Vampyr (XBO/PS4/PC)

[Ganepark32]

Something a little different from Dontnod, the devs behind Remember Me and Life is Strange.

 

 

Vampyr, the new Action-RPG from acclaimed game-development studio Dontnod, explores protagonist Jonathan Reid’s moral plight in the E3 trailer. Set in London, 1918, Vampyr promises to offer a unique and deeply immersive experience with a strong and engaging narrative steeped in vampire mythology. The E3 trailer unveiled today introduces the nightmare your hero must live every day now he has become a real monster.

 

You play as a veteran of World War I, Doctor Jonathan Reid as he tries to come to terms with his transition, and the hunger that drives him to kill. Vampyr includes a unique level-up system that plays on this narrative conundrum, where huge amounts of experience points can be gained by feeding on innocent people, compared to combat. As a doctor, you must decide how many lives must be sacrificed in order for you to find a cure for this “disease”, the ultimate goal of Jonathan.

 

Taking lives in London is not easy. Killing too many in a district may cause its infrastructure to collapse and turn into disarray. Every single life will also have a butterfly effect on the other NPCs surrounding them; a merchant’s wife could be killed and he could decide to close shop and leave town. Every life you take away will have consequences for the city and the people around them: Cursed be the choice!

 

So the moral choices/consequences of Life is Strange with combat that'll probably play out a little like Remember Me, though hopefully more refined. Certainly sounds and looks interesting and nice to see them going down a different route again with the setting.

 

It's out next year and I'm guessing there'll be some hands-on coming out of E3 in the coming days so something to keep an eye on. As a big fan of their previous two titles, it's something I'll be keeping an eye on.

[Hero-of-Time]

First gameplay video has arrived.

 

[Hero-of-Time]

[drahkon]

 

Those facial animations...

[Ganepark32]

So this is out tomorrow. It had kind of slipped my mind but over the last 2 weeks of so I've seen countless ads for it on various sites, tho I don't think it's doing much to drum up interest sadly.

That being said, there seems to be quite a few copies out in the wild and initial impressions from those playing suggests that it's a solid game. Combat seems to be the main stickler as you need to us lock on because of some poor camera controls but it's largely positive impressions I'm seeing (even on GameFaqs of all places). Seems to be some variety in how you can build your characters skills and actual consequences for biting/not biting characters that go beyond simple black or white areas.

It's sounding good to me anyway and I'll likely be picking it up tomorrow. Not expecting a AAA experience, rather a solid game that marries some of the mechanics from both if Dontnod's previous games. I only hope that it doesn't have the same issues sales wise that Remember Me did as I believe that released around the similar time in June, right before E3 and was largely forgotten.

Anyone else looking at picking it up?

[dan-likes-trees]

2 hours ago, Ganepark32 said:

So this is out tomorrow. It had kind of slipped my mind but over the last 2 weeks of so I've seen countless ads for it on various sites, tho I don't think it's doing much to drum up interest sadly.

That being said, there seems to be quite a few copies out in the wild and initial impressions from those playing suggests that it's a solid game. Combat seems to be the main stickler as you need to us lock on because of some poor camera controls but it's largely positive impressions I'm seeing (even on GameFaqs of all places). Seems to be some variety in how you can build your characters skills and actual consequences for biting/not biting characters that go beyond simple black or white areas

It's sounding good to me anyway and I'll likely be picking it up tomorrow. Not expecting a AAA experience, rather a solid game that marries some of the mechanics from both if Dontnod's previous games. I only hope that it doesn't have the same issues sales wise that Remember Me did as I believe that released around the similar time in June, right before E3 and was largely forgotten.

Anyone else looking at picking it up?

Had my eye on it for a while but a little put off by the previews.. Holding out hope though - the trailers and general vibe have some nice Blood and Wine witcher vibes. I could definitely live with shonky combat if the writing is good or reactive... Looking forward to seeing the reviews roll in!

[dan-likes-trees]

On 6/4/2018 at 4:17 PM, Ganepark32 said:

So this is out tomorrow. It had kind of slipped my mind but over the last 2 weeks of so I've seen countless ads for it on various sites, tho I don't think it's doing much to drum up interest sadly.

That being said, there seems to be quite a few copies out in the wild and initial impressions from those playing suggests that it's a solid game. Combat seems to be the main stickler as you need to us lock on because of some poor camera controls but it's largely positive impressions I'm seeing (even on GameFaqs of all places). Seems to be some variety in how you can build your characters skills and actual consequences for biting/not biting characters that go beyond simple black or white areas.

