Vampyr
Best RPGs of Q2 2018
DONTNOD has made a name for themselves with their critically-acclaimed narrative adventure Life is Strange, but Vampyr is a far cry from the teen-focused drama. In Vampyr, you play as Jonathan E. Reid, a doctor returning to London from the front of World War I. Arriving in the dreary city Jonathan finds an outbreak of the Spanish flu, strange murders, and the strange reality that he’s been killed and turned into a vampire.
Jonathan now has to grapple between his duty as a doctor and his newfound bloodlust, and this idea plays directly into gameplay. You can kill practically any NPC in the world and gain their blood as experience, however, doing so may completely remove quests and even sections of the story. Completing quests for characters can increase their blood quality resulting in more experience, so you need to play a balancing act and make some tough choices on who you want to keep alive. Vampyr’s oppressive atmosphere helps nail the tone of the game, and while it’s Souls-style combat may not be exceptional it’s serviceable, while the engaging story is what continuously draws you along. Vampyr received a 4/5 here at Twinfinite, and it’s easily one of the sleeper hits of the year so far.
