'Vampyr' News: Dontnod Details 'Bittersweet Poignancy' of Soul-Feeding in New Gameplay Footage For Developer Diary Entry
The wait for Dontnod Entertainment's "Vampyr" becomes bearable as the studio updates fans of their progress with developer diaries. The penultimate episode of the four-part developer series titled "Human After All" was recently released. In it, players will learn more about the folks they will meet in 1918 London who they will end up feeding on.
Dontnod said that each individual has been "hand-crafted to feel as human as possible." Apart from being literal food for the soul, the citizens in "Vampyr" are more crucial than players would think in terms of the gameplay and narrative.
In the game, players are tasked to help protagonist Jonathan Reid unlock new abilities and become more powerful by racking up experience points or XP.
However, doing the quests and defeating enemies in battle can only do so much. The best way for Reid to evolve in "Vampyr" is by killing and feeding on the citizens. As detailed in the official description of the "Human After All" episode, "players are able to increase the XP from each citizen, by curing their illnesses and gaining more insight into their lives and feelings – but the price can be immense."
"Vampyr" narrative director Stéphane Beauverger also reveals that players will hear the dying thoughts of every person they feed on, making the experience "bittersweet."
She explained, "This gives a bittersweet poignancy to every death, as Dontnod wants players to not consider these citizens as nameless blood bags. In addition, each dead citizen will erode the status of the district they belonged to, with too many resulting in the population evacuating districts and causing them to be overrun by Skals and worse."
"Human After All" contains gameplay footage from "Vampyr" to better show the soul-feeding in the game. Players can also check out the first and second episode of the developer series titled "Making Monsters" and "Architects of the Obscure," respectively.
"Vampyr" will be released on the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC this spring.