It's sounding good to me anyway and I'll likely be picking it up tomorrow. Not expecting a AAA experience, rather a solid game that marries some of the mechanics from both if Dontnod's previous games. I only hope that it doesn't have the same issues sales wise that Remember Me did as I believe that released around the similar time in June, right before E3 and was largely forgotten.

Anyone else looking at picking it up?

Did you get it in the end? Despite mixed reviews it sounds pretty cool to me.. a definite victim of an industry that values polish and high production values rather than ideas and good writing. Got cult hit written all over it!

 

That said my backlog is too big at the moment; going to hold off for the time being..

[Ganepark32]

22 hours ago, dan-likes-trees said:

Did you get it in the end? Despite mixed reviews it sounds pretty cool to me.. a definite victim of an industry that values polish and high production values rather than ideas and good writing. Got cult hit written all over it!

 

That said my backlog is too big at the moment; going to hold off for the time being..

I did end up getting it but haven't had much time to try it so far due to various things happening IRL. What I've played so far has been interesting. It's obviously not a AAA game as it's a bit rough around the edges visually and with the combat mechanics but the micro-management of character relations and districts looks to be pretty in depth and I can't wait to delve into them more the more I play. I've yet to come across any major decisions yet but I've heard there are some genuine consequences for choosing to go one way or the other which can help or hinder districts and your play through the game, making it more difficult. That seems to be the major mechanic and from most reviews, it's being praised so really intrigued go see that in action.

As reviews have said, the combat is a bit wonky, especially the camera during it for locking on and changing between enemies. The animation isn't great during these bits and there doesn't seem to be much weight behind the combat but it's fine. Would've liked if it had the weight of Remember Me but maybe it'll change once I unlock more skills.

The game world is great though, they've done a great job of creating an authentic setting and the character work so far has been good. Hopefully as I explore more, it'll develop further.

So yeah, early days but interesting so far. Can't wait to see more. The reviews were pretty much as expected, some a bit more harsh than they should have been, but it's not a bad game. A diamond in the rough which'll find it's cult audience. I'd liken it to say the quality of another game I completed recently, Sniper Elite 3, in that there's some rough to take with the smooth but if you can overlook that, there's a decent game there.

If uncertain, I'd say wait for a sale. I imagine the game will be discounted in the weeks after E3. It'll probably fall into the same trap as the likes of Bethesda's games in that respect.

[Ganepark32]

This kind of went by the wayside while E3 was happening and thanks to that shadow drop of Hollow Knight but I've been plugging away at this over the last couple of days and I can thankfully say in nearing the end of what has become a real slog of a game.

The excitement that was there in the early hours of play has completely fine and has been replaced with frustration at how poorly optimised the game is, how poor the combat is and just how middle of the road it all feels.

It's been out for 3 weeks and hasn't received any new patches but the game constantly loads while walking the street, grinding to a halt and displaying "Loading" on the right hand side for anywhere from 5 to 10 seconds. Loading generally is an issue as it seems to take forever, upwards of 30 seconds. And there's loads of pop in as a result of the poor optimisation during the loading. It's in a poor state and desperately needs improvements on the optimisation front.

As all the reviews have pointed out, the combat is pretty basic but it's just poorly done and you're constantly forced to fight your way through the streets with enemies that respawn when going from an interior location to the streets or after sleeping to the next night. Enemies are constantly higher levelled than you and while you can quickly dispatch of some through spamming your attack button, if there's more than one then it really becomes annoying. There have been some comparisons by those elsewhere to it being like the SoulsBorne games but it's no where near as well designed on that front.

The story has really failed to pull me and some of it has been down right trite I've felt. One of the early "twists" had me rolling my eyes and asking why did they bother with that. And the social management of districts has become frustrating as well as there's no fast travel to go between hideouts and every time you sleep to the next night, each district will have more people getting ill that you have to go and give medicine to. Heal them and the next night the other residents will get sick. With the difficulty of the enemies and the combat, the idea that you can play it how you want really isn't realised as it more or less pushes you to feast on people if you don't want to slog through boss battles and stand a chance. God knows what it'd be like doing a pacifist run. And ramifications for feasting don't really exist from what I've seen.

It's a shame but Dontnod's ambition has got the better of them. There's good intentions here but poorly realised. Remember Me was better for it's combat and unique ideas and Life is Strange was better for narrative. It doesn't get me hyped for their next non-LiS fame, Twin Mirror.