Vampyr game Review: The City That Never Sleeps
Vampyr: tumultuous journey to the vampire kingdomWaited for long months by fans of vampiric adventures, the latest addition to the French studio DONTNOD is now released into the wild and left to fend for itself. Concept atypical to the bone, the work skillfully mixes the very real and infamous story of the great epidemic of Spanish flu with esoteric folklore, a delicious cocktail but which is unfortunately tasted in a sometimes coarse setting ...
A PITCH AS INFERNAL AS TASTEFUL
Vampyr: tumultuous journey to the vampire kingdomWe begin this adventure in the shoes of Jonathan Reid, a doctor in the upscale districts of London. Died recently in strange circumstances, the latter accesses from the first scene of the game to a whole new life, in the guise of a vampire. Thrown into one of the many mass graves in London decimated both by the Great War and by the Spanish flu, our "hero" will be hunted from the first moments of life by the militia of Priwen, a secret society which is trying to eradicate evil esoteric that eats away at the city. The latter is made up of a few districts, linked together by various access points and separated by areas of lawlessness, where creatures prowl at night. Over time, you will have the heavy task of exploring your world, and getting to know the sixty or so "important" NPCs that you will have to find and potentially help if that is your objective. The purpose of your quest? Find out who your creator is, take revenge on him, and cure the strange epidemic that turns the sick into real monsters ...
Vampyr: tumultuous journey to the vampire kingdom
Because yes, where Vampyr draws its originality, it is in the importance of the decisions that we make. DONTNOD obliges, we will note in the DNA of the title a strong moral implication of the player, who will have to decide, as immortal, if he deigns to give importance to the lives of the members of a district or, on the contrary, charm them and kill them discreetly to collect precious experience points ... It is by this windfall that we will gain in skills and strength, two essential weapons to be up to par during the many battles that the adventure involves . Side quests, main quests, crafting, trade, talent tree, open world, branching dialogues, the title is adorned with all the essential assets for the development of a good big narrative Action-RPG. And if the whole is rather successful, we will however remain on our hunger in several respects.A VAMPIRE WHO WANTS YOU GOOD
Vampyr: tumultuous journey to the vampire kingdomKnow in the preamble that the different districts of London all have dedicated citizens, all linked to the influence of a "pillar citizen", a man or a woman on whom the district counts so that the area remains roughly livable for some civilians present. If the pillar dies, the quarter immediately sinks into limbo. Same observation if too many people die by your bloody "embraces" or by disappearance. Over the course of battles and quests, you will accumulate XP which you can use while resting in a bed, which will send you to a skill tree allowing you to strengthen yourself and learn new techniques. While you sleep, a day will go by and everyone's afflictions will potentially worsen, which will decrease the health level of the different neighborhoods. So it's up to you, Dr. Reid, to do the dirty work and get components to make various medicines to treat fatigue, asthma, lung disease and other concerns that your flock will face.
Vampyr: tumultuous journey to the vampire kingdom
The advantage of such a maneuver, at first glance secondary for a vampire in times of crisis, is that the blood of your citizens will be of better quality if they are in good health. Each of them will therefore grant you more experience if you maintain a relationship of trust with them and will end up winning the jackpot by killing them, even if it is possible to avoid this. All this goes through dialogue and by going back and forth from one NPC to another, just to advance their threads and therefore to unlock "clues" relating to their psyche or their past. We therefore recommend that you fully immerse yourself in the districts, to advance as much as possible the stories of certain NPCs that you want to chew, and to feast on their blood in order to earn enough points to effectively mount your talent tree. On arrival, you will be strong enough to face the whole world in combat, a part of the game also not free from defects.A LIMITING AND LIMITED COMBAT SYSTEM
Vampyr: tumultuous journey to the vampire kingdomThought like an Action-RPG classic, the combat system will force you to master targeting, dodging, your opponents' paterns and your vampiric skills (two classics and one ultimate). On the other hand, it is the poverty of possibilities that will make the battles of this Vampyr relatively redundant and ultimately quite simple. Indeed, if you have at the beginning the choice to invest in several attacks and defenses in your tree, the logic will force you very quickly to "improve" rather than to diversify to avoid the mess of experience.
