Vampyr releases tomorrow, 5th June

[Neurotic Void Melody]

Latest trailer for human eyeballs;


Mid-tier game development should be further encouraged, and this one is releasing at a modest price tomorrow. However, it appears to have itself a bit of a late review embargo - not cool, Dontnod - so best to keep to a 'no pre-order' rule until more information is available. Am guessing it'll turn out an average of 7s - 7.5s due to some variation of "promise, but with occasional jank" from most reviewers.
The premise of a self-imposed difficulty depending on whether you want to keep everybody alive and avoid the temptation of tasty human juice at the cost of a functioning local community is intriguing.

Well, maybe there is the odd review hanging around. Have come across this not exactly sophisticated one so far, helped by a relaxing Scottish accent that dodges the pitfall of obnoxious YouTube creature noise;


Am interested in hearing possible opinions from other's experience with the game as am not financially liberated enough to be one of the initial wave of Guinea pigs.
Hopefully it turns out well and doesn't flop regardless of embargo. It being cheaper means you only have to not feed your kids for a week instead of two!

 

[CritialGaming]

Looks Mediocre honestly. The game looks like Kingdom Come: Deliverance in terms of graphical power and presentation, and looks like it will have a janky combat systems with poor dialog.

I'll see what the bigger review outlets say about the game and maybe check out some let's plays or impression videos before I make a full on judgement call. But it isn't look good to me.

Shame because I'd love to play a vampire rpg.

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

I can't tell if the game is meant to be a parody or not. Like it looks like its taking itself seriously, but then they use generic screams that you can just find in Youtube. Hell I'm pretty sure those screams were used in that terrible 80s Werewolf movie MST3K did.

 

[Phoenixmgs_v1legacy]

I hope the game is good actually putting choice in the forefront of the experience. For example, I hope the combat is just there mainly for your character's satiating needs purposes and life/death choices of NPCs instead of there mainly for challenge and leveling purposes like most RPGs. So as long as the combat is functional and intermittent, I'd be fine with it. I'm hoping for this RPG to put role-playing in the forefront of the game whereas very few RPGs actually do that.

 

[KingsGambit_v1legacy]

I've had it on my wishlist since I saw it first appear for preorder some months back. However, interesting as it looks, I've held off on actually pre-ordering it ahead of some more info, reviews, gameplay breakdown, etc. I love the idea and the setting tho. If it's half the game that VTMB was, we'll be in for an unholy treat.

 

[CritialGaming]

http://www.metacritic.com/game/playstation-4/vampyr/critic-reviews

Well the reviews are out and it's about exactly what I expected it to be based on the gameplay footage. The story is pointless and bare, the combat is sluggish and janky, and the game is buggy as hell.

Despite that people do say that the basics of the game are compelling enough to yield a decent experience. Good atmosphere and interesting characters even if they story or the character to ever actually go anywhere.

 

[meiam]

Hum, yeah shame. I really would like more mid tier game, but rather than feel like more fleshed out (less experimental) indie game they often feel like watered down AAA game.

Yeah maybe when it's like 50% off (at the rater which games go on sale today that might very well be a month from now).

 

[stroopwafel]

Well, don't go in expecting God of War production values here but the game is actually quite fun. NPCs in particular have great dialogue and there is a diversity to their characters that really elaborate on the setting. The game actually reminds me a lot of old Hammer Dracula movies with one NPC even looking like Peter Cushing. Granted, I only played a few hours but so far I really enjoy the general story as well. I love the whole Victorian London setting(eventhough that had technically ended when the events of the game takes place) but it's at this intersection of history(final year of WW1, the social costs of the Spanish flu, start of the scientific era etc) that the game makes a lot of references to that amplifies the atmosphere. Combat is nothing special but not bad either. Given their team and budget I'm glad they kept it simple(I find it in a similar league as Witcher 3 and the latest Assassins Creed game) rather than try to invent something that wouldn't work. I also really like the protagonist so far espescially his philosophical waxing as you venture through dark London alleys.

I enjoy the game a lot but I guess you need a kind of affiliation with the setting and old vampire/classic monster movies. This is probably the best vampire game I've played since...Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain which wasn't quite the masterpiece either but still a game I really enjoyed and remember to this day.

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

Despite the reviews it looks decent enough for a playthrough when it's on sale. Definitely doesn't look like a game I'd pay full price for.

 

[Neurotic Void Melody]

Hey... I totally guessed the average score! There should be a prize or something for that, as the individual sense of accomplishment is too weak. Preferably cash. And lots of it. Then many things can be bought that will provide bigger senses of accomplishment.

