Vampyr - Almost Half A Million

PCGamesN reports that Vampyr has sold close to half a million in a month.

Vampyr, the gothic action-RPG from Life is Strange developer Dontnod, has sold 450,000 copies since its release on June 4. That figure is across all formats - so Xbox One, PS4, and PC via Steam - but it's still pretty good going for a mid-sized game from a studio whose biggest hit until now was a quirky episodic adventure.

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Thanks Farflame!

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It's was OK, but flawed. Combat got a bit too tough for my liking.

As weird as the writing was in some regards, the writing, for me, is what stands out in this game and makes it worth it.

More than I expected. One of the better "new" studios, surprised Microsoft didn't make a push here.

It's hard for me to get excited about these RPGs that have "one-off" lore, i.e. they are not based on something that has years of fleshed out lore behind it, a la Dungeons & Dragons, Vampire the Masqeurade/World of Darkness, etc.. etc.. Nowadays I just find it hard to get interested in these types of settings that were essentially made in a few months to a year for a single game.

Tyranny had that effect on me. I felt Obsidian should have based that game in their new Pillars of Eternity world, developing it and expanding it as some "new D&D" type of setting, rather than creating a fantasy setting that was essentially cooked up in a few months or a year, etc..

I dunno, I guess I'm strange in that way. I'm hoping more deep RPGs are built on already-vast lore. But definitely wake me up when the new VtM or WtA RPG comes out.

That would of been impossible. Tyranny was created as Paradox intellectual property. It had been in concept since 2009.

I thought Tyranny had excellent lore.

Vampyre is on my list, so eventually it'll be a half million and one.

Barghest said:

It's was OK, but flawed. Combat got a bit too tough for my liking.

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I agree. It was decent with it's fair share of flaws. The atmosphere was great, with a lousy story but the characters were really well written. But to get the good ending, you couldn't kill anyone. I mean not even serial killers. That pissed me off. Combat was okay.

It was like Dishonoured trying to funnel you to a good/bad ending depending on how you play. Even though I loved talking to the characters and unlocking hints, it felt pointless if you were playing the no-kill route.

Still not sure this game is for me, but it's definitely well made and unique in some ways.

I would have liked more exploration and RPG elements and less mediocre combat. I'm undecided on the amount of dialogue - but it really does feel like a certain other game in that way, that I will neglect to mention.

Glad to hear it's going well.

Mosaic said:

I thought Tyranny had excellent lore.

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Excellent compared to what, though? If you compare it to Goliaths like Dungeons & Dragons it's impossible to call it excellent. Of course, D&D has literally decades of a head start advantage over other RPG lore, so it's not a fair comparison, but that is kind of my point.

I'd much rather devs start building huge, consistent lore worlds, even if they have to do it piece by piece, slowly, or use deeply established settings rather than cook up what are essentially Microwave Worlds for a single game that, if you're lucky, might see a sequel set in the same setting. At least Pillars of Eternity is giving the illusion that it has the breadth of a setting like D&D. With so many RPGs out there it's getting harder for me to get excited for games that feel like there is less development to their worlds than others. But that's just me.

And 2009 or not, Tyranny could have been adapted to fit the lore of the Pillars universe at some point. It could have been an IWD to Pilllars' BG. I feel that was a missed opportunity. I want to invest in a game world knowing there's much more to it than meets the eye.

Examples. Kingmaker, Bard's Tale, Numenera, Cyberpunk 2077, Werewolf the Apocalypse, Elder Scrolls, Planescape/D&D, etc.. RPG devs, IMO, should be investing in new, deep and interesting settings just as much, if not more, than the actual games they are making in the setting.

It sounds more like it just wasn't what you were hoping for. I personally found it more engrossing than Pillars.

Numenera is a great stylistic setting but I'd say it's the poster boy for presenting itself as being deeper than it is. Werewolf the Apocalypse however is a truly original IP that's waiting to be tapped. Maybe when 90s nostalgia starts hitting hard, we're overdue for it.

Fluent said:

And 2009 or not, Tyranny could have been adapted to fit the lore of the Pillars universe at some point. It could have been an IWD to Pilllars' BG. I feel that was a missed opportunity. I want to invest in a game world knowing there's much more to it than meets the eye.

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Again, that would of been impossible. Obsidian doesn't own Tyranny.