Vampyr Reviews
Unfortunately, the gameplay itself never rose above mediocrity and the time I spent in battle, I was just mindless mashing buttons to try and get to the next story beat. Throw in the fact that my character was usually under leveled because of my lack of wanting to kill off NPCs and the games combat was never fun and usually borderline maddening.
The expectations for the follow-up project after the great success with the Life Is Strange series of the French developer studio Dontnod were high and at least partly justified, because if they can do one thing, they will tell stories and force players to make decisions, which will sometimes have devastating effects on the further course of the game. The rest of the game remains rather mediocre. The wooden graphics and the repetitive fighting actions, which are especially unpleasant for "boss opponents", the tubular level design and the especially in fighting situations with several opponents questionable camera work cloud the quite positive first impression of the game after a few hours of play. Vampyr doesn't reinvent the genre and also doesn't present anything that hasn't been seen in other RPGs before, yet it's one of the games that manages to cast a spell over you in spite of some flaws and especially grant you many nice hours of gameplay with some surprising twists in the story. At the next sale you could strike, but you don't have to.
Review in German | Read full review
From Remember Me through Life is Strange and now to Vampyr, Dontnod Entertainment has striven to introduce new ideas to each genre it dabbles in. However, the team's latest project is also the one in which that desire feels the most diluted. Novel mechanics including the social web and that core conflict between the Hippocratic Oath and vampiric urges hold immense promise for a project to carry weighty consequences, but the potential is never fully achieved in Vampyr. The need to ground these ideas within familiar, saleable gameplay leaves the title lacking. While the game is enjoyable and engaging, the apparent lack of courage in the strength of its more unusual ideas is slightly disheartening, leaving it feeling slightly toothless.
For those looking for a unique, dread-filled experience in the RPG realm, Vampyr offers a type of game seldom seen. But much like the streets of 1918 London, expect a few bumps along the way.
Aside from a few technical issues, Vampyr delivers one of the most engaging action-RPGs in recent memory. It is a game where everything and everyone is connected through some fantastic gameplay design and yes, your choices do actually matter here.
Vampyr on the Switch is another quality port in my eyes. It took a game I never expected to be able to have on handheld and transformed it into an experience more players can now excess. The core concepts of the original release are retained here and only expected technically issues arise. While Vampyr seems to be a title that’s always had a bit of mixed reception, I feel the same will follow on the Switch release. Yet I find sometimes these are some of the most interesting games released. Now I can take my vampire skills on the go and in the night. If players can enjoy Vampyr on other systems, I say go for it as it’s a cheaper price. If the Switch is the only system or it’s a one for the road, I still highly recommend Vampyr, its one dark tale worth taking in your pocket.
If you’re yet to experience the dark and gritty world of Vampyr, the Switch is a great place to sink your teeth into it. True, this version is vastly inferior in regards to the visuals and suffers from a few performance dips here and there, but after playing in portable mode for a few hours, you’ll become accustomed to the compromises which were necessary to get this brilliant game on the system. With a few new difficulty options and the ability to either join the dark side or not, you can roleplay your own story which changes based on your actions and desires throughout the game. Multiple playthroughs are a must as seeing London thrive or suffer are two very possible outcomes.
Vampyr is a flawed gem which is unfortunately a bit more flawed on the Nintendo Switch. It feels a bit like a game from a by-gone era, when technical issues and rough plotting often went hand-in-hand with passion and a unique vision. If you’re willing to turn a blind eye to the technical issues you’ll most likely have a ghoulish time, even with the Switch port. I give Vampyr a vampire-destroying Thumb Culture Silver Award.
Vampyr is worth experiencing in general and the Switch port is a fine way to do so.
Review in Greek | Read full review
After the success of Life is Strange, Dontnod dares with an adventure in capital letters. Vampyr is not perfect; It has flaws and questionable design decisions, but its virtues lead it to shine with its own light.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Vampyr is an RPG that will take us approximately 30 hours of play if we decide to complete it 100%. It will invite us to explore to discover the lives of its citizens told in the language of Shakespeare with a strong English accent. We can make our own decisions and influence history according to what we do, in addition to that for those who like to investigate they will have an extra dose knowing the mysteries and secrets of the citizens.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Vampyr’s biggest issue is in its price. It’s a full RRP game at £40+ and I think it would’ve performed better had it been around £25-30. I was excited for the game as release neared but so much walking around looking for clues and what not to progress the story. This wasn’t entertaining gameplay and it slowed the plot down, and it almost felt as if Dontnod were still in the mindset of creating an episodic game. Vampyr is worth giving a go, but there’s a lot of potential untapped here.
The beauty of Vampyr is that it puts you in the state of mind of an actual vampire. For that alone, it might be worth a taste.
Although flawed and at times painfully inconsistent, Vampyr manages to offer relatively engaging gameplay in spite of a lack of overall polish. Combat is stiff and quite mindless, but Jonathan's progression deeper into Vampiredom is handled well and the abilities at his disposal go a long way towards masking some of the more mundane aspects of the battle system. It's more whether or not Jonathan decides to prey on the people of London, and its consequences, that keep the experience fresh. There's a trade off between making Jonathan and keeping districts stable, each one offering their own benefits. There are technical issues, and the performance is lacking on every front, but Vampyr has enough going for it conceptually that it's worth sinking some time into, if only to be a vampire in 20th century London.
Vampyr is a smart action game that poses regular moral dilemmas as you decide to either heal or kill characters in a wonderfully dark city. With decent melee combat and an interesting story, there are not many vampire games that taste as sweet.
Vampyr is a brilliant single-player RPG with deep social mechanics that make playing as a vampire a truly unique and satisfying experience.
Vampyr is a bloody good time that is marred by some tedious mechanics and some technical issues.
"Victorian vampires have never been so intriguing and exciting as they are in Vampyr."
Vampyr is an excellent game. It manages to place RPG and adventure elements together in a good way, and delivers an interesting story, giving an idea of how the life of a vampire in a doctor's body would be. Although it has problems, they are not so significant to make the player put the game away. Vampyr is not going to be the game of the year, but it truly deserves your attention.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Vampyr is a rough but interesting game. The story starts off in an intriguing manner, and the character interactions show that Dontnod still knows how to make them the most compelling part of any game. The quandary of whether to give in to your base desires seems like a good moral dilemma, until you realize that the combat heavily favors you upgrading early to make the progress less of a grind. That means the game leans heavily toward an evil ending before you attempt a good one. Due to the lack of good vampire games in the market, Vampyr is worth a look, but don't expect a masterpiece out of the gate.