Well, don't go in expecting God of War production values here but the game is actually quite fun. NPCs in particular have great dialogue and there is a diversity to their characters that really elaborate on the setting. The game actually reminds me a lot of old Hammer Dracula movies with one NPC even looking like Peter Cushing. Granted, I only played a few hours but so far I really enjoy the general story as well. I love the whole Victorian London setting(eventhough that had technically ended when the events of the game takes place) but it's at this intersection of history(final year of WW1, the social costs of the Spanish flu, start of the scientific era etc) that the game makes a lot of references to that amplifies the atmosphere. Combat is nothing special but not bad either. Given their team and budget I'm glad they kept it simple(I find it in a similar league as Witcher 3 and the latest Assassins Creed game) rather than try to invent something that wouldn't work. I also really like the protagonist so far espescially his philosophical waxing as you venture through dark London alleys.

I enjoy the game a lot but I guess you need a kind of affiliation with the setting and old vampire/classic monster movies. This is probably the best vampire game I've played since...Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain which wasn't quite the masterpiece either but still a game I really enjoyed and remember to this day.

It is an enticing setting personally, hence the interest. And Remember Me received equally tepid reception while turning out pretty good (in my opinion). Though after the Detroit reviews, I'm not taking anything with more than a pinch of barbital and amphetamine.

 

[stroopwafel]

It is an enticing setting personally, hence the interest. And Remember Me received equally tepid reception while turning out pretty good (in my opinion). Though after the Detroit reviews, I'm not taking anything with more than a pinch of barbital and amphetamine.

Yeah, I really love the setting as well and games like this don't exactly come in large supply. I actually share much of the same opinion as this Polygon review-in-progress.

https://www.polygon.com/2018/6/4/17425760/vampyr-review-pc-ps4-xbox-one

 

[sXeth]

My general impression was prettymuch the usual case for the Eurojank or AA or whatever its being called these days.

Ambition thats never quite realized, gameplay and aesthetic basics that don't quite have enough polish on them, but lacking the charm and style that some of the better indies have. Mostly these operate on having a uniquely appealing premise (which this may, for some)

Solid as a budget title, but budget is a bit of a nebulous term. For my own part, its only 5 bucks behind a AAA game here, so its on a wait list for sure. ("Budget" and indie games having both doubled or tripled in regular pricing over the last 5 years or so has been kind of a pet peeve of mine too, so)

 

[Neurotic Void Melody]

My general impression was prettymuch the usual case for the Eurojank or AA or whatever its being called these days.

Ambition thats never quite realized, gameplay and aesthetic basics that don't quite have enough polish on them, but lacking the charm and style that some of the better indies have.

Solid as a budget title, but budget is a bit of a nebulous term. For my own part, its only 5 bucks behind a AAA game here, so its on a wait list for sure. ("Budget" and indie games having both doubled or tripled in regular pricing over the last 5 years or so has been kind of a pet peeve of mine too, so)

My bad, I did a quick price search before release and they were around 50 - 30% less than an average game. Now it seems to have gone up, not sure if I had only seen some enthusiastic pre-order deals instead come to think of it. The kids will suffer for this!

 

[Gethsemani_v1legacy]

I can't tell if the game is meant to be a parody or not. Like it looks like its taking itself seriously, but then they use generic screams that you can just find in Youtube. Hell I'm pretty sure those screams were used in that terrible 80s Werewolf movie MST3K did.

They're stock screams, the sort that comes with most audio editing software these days. I mean, the trailer has the woman equivalent of the Wilhelm Scream when the protagonist bites the woman in the trailer.

 

[sXeth]

My general impression was prettymuch the usual case for the Eurojank or AA or whatever its being called these days.

Ambition thats never quite realized, gameplay and aesthetic basics that don't quite have enough polish on them, but lacking the charm and style that some of the better indies have.

Solid as a budget title, but budget is a bit of a nebulous term. For my own part, its only 5 bucks behind a AAA game here, so its on a wait list for sure. ("Budget" and indie games having both doubled or tripled in regular pricing over the last 5 years or so has been kind of a pet peeve of mine too, so)

My bad, I did a quick price search before release and they were around 50 - 30% less than an average game. Now it seems to have gone up, not sure if I had only seen some enthusiastic pre-order deals instead come to think of it. The kids will suffer for this!

