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[Retropunch]

So Vampyr is apparently out now - the third person vampire-y RPG with more dark alley ways than any RPG in history.

There's a lot of talk about it being a sort of VM:bloodlines successor due to it being dialogue filled, super gothy, and very clunky.

I hadn't realised it was out so soon and I unfortunately don't really have the time to play it so I'm interested to hear your thoughts!

Steam link for those interested:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/427290/Vampyr/

[Sartain]

I've played most of yesterday, I'd say the gameplay reminds me more or the old Soul Reaver game than it does of Vampire Bloodlines. It's more story-based action-adventure style than decidedly a roleplaying game. That being said, if you liked Bloodlines and if you like vampires this might be up your dark alley. I personally like it

[A Thing]

Posting to Watch.

Curious to see how well this game executes its mechanics. The social mechanics sounded very ambitious when I last heard about it. I mean, raising people's s-links to suck their blahd better sounds like it could be really cool if it the people are actually worth listening too.

[nenjin]

What little I've seen of the game seemed mostly about style. I watched about 5 mins of a dark, brooding, bearded anti-hero and kinda just tuned out.

Interested to hear if it's more subtle or interesting than my gut reaction to it. I loved Bloodlines but that was mostly due to being a WoD nerd. The game would have to have a pretty good world and its own brand of weird style, to me, for it to be a soft VtM:Bloodlines successor.

[Ulfarr]

I saw about 15-20 minutes of gameplay yesterday and I can't say I was impressed by it.

Granted it was just the beginning of the campaign but it already seems to be just another "follow the compass there, no you don't need to go that way, now go that way" kind of game. To be fair, that's more of a personal pet peeve and for all I know the game might give the player more freedom at a later stage but I doubt it was made to be playable without that damn compass railroading the player. On the plus side. I do like the game's aesthetic.

*Nitpicking Alert*

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

It also appears to suffer from a bit of dissonance between it's narrative and the gameplay/mechanics. The whole "choose your victim" morality gimmick seems to be pointless when most NPCs attack you on sight, even when your character tries to talk with them.  And my personal favorite, at some point the protagonist is monologuing  about having to follow the SCENT of the blood when there is a clear path marked by 1 meter wide bloodstains on the ground.

[Retropunch]

I've done a lot of reading of reviews and also talked to some friends who have it, and all the ones which were expecting a very story heavy game have enjoyed it - those who thought it was going to be Witcher but with vampires instead have not. Can't really fault this from a dev who last made Life is Strange.

Other things that have been mentioned a lot:

- Apparently the first hour is pretty bland; a lot of stage setting and a very slow pace but it picks up a lot.

- The citizens stories are the best bit by everyone's estimation; a lot of people were saying it was the first game they've genuinely had serious regrets about murdering NPCs. You only hear their story AFTER you kill them, and so you can realise you've had someone figured out all wrong from the start. Apparently the writing is fantastic, although some animation is a bit clunky

- Action is clunky and easy to cheese, but not so awful it makes it unplayable. A few people have commented that a patch or two would fix this a lot so there's hope with this.

- Enemies and items respawn, which can make areas seem laborious, but does allow you to level up/gather stuff for bosses if you've wasted a lot.


I'm still on the fence till someones had a really good go with it, but I'm keen.

[Malus]

It's okay. The combat is pretty mediocre, and there's way too much of it. I was finding it way too easy early on but now I'm actually dying once in a while. There isn't any penalty for it though, so it's a lot more forgiving than, say, Dark Souls. I'm also 15 levels underleveled and get two-shot by every enemy because I haven't taken anyone's blood, so those extra juicy walking XP bags are looking pretty tempting right about now. Enemies give you 5 or 10XP per kill, and the average citizen will give you more like 2000. I was worried the "pacifist" route wouldn't actually be very punishing, but it is, if only because of the RPG-style damage scaling as you fall further and further behind. And not sucking their blood isn't even the objectively moral choice: most of the citizens are jerks and it's hinted the city would be much, much better off without them.

Many of the mechanics seem... poorly thought out, or poorly balanced. The illness system in particular is just pointless busywork; enemies drop so many materials you'll always have the ingredients you need, so it's just a matter of running around and healing everyone up whenever they get sick. There's no fast travel so it's actually kind of a hassle, and every time you rest to level up time progresses and more people get sick, which means more running through the same areas, hunting down the same people, and healing them. But I'm a doctor, dammit, and I won't take any lives. (Except for the infinite number of respawning enemies, because, well, video games).

VtM: Bloodlines it is not... but it does have dialogue trees and presumably, branching paths. And I've unlocked some interesting ways to resolve quests (that have sometimes backfired horribly). I had low expectations going in, and it's not knocking my socks off, but it's more or less competent. A solid 7/10, I'd say. Probably the closest thing to VtM that we've had since, well, VtM, so... if you're looking for a vampire RPG and can stomach some passable ARPG combat, it's not bad.

[Sartain]

+1 Malus and Retropunch, that sounds pretty much on the mark for my experience with the game so far. It's a quite decent game but nothing mindblowing.

[nenjin]

So let's recast the question: is it a good vampire simulator?

[SOLDIER First]

No because the average vampire thinks about their victims as much as a normal person thinks about the average cow raised for meat, while Jonathan acts a little, should we say, like a person recently turned into a vampire instead of a bloodthirsty killer.*

*depending on your choice. You monster. Maybe.

[Yoink]

I've played most of yesterday, I'd say the gameplay reminds me more or the old Soul Reaver game...

Oh man, thanks for reminding me of that! I played a demo of one of them as a kid that I remember being awesome, I should really track 'em down and play them properly. Of course, finding a PS1 copy would be the best option, but that seems kinda unlikely. We shall see!   

[nenjin]

Pretty sure all the Soul Reaver games are on Steam now.

[Cthulhu]

The first ps1 soul reaver holds up very well.  Mixed feelings on vampyr though

[Cthulhu]

I've decided I hate the combat in Vampyr.  It's fun, and it'd be fun in a different game, but you don't feel like a vampire.  All your vampire powers are on cooldowns and you use all kinds of weapons.  It's too slow and enemies are generally tougher than you'd expect.  I would prefer a stealth game where lethality is high but tied to your weaknesses.  Like, getting hit with a shotgun should hurt but not do a whole lot, whereas being set on fire or staked should be really deadly.  Meanwhile you're crazy fast and kill people practically instantly ifthey're not on the ball.

Instead you just feel like a human with vampire powers.  That being said, the two-handed cudgel you get makes the game hilarious.  Got stuck at the werewolf boss for like 20 minutes until I pulled out my fuckin louisville slugger and SWANG.  It does huge physical damage and stun damage on par with a stake of the same level.

It's hilarious but not very thematic for the sophisticated upright doctor-turned-vampire to pull out a bat and just club the shit out of a werewolf

[SOLDIER First]

He’s trying to kill shit, the method doesn’t quite matter. What, is that werewolf gonna call him out on a lack of thematic cohesion while Jonathan is turning its head into a pinkish pasts?