Vampyr

In 1918 London, doctor Jonathan Reid returns from war newly turned into a vampire while influenza spreads through the city. He investigates his condition and treats residents as a physician, yet their blood can strengthen him. His feeding choices affect the people and districts he is trying to protect.

Vampyr takes place in London in 1918, amid the Spanish flu outbreak. Jonathan Reid is a physician who has just returned from the First World War and been transformed into a vampire. He is trying to understand his new condition and the origin of the plague while the city faces sickness, vampire hunters, undead Skals and other supernatural threats. The central conflict is built into his two roles: Reid can examine and treat people as a doctor, but feeding on them can provide the power he needs to survive. The story follows him through neighborhoods under pressure from disease and violence, where encounters with individual residents and the consequences of his actions shape the city around him.

The people of London are part of the game’s progression system as well as its story. Reid meets residents, learns about their lives and investigates the conditions affecting them. As a doctor, he can examine sick people and prepare specific medicines to cure their illnesses. Healing improves an individual’s quality of life and contributes to the condition of their district; a healthier person can also yield a greater reward if Reid later chooses to feed on them. These actions pull in opposite directions, so the medical routine is not simply a separate side activity. Getting to know someone gives Reid information relevant to deciding whether to help, spare or prey on that person, and the town’s interconnected citizens make those decisions part of a wider social picture.

Feeding is the most consequential way to gain strength. Reid can choose to leave citizens alive or embrace them, taking their blood to obtain a substantial experience boost that makes combat easier. Each of London’s four main districts has its own health status, affected by how many residents are healthy, sick or dead. As a district deteriorates, shop prices rise and illness becomes more common; if its status falls below a critical point, the district is lost, its ordinary residents, shops and citizen side quests disappear, and enemies take over. Losing districts does not prevent the main story from being completed, but it changes what remains of London and the people Reid can encounter. The choice to feed therefore connects character growth to civic damage rather than offering a cost-free upgrade.

When fighting cannot be avoided, Reid combines ordinary weapons with vampiric attacks. Melee and ranged weapons let him strike at close quarters or keep distance, while attacking and dodging build the Blood Gauge used to unleash supernatural abilities. Reid can use attacks such as impaling an enemy on a spike or draining blood from a distance; the latter also fits the broader struggle to keep Reid’s human and vampiric impulses in balance. Some encounters can be approached through open combat, but Reid can also stalk targets or use his speed and agility to avoid a fight. This gives the player choices about positioning and engagement as well as which abilities to bring into a battle, while hunters and supernatural creatures provide different threats across the city.

Experience unlocks a nonlinear skill tree, and Reid can equip abilities in an order that shapes his combat approach. Skills can also develop along different paths: the Spring ability, which rushes him toward a distant enemy, can be evolved either to deal damage across an area or to grant temporary invulnerability. That kind of choice changes what a skill contributes instead of merely increasing a number. Players who feed on residents can earn experience more quickly, but the boost comes with consequences for district stability and its population. Players who spare people must rely more heavily on combat-earned growth and the abilities they have unlocked. In either case, the skill choices affect how Reid manages enemies, blood and risk in later encounters.

Investigation also depends on learning how London’s residents are connected. Every citizen has a name, story, relationships and secrets; Reid can gather hints through observation skills and discussions to learn who people are and whom they know. The population includes nurses, doctors, police, preachers, journalists, soldiers and people in many other social positions. Paying attention to what Reid observes and hears gives context for the people he encounters, building a picture of their place in the city before he decides whether to help or hunt them. This clue-gathering layer gives conversations and observation a concrete investigative role alongside the medical work: understanding a person means learning about both their own circumstances and the ties they have to others.

Feeding is the most valuable source of experience, but it is not the only route for developing Reid. Healing sick citizens and completing side quests can also grant XP, though this approach requires more time spent exploring London. Refusing to feed makes the game harder because combat difficulty is linked to Reid’s evolution, yet it is possible to finish the game without preying on citizens. This creates a progression path built around investigation and medical work rather than the faster gains offered by blood. A player following it still needs to find enough experience to improve Reid’s abilities, but earns it through the slower work of treating residents and pursuing their stories.