Vampyr: tumultuous journey to the vampire kingdom
The observation after 25 hours of play is quite sad, we used only 3 magic attacks during the whole game and did not stop fortifying the magic, the points of life, the endurance of the hero and his blood stock. This last gauge, which one could believe essential in a game of vampires is in reality quite optional insofar as the players will very quickly made to put in secondary weapon a kind of sampling knife, which makes it possible to restore blood . This commodity, particularly useful for fueling vampiric powers, will allow you, thanks to a very useful spell, to convert blood into life points, making most fights far too simple.Vampyr: tumultuous journey to the vampire kingdom
We therefore recommend that you try to preserve your neighborhoods as much as possible in order to counterbalance this abundance of somewhat repetitive fights by the intrigues of citizens and the exploration of lore. Unfortunately, the main plot will often put you in the face of ethical choices, which is not a bad thing in itself, but which will lead too often, with a little excess of roleplay in the role of the disillusioned vampire, on pure closure and simple of the districts concerned.BEAUTIFUL ATMOSPHERE
Vampyr: tumultuous journey to the vampire kingdomDespite its shortcomings (always longer to evoke than the qualities), Vampyr remains anchored in our minds after finishing it, and this brand mark is largely due to the very special atmosphere that emerges of the title. Sometimes borrowed from Dracula, sometimes inspired by Interview with a Vampire, the adventures of Jonathan Reid have a certain charm and resonate in our minds, even after our playing sessions. This echo is no doubt due to the subtle and distinguished melodies composed by Olivier Derivière which completely seized what made the irresistible charm of the creatures which one puts here in scene. From the choice of instruments to the compositions, including the few moments "out of time" that allow the B.O., there is nothing to complain about: everything is perfect. Add to that English dubbing of the most beautiful effect and you get an excellent soundtrack for the title.
A FOB WATCH BUT NO GPS
Vampyr: tumultuous journey to the vampire kingdomNow let's talk about level design after having discussed the concept of neighborhoods and their intimate connection with the NPCs you will come across. First, know that if the goal was to reproduce the sinuous, even almost labyrinthine, aspect of the streets of London: the bet is fully successful. We will get lost more than once in mazes and alleys that all look alike, and we will quickly regret the lack of fast travel mechanics between neighborhoods, where even the absence of mini-map, forcing the player to constantly check on the menu card if it is on the right track. Sometimes, even the junctions between neighborhoods will be blocked until you get a key to clear the way, a logical decision that avoids that we find ourselves in difficult areas from the start but which results in the very frustrating feeling to have taken the wrong route and to have to change the route.
A RICH AND EFFICIENT LORE
Vampyr: tumultuous journey to the vampire kingdomWe will also notice an impressive number of readings and dialogues available, all moored at a fascinating period of our History, enriched with the most fantasized and paradoxically the rarest myths in video games. Diaries, newspaper clippings, posters, banned textbooks or history books, there is plenty to do if you like to soak up a rich lore. And if it's the dialogues that connect you the most, know that the sixty NPCs all have their double history, their desires, but also their little secrets, which will have to be discovered.
Vampyr: tumultuous journey to the vampire kingdom
We focus on their experiences, we gladly deviate from our route to go and complete the surveys they entrust to us, we reflect for several seconds before taking their lives, forced or simply amused to amputate the neighborhood of a character emblematic, linked to other inhabitants in one way or another. Often even, after killing them, their last words make us regret our actions and it is with a little pinch in the heart that we open the last bulwark of their intimacy, thanks to a key found on their corpse, or that we read their latest intentions, lying on the recovered paper in their pocket.
At this level, the work of research, personification and writing is excellent. We regret, however, that only "important" NPCs are present in the city because it must be admitted, London with its sixty characters wandering in streets surrounded by monsters would have the merit of appearing more alive. In a sense, the city is here like the game, imperfect but devilishly bewitching.
The notes
+ Positive points
A black universe that engulfs us in its intrigue for 20 to 30 hours
A wonderfully dark and successful soundtrack
Getting lost in the intrigue of the sixty NPCs
Dozens and dozens of dense readings on the plague, the Spanish flu, war and esotericism
A system of choice that often makes us hesitate and reflect
-Negative points
Redundant battles and often perfectable game systems
Graphically rather limited
The labyrinthine level design, without fast travel and without mini-map
"Morally bad" decisions drastically punctuate the content of the game
Quite a few branches
With its original concept and its sometimes archaic biases in terms of game design, Vampyr annoys as much as it makes you dream. By leaving free will to the player, DONTNOD offers him the possibility of making London a sterile ground, strewn with fights not really inspired. Such a moral path, although possible and taken into account, is to be avoided at all points on Vampyr because it would deprive you of the best the game has to offer: its very special atmosphere and its NPCs. A hallucinatory universe, wedged between war, disease and esotericism, the world of Vampyr offers us thirty hours of reading, dialogues and quests, from which we emerge satisfied but inevitably disappointed with certain mechanics. A good game, which would still deserve more care in terms of the consistency of its different systems.
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