Recent reviews by AwithaS

Spirit of legendary viking warrior, killing malevolent demons in the name of the Gods in order to reach Valhalla in full glory, killed by a falling tree.

Game is great tho.

An outstanding game, with addictive gameplay, deep customization and a world filled to the brim with details and lore. The characters are lovable and the interactions between them are brilliant. The graphics are also breathtaking if your machine can run them on the higher settings. It is also very challenging and requires flawless cooperation between players to beat missions on the higher levels of difficulty. And don't get me started about the soundtrack. You can easily sink dozens upon dozens of hours into this and not get bored.

My only complaint would be the fact that the developers don't seem to know where the game is headed. Yes, they have kept the game alive with constant updates and have created one of the friendliest communities out there in the gaming industry, but they have also made some peculiar decisions in the past (most of which they have attempted to fix afterwards). However, the new DLC profession, the Grail Knight, is an oddity. On one hand I have heard it is very fun to play, but at the same time it seems disgustingly overpowered. If this was a competitive game and not a co-op, the simple addition of this class would make the game pay to win.

Either way, the game is great fun (although Grail Knights will top the leaderboards) and if you are looking for a wholesome co-op game, this is for you.

I had to upgrade my PC with an SSD and another 8GB RAM in order to play this properly.


It was worth it.

A fun, fast-paced game that rewards tactical thinking, teamwork and personal skill. The champion design is great, as well as the maps and game modes.
For its budget, I believe this is an impressive game, especially if you play it with a friend or two. Apart from the fact that it's a bit buggy at times, I can't find anything wrong with it. It's free! Give it a try!

I have just finished my first playthrough and I feel compelled to write a review (even though I don't usually do that) because I feel some of the things people complain about this game are not that big of a deal breaker as they make it to be.

Long story short
Vampyr is one of those games that even though you know it is not perfect, you simply can't stop playing it. It will always have a special place in my heart.

Story
Easily among the best stories I have seen in a video game, the story is filled with tough decisions, heart-wrenching moments and unexpected twists. The major characters (and a good part of the minor NPCs) are all very interesting and give you a sense of depth. No one is fully evil or fully benevolent, if you pay attention to them. One thing I would have liked though, is having a bit more consequence after your major decisions. Choosing to kill, spare, or turn your mortal enemy or your betrayer into a vampire should have more consequence rather than a few dialogue lines a night later. Also, I played my game as a good guy, without killing any innocents, and I didn't feel rewarded enough, apart from, again, some dialogue lines. And being a good guy in this game is terribly hard when you are 10 levels under the boss you are fighting.

Graphics
The graphics are neat and serve their purpose to create a dreadful and atmospheric setting filled with details. However, the facial animations and the textures of some of the minor NPCs are a bit off. Most of the spells and combat animations look great though!

Sound
The voice acting in this game is fantastic! However, apart from that, nothing really stands out. The sound of some of the spells is crunchy and satisfying though.

Combat
Easily the most criticized part of the game, people say it is boring, repetitive and lacking depth. To me however, the combat felt satisfying and challenging most of the time, while some of the boss fights were really something to be remembered! You have plenty of weapons to choose from, upgrade and use in different neat combos with your active and passive abilities, which you can combine in many different ways. Sure, the combat can get repetitive and I usually just skipped it when trying to quickly get from one part of the city to another (no fast travel in this game), but most of the time it felt good. I would have liked more stylish weapons though (aggressively hitting enemies with a club is a bit anti-climatic in a vampire game) and maybe a few more stealth mechanics (you can sneak behind enemies for a free stun or turn invisible to escape aggro, but nothing apart from that).

Progression
The progression in this game, although not particularly interesting (you have some nice active abilities and some useful passive abilities that increase your health, stamina, blood, bullets you carry, that kind of stuff) is tightly bond with the permanent death you can offer to almost all of the NPCs to grant you a HUGE amount of XP. Long story short, the more of a sadistic killer you are, the more you can enhance your abilities and the stronger you become, but the world also becomes more hostile around you, so you have to be prepared. I think this is a unique system that makes you think twice about your decisions.

