What's Yappening?

I’m writing this just after finishing my second playthrough. Immediately, Vampyr is easily one of my favourite games. Easily top 10 for me. I would absolutely recommend it, and here’s why…

Vampyr is a narrative-driven action RPG developed by DON’T NOD Entertainment (the studio behind Life is Strange). Set in a gloomy, atmospheric version of 1918 London during the Spanish flu pandemic. You play as Dr. Jonathan Reid, a recently turned vampire torn between his oath to heal and his bloodthirsty new instincts.

Gameplay & Combat

The gameplay and controls are smooth and satisfying. Combat strikes a good balance between strategy and aggression, with responsive dodging and weighty attacks that feel great in the hands. The controls are intuitive and familiar, especially if you’ve played similar action RPGs. I played on the Steam Deck and it ran great, with no need to tweak anything.

No exaggeration, it’s worth playing twice thanks to the wildly different choices and playstyles available. Do I save lives and stay underpowered, or embrace the monster and grow stronger? Similarly, how does each life saved or lost impact the overall story and my interactions.

Progression & Difficulty Balance

The game is also incredibly balanced, the more you level up, the more the world around you does too. Which is great to keep the battles challenging and interesting as new stronger enemies are introduced. This was very evident in my second playthrough where I consumed as many citizens as I could.

Landing a perfect dodge or parry? Pure satisfaction—like scratching an itch you didn’t know you had.

Story & World-Building

The story kept me hooked and interested from start to finish, and I would often crave getting back into the game to see what happens next. I also really enjoyed reading all the notes and collectibles hidden around the city. I found they would often have information of actual importance that can influence what I could say in future interactions, while also influencing my personal opinions when uncovering secrets.

It is also so interesting to see how the story and dialogue changes once you perform certain actions, for example turning a citizen into a vampire. You can then talk to people in town and hear their perspectives, which shift based on your decisions. Each character felt distinct with their own backstories that unravel through both dialogue and hidden notes.

Abilities & Character Builds

I thought the leveling system was fantastic. Each ability felt meaningful, and I actually used most of them rather than ignoring half the tree like in some games. You unlock skills using XP gained from combat or embracing citizens, and they branch out in a skill tree that lets you customise your playstyle.

Being able to reallocate skills is a game changer, as it let me experiment with different builds across my two playthroughs. One run I focused on ranged attacks and evasive movement, while the other I went full melee and brute force.

Note: this is not a stealth game, there’s no detection meter or silent takedowns. It’s flexible, fun, and encourages trying out new combinations.

Side Quests & Morality System

While Vampyr’s main story is your true focus, the game also features investigations which are your side quests in the game. These can be simple fetch quests or speaking to multiple citizens.

While side quests are optional, you feel motivated to complete them for the citizens because the more you accomplish for them = the more XP they’re worth if you decide to consume them later! Same applies for citizens being sick in town, those sick individuals are worth less XP, so you’re motivated to develop cures and heal the disease, either for the sake of the town’s sanity status… or for your own selfish motives.

Save System & Consequences

I have a love/hate relationship with how this game saves. It’s autosave only, so I can’t save scum and go back to change my mind about any decision I make. Personally I’m a big save-scummer, but I know doing that ruins the RPG immersion for some players, and takes away any real consequences for the player. So for that I commend this game for their choice here. This really promotes the replayability of the game too.

Criticisms & Bugs

Now obviously no game is perfect, so here are some areas where I felt the game could improve.

My biggest gripe with the story is the romance with the protagonist. The game makes it clear that you (the player) are spending every night with this guy, making his choices and living his life — as any good RPG does. However, there’s a point in the story where he and another female character begin calling each other petnames and expressing their love for one another… Which I had no say in, nor did I know this romance was even blooming at all until it was suddenly in full bloom.

Listen, I’m fine with these two being in love, but it bothers me that I, the player, was not part of this and it was forced on me for plot reasons, or so it seemed? I’m not even sure if it is required for the plot, I’m certain they could have remained friends and nothing would have changed.

Another issue (as you can see) I had was that on rare occasions while zipping around, enemies spawned right in front of me, sometimes mid T-pose. Total immersion killer, even if it only happened a few times! But seriously, in my two times playing the game I only saw this happen a handful of times.

Now this is interesting… The most challenging side quest in this game, was simply watering the plant in the hospital office. This was the only time I had to google the solution, and even then, I couldn’t complete the quest until later in the game.

It’s odd that the quest I spent the most time on was to water a plant… It’s laughable. I’ll mention too, that you won’t see the plant change after being watered until three in-game days have passed. Worth it? Find out for yourself!

Final Thoughts

Vampyr hooked me from start to finish, and I’d happily jump back in a third time.

I felt this game was quite addictive, I felt myself craving to jump back into the game. Something about the movement, abilities and fighting enemies really hits the spot in my dopamine centre.

The most important takeaway is that Vampyr is stylish, deep, and packed with tough choices. Great combat, great writing, minor bugs.

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