Now available on the Nintendo Switch, Vampyr was originally released in 2018. In Vampyr, Dontnod Entertainment proves that it doesn’t shy away from new ideas. Vampyr feels like a departure from the usual Dontnod fair, which includes Remember Me and Life is Strange. The studio’s willingness to experiment is felt throughout the game.
History
Set against the backdrop of the 1918-1920 Spanish flu pandemic, Vampyr follows the newly coined vampire Dr. Jonathan Reid. Left for dead in a mass grave, he wakes up as a vampire. In a fit of supernatural bloodlust, he accidentally kills his sister.
Reid finds himself alone and hunted down the rain-soaked streets of early 20th century London. He soon finds himself drawn into the machinations of powerful vampires and ancient secret societies, both human and otherwise.
There are also many mundane citizens (but only marginally less conspiratorial) who populate the streets of London. Each character has their own relationships, personalities and history, until Reid opens their throats to fuel his dark powers.
Sanitary system
The game’s only selling point is the district health system. The feature is somewhat reminiscent of Arkane Studios’ Dishonored chaos mechanic.
Killing an NPC and performing other evil deeds causes each of the four districts to deteriorate further as disease and unrest take hold. As the district’s health declines, people die or disappear, enemies become more numerous, and dangerous creatures spread to new areas of the city.
Unlike Dishonored, however, an effort has been made to flesh out individual citizens. Players feel that their actions affect the lives of real people rather than an abstract global variable.
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