Conclusion
If you are looking for a unique game to immerse yourself in, with an amazing story (tears may be involved), memorable characters, amazing places to explore, good progression and choices that matter (most of the time), this is for you. Just arm yourself with some patience. Take your time with the game and you will have a huge blast with it.
If you are looking for a souls-like action game where you stylishly hack and slash your way through diverse and interesting enemies, then this might not be for you. The combat is satisfying and good at times, with some great boss fights, but it alone isn't worth the game's price.

I don't ever really write reviews, but man, I feel like I OWE this game a review, because it is simply extraordinary. This game has made me feel like no other game did. It made me feel adrenaline, joy, regret and luck. I can say that it is one of my favourite games, although I have only about 70 hours of gametime by the time I am writing this.

Now, I could spend hours discussing about all the detalis in this game, from the gameplay to the community and devs. However, there are plenty of other reviews that go pretty in depth. So I decided to simply post a list of my favourite things about this game, and I will allow you to discover and experience the other details yourself.

Just to mention, there are other good and great things about this game, and also a bunch of bad things, but here is a list of what I think makes this game unique.

So, here we go:

- Immersion is this game is crucial to success. Since sound is a game mechanic, you have to fully immerse yourself into the atmosphere of the game and act as if you were personally there in order to be successful. You have to listen, to watch, to think and to act in split seconds. The astonishing graphics do a great job in helping you with this immersion I am talking about, and this whole thing will also enhance the adrenaline and other emotion rushes you will get from playing the game, especially in your first hours of gameplay.

- Gameplay is very balanced. Emphasis goes on skill, decision making and a bit of luck. Your gear and weapons can surely help you if you invest a lot in them, but if you know what you are doing you can still outplay other players with relative ease, even if you have a very cheap gear.

- Game has a lot of varierty. The gear combinations are practically endless, and no two matches are the same. Sometimes you will win out of pure luck, and other times you will feel like the best player in the world after extracting 4 bounties and killed 3 teams in the process. Other times you just die in the first 5 minutes because you scared a bunch of crows by mistake. Yeah, it goes that way, and that is why it is so damn intense.

- Game does not hold your hand. Reckless players are dead players. People may complain about campers, but those are the type of players that run around and make noise without a second thought. Here, you have to expect to worse and be ready for everything. There are no excuses for stupid mistakes.

- We are drowning in an era of games infected with micro-transactions and ads. This game has none, NONE of these, and the weapons are great, the outfits are great and are all rewarded based to a neat and straightforward progression system. Why can't more games be like this one in this aspect?

- The pace of this game is different to what we are used to nowadays. This game is not about being the fastest, it is about being the most cautious yet perseverent player. Except maybe the new quickplay gamemode, which is much more fast and intense (as it was meant to be).

- The story is shrouded in mystery, which excites the imagination of everyone. The in-game story journal is a starting point for thoughts and theories. Who are the hunters? Who/what created the monsters? Why are people hunting those monsters? This kinds of questions will tickle your imagination, if you are into lore and stories.

And the last but absolutely not the least:

- The developers and the community. I am absolutely moved by what these developers are doing based on the players' feedback and their own brilliant idea. I've seen this game grow so damn much in the half year I played it. You have no idea how much it has evolved, and it is still only in early access. I see a great future in this if things keep going the way they are right now, and I am so happy to be part of all of this.
This is why I feel so attached to this game and the people around it. I am astonished, since nowadays early access games are a joke, a trick of greedy companies to make people pay for their unfinished games. Not this one. It is worth Every. Single. Penny.

So, I encourage you to try this out. Find a way to get it, maybe a sale or something, but I assure you that after a while you will fall in love with it too. It is unlike anything I have played up until now. I hope you will get to discover the miracle that this game represents for these times of the gaming industry, and that you will see beyond the small glitches and optimization problems that will get solved in time anyway.

I realise this may have been a very personal and subjective review. I am usually a calculated and objective person, but in this case I cannot help it. I have a weakness for this game, and I felt like expressing what I felt and thought about it.

So, see you in the hunt!