very interested to see if the finale does it all justice
A bundle of great ideas and characters, shackled by some abysmal mechanics. Try it, or buy it on sale.
Vampyr is an ambitious masterpiece with forgivable flaws
It takes some doing to find a middle-ground between two such conflicting genres, but Dontnod have done a terrific job marrying Adventure and Action RPG elements into a pleasant and modestly cohesive whole.
I'm left frustrated that Vampyr falls short of truly combining a smart choose-your-own-adventure game with a meaty action one.
Vampyr is a brilliant take on the vampire fantasy, focusing more on drama, relationships and inner conflicts than on sucking blood. The temptation at its core can lead to frustration, as the challenging boss fights feel designed to urge you towards killing more innocent NPCs. Anyone attempting a no-kill playthrough may struggle unless they're willing to invest the time, but if you're enjoying the story and characters, it's time well spent.
At no point in Vampyr did I have fun following trails of blood, mixing antiquated remedies out of opium, or bludgeoning some Crucifix wielding goon in a mask for the 50th time. But I was constantly compelled forward to find out what next grim choice it would give me, anxious to spend yet another night in one of its safehouses to see if my efforts to keep London's souls alive another day had worked.
A compellingly macabre adventure let down by so-so combat and a few niggling flaws
Vampyr serves delicious ladles of angst and drama with a hearty slice of excellent, morally grey choice system that will genuinely surprise you, all wrapped up in a wonderfully gloomy London. It's just a shame the combat turns a bit sour.
Vampyr is a game of saturation of the vampire love within us, puts us in positions and makes us think about the dimensions of our choices, and we ask whether we are killing to make our lives easier, or whether we should keep people alive even if they do not deserve it. You will enjoy the stories and the dark game world, but you will not find a combat system that makes you excited to fight, but I will come back to the game again to try new options, like killing all human beings or not killing anyone.
Review in Arabic | Read full review
An amazing game full of darkness, vampires and blood in the London of the first quarter of the 20th Century. A great mix of exploration, conversations and hard ecounters with dangerous creatures of the night.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
This post contains affiliate links where DualShockers gets a small commission on sales. Any and all support helps keep DualShockers as a standalone, independent platform for less-mainstream opinions and news coverage.