I've noticed also the trend in these tier of games of playing kind of loose with the excuse of "retail parity" to sneak in a price increase at the last second too, so it may just have dialed up to match the physical copies when they hit stores (Ark for instance shot from 35-40 to full price AAA on release, to quite some uproar)

 

[Phoenixmgs_v1legacy]

The following video has me pretty interested in the game as it seems to be focused on the actual role-playing aspect, which most RPGs fail to do. I'll probably pick up the game rather soon.

 

[CritialGaming]

The following video has me pretty interested in the game as it seems to be focused on the actual role-playing aspect, which most RPGs fail to do. I'll probably pick up the game rather soon.

It's fucking trap. The game is absolutely awful.

I picked it up on release because I like vampires, and a vampire game with what looked like dark-souls combat seemed like a game right up my alley.

However....the game is mostly conversations that suck. Characters are uninteresting and seem to be designed for you to hate them so that you'll want to kill them. But the game doesn't want you to kill them, it wants you to do a bunch of random mundane shit to "get to know" them. The more you get to know them, the more exp they'll be worth when you drink their blood. But if you drink their blood the game punishes you, you loose out on quests from not only them but from other NPC's as the more people you kill the more scared the surrounding people become to the point where they'll just flat out not talk to you, or leave entirely.

So the game makes you a vampire, that can't do any vampire things without severe punishment.

The combat is also shit. The lock on doesn't work and often you will attack a few feet to the right or left of your target. Your reach isn't as long as you think it is so you will constantly wiff and get punished by enemies that will kill you in only a few attacks. You do terrible damage to enemies unless you kill friendly NPC's.

You are basically fucked no matter what you do. If you keep the NPC's happy and solve their quests and help heal them, then you are WAY underpowered for the combat (because normal quest and enemy exp sucks) Which means the combat is stupidly and frustratingly hard. But if you power yourself up by taking down NPC's then you ruin the quests and chunks of the story. Sure combat is easier, but without NPC's willing to give you quests then you have no real reason to go fight things.

It's probably the worse game I've played in a very long time.

 

[TheFinish]

The following video has me pretty interested in the game as it seems to be focused on the actual role-playing aspect, which most RPGs fail to do. I'll probably pick up the game rather soon.

It's fucking trap. The game is absolutely awful.

I picked it up on release because I like vampires, and a vampire game with what looked like dark-souls combat seemed like a game right up my alley.

However....the game is mostly conversations that suck. Characters are uninteresting and seem to be designed for you to hate them so that you'll want to kill them. But the game doesn't want you to kill them, it wants you to do a bunch of random mundane shit to "get to know" them. The more you get to know them, the more exp they'll be worth when you drink their blood. But if you drink their blood the game punishes you, you loose out on quests from not only them but from other NPC's as the more people you kill the more scared the surrounding people become to the point where they'll just flat out not talk to you, or leave entirely.

So the game makes you a vampire, that can't do any vampire things without severe punishment.

The combat is also shit. The lock on doesn't work and often you will attack a few feet to the right or left of your target. Your reach isn't as long as you think it is so you will constantly wiff and get punished by enemies that will kill you in only a few attacks. You do terrible damage to enemies unless you kill friendly NPC's.

You are basically fucked no matter what you do. If you keep the NPC's happy and solve their quests and help heal them, then you are WAY underpowered for the combat (because normal quest and enemy exp sucks) Which means the combat is stupidly and frustratingly hard. But if you power yourself up by taking down NPC's then you ruin the quests and chunks of the story. Sure combat is easier, but without NPC's willing to give you quests then you have no real reason to go fight things.

It's probably the worse game I've played in a very long time.

I actually felt that the characters (by which I mean rando NPCs) were alright, with very few being so obviously horrible you'd want to eat them.

As for the combat...I didn't find it all that challenging, even though I never consumed anybody. Sure, at some points in the game I was fighting dudes 11 levels above me, and they could two-hit me, but the dodge move's invul-frames are very forgiving once you learn to dodge when they're about to hit you, instead of when the attack animation begins. The main thing that makes a difference in combat is your weapon's quality and exploiting enemy weaknesses by using different damage types. I did that and had no trouble. In fact, I figure if you actually consume people the game would be stupidly easy, which isn't good either. For the record I completed every side-quest save 1 and ended up at level 26 or so (for reference, the last tier of abilities doesn't unlock until level 32).

The story was...alright. It's an interesting take on vampires, at least, but it's still not anything I'd call "good". What I did like was that the game doesn't make which choices are the best all that obvious, which bit me in the arse once or twice.

I actually found it to be an ejoyable game throughout, though I wish it had more of an RPG in it and a better story. I'd recommend it on a sale.