Semi-Open World and More Confirmed for Vampyr

Published: February 12, 2017 12:21 PM /

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Vampyr Game Screenshot 1

It has been a while since Dontnod revealed the game Vampyr to the public, but some new information has finally been given out about the upcoming action-RPG.

Stephane Beauvanger, the Narrative Director of Vampyr, revealed some interesting tidbits of information about the games overall size and story progression in a few interviews collected by Dualshockers.

The biggest piece of info is the game world will be, in Beauvanger's words, semi-open world. It will not follow the more traditional open-world style we see in titles like Elder Scrolls. Instead, several locations in the game's setting, early 20th century London, will be blocked off due to storyline reasons. The city itself has been re-created based on historical documents Dontnod was able to uncover, to attempt to recreate the atmosphere of London in the year 1918.

With the city size put in perspective, Beauvanger also details some of the more interesting details about Vampyr, such as the citizens of London being interconnected with each other in various ways. Beauvanger notes that there will be 60 different citizens in the game, and every citizen will have a name, identity, friends, jobs, and relationships with each other in some form, giving the community much more dynamic play.

This also ties into how side-quests and districts work in Vampyr. Citizens will be the main side-quest providers but if the player kills too many citizens, side-quest content will be locked off. This also starts what Beauvanger coins 'critical health status' for the city district you are in. As noted from previous presentations, killing too many innocent citizens will lead to districts literally crumbling; so merchants, for example, will pick up and leave while more guards, criminals, monsters and other vampires take their place. You also can't reload a save after you kill someone, as the game saves automatically each time an NPC dies.

This may pose a challenge for players as one of the best ways to level up your character in Vampyr is to kill people for XP. Beauvanger notes that more pacifist playthroughs might result in a harder time getting through the game, simply on the grounds that the player will be under leveled.

Outside of killing NPCs, we are given some minor details about some of the vampire factions and the skill-sets the player will have in customizing their own character. The three skill sets are known as the shadow vampire, who are stealthy and use powers to manipulate victims, the blood vampire, who control victims by using a form of blood magic, or the instinct vampire, which is a ferocious, aggressive style of play that hacks and slashes through victims.

The factions include at least two vampire clans, who Beauvanger doesn't name specifically. The first are described as "unwanted children of the vampire," who hide in the sewers. The second are aristocratic vampires who secretly rule London, but according to Beauvanger, are "immortal assholes" as they servants of the crown and extremely conservative.

Vampyr was first revealed back in E3 2015 and has since then has slowly gained interest for its unique world setting and premise, playing Jonathan Reid, a Doctor who is a newly turned vampire in early 20th century London. Dontnod Entertainment, the team behind Life is Strange and Remember Me, is expecting Vampyr to release in the winter of 2017.

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| Staff Writer

A longtime player of games, creator of worlds, and teacher of minds. Robert has worked many positions over the years, from college professor to education… More about Robert

More Info About This Game
Learn more about Vampyr
Game Page Vampyr
Release Date
June 5, 2018 (Calendar)
Genre
Action RPG