Recent reviews by Dvsilverwing♥/♡

*Post completion amendments at the end of the review*

So I've put about 5 hours into the game so far. I can say honestly, that I enjoy the game so far. A lot of the reviews I see that are negative are expecting one of two things: that the game is as roleplay heavy in the vampire element as Vampire: The Masquerade (Bloodline, I assume), or that the game will be similar to Bloodborne in environment. This is not a niche game, which the former two mentioned games absolutely are.

This is a very casual RPG with a vampire theme. It is Assassin's Creed 4 combat with a Vampire story that has some Sherlock Holme's detective-y elements to it, with the addition of some Far Cry 3/4/5 style very basic crafting. If you want hardcore vampire roleplay, you won't like this game. If you want hardcore unforgiving combat, you won't like this game. If you want a casual RPG you can play and enjoy, take in the story and some of the free-roam options as well as the consequences of interactions with other NPC's while not being too unforgiving with player choices, then you will probably like this game. That being said, I always recommend checking out gameplay footage to make sure it's something in the style of what you may enjoy.

Anyone who thinks a mainstream, triple A game will be as roleplay heavy as Vampire: The Masquerade is completely delusional. Know what you're signing up for and be competent when it comes to what audience the game is trying to serve with its design choices. I enjoy the simple but fun combat, the story so far, and the lengthy NPC interactions (which often unlock additional interactions with other NPC's for investigative story purposes). Many of the negative reviews are people who have unrealistic expectations of what a triple A vampire game is going to be, don't worry about them if you aren't an extremist when it comes to roleplay or RPG leveling elements.

Edit: Someone messaged me and told me "Vampyr isn't a triple A game, you should amend your review!". Okay, sorry, just substitute the phrase "mainstream and charging a triple A price".

Post completion edit: Alright, this game is far less open world than I think they kind of played it up to be. That being said, it was insanely story driven with some mild open world backtracking. I would compare it more to something like Gothic than I would an Elder Scrolls or anything like that... and that's not necessarily a bad thing. The story kept me interested in the main questline while still letting me do side quests and activities here and there, and for me that's not something a lot of sandbox-style open world RPG's can do.

The main reason to pass on this game if you're reading reviews to make a decision on purchasing, is if you A) really wanted a super vampire-centric deep intricate roleplay system to the game, or B) wanted a massively open world sandbox style vampire RPG. You won't get either of those things, but I think the RPG elements involved are satisfactory for most people and the story is enough to warrant a slightly more focused gameplay style.

Maybe one day it'll be as good as Hell Let Loose. Maybe if I just put another 600 hours in. Maybe I'll see V10 before I kick the bucket.

You know what my father said to me before he kicked the bucket? He said to me... "Son, wanna see how far I can kick this bucket?" and I'll never forget it.

The third and last in the series (both by release date and chronologically), Call of Pripyat is by far the most polished vanilla game in the series. Unlike the prior two, in which a vanilla playthrough of the game was... bearable, while mods made them excellent, Call of Pripyats vanilla playthrough is perfectly fine, although mods still greatly improve the game. The story continues, and although starts a separate storyline (of sorts) it does tie in to Strelok's own storyline, and with that it indirectly ties in to that of Scar's.

Much like the previous two, mods can absolutely change your experience with this game, whether you're just downloading mods to help optimize the game or change it completely, Call of Pripyat has far more complete overhaul style mods than the last two, almost turning it into a different game. Misery, for example, is probably one of if not the most well known of then, which turns Call of Pripyat into a hardcore survival game that will truly test you. This, again, not only allows for a user to tailor the gameplay to their preference (and its performance to their rig), but also adds a ton of replayability.

Much like the last two in the series it is excellent with tons of replayability and a great story to boot, worth every penny.

The second game in the series, but the first chronologically (being a prequel), this game is by far the most underrated of the series. 9/10, if you ask a S.T.A.L.K.E.R's least favorite game in the series... it's this one, it gets a lot of hate for the fact that on release it was very unoptimized and buggy and there really wasn't any workaround for it. But now, of course, like any other game in the series, a ton of mods are available for us to choose from and almost all of them include bug fixes and optimization features. Some of them stop there, upgrading the graphics a little, optimizing the game for you, and fixing common bugs and issues. Others, however, expand on the open faction system that this prequel provides. Unlike in Shadow of Chernobyl, this game allows you to interact openly and work with the factions outside of their main quest lines, going as far as joining them after reaching a certain status; and that's not just Duty and Freedom, that's almost any faction in the game.

The story, while not expanding too much on the events its predecessor, provide a little insight into what was going on in Shadow of Chernobyl and why it was happening, as well as revealing to you (Scar) information that Strelok did not know at the time. Don't get me wrong, Strelok is a cool guy, but Scar is probably my favorite character of the series. Either way, don't ignore this game because of earlier setbacks and whatnot, with the mods you have available now you can experience the game in almost a completely vanilla state (if you so wish) with all of the bugs and unoptimized mess fixed and cleaned up.

Again, an excellent series; the story, atmosphere, characters, and mod variety all make it worth its price. Tons of replayability to be had.

The first of the series, and coming second chronologically (Clear Sky being a prequel), Shadow of Chernobyl also feels like the most unpolished of the series, but don't let that stop you from buying the game. Not only is it still playable in its vanilla state, but any real S.T.A.L.K.E.R. will tell you that what really makes or breaks any game in the series are the mods that you choose to play it with. After your first vanilla playthrough, or even before your first vanilla playthrough (as there are many mods that don't change much about the story or vanilla gameplay and only fix broken mechanics, bugs, and improve/optimize graphics), you'll have a plethora of mods to choose from installing, all of them relatively unique. Some of them will turn the game into a hardcore survival simulator, where you die everytime you come in contact with a single bullet or a single radioative particle, for that matter, while others will bring the game back to its alpha state allowing you to experience parts of the game that were cut before release.

Can't go wrong with this series; excellent story, excellent gameplay, excellent mod selection allows for a ton of replayability and variety.

Easily one of the most enjoyable zombie-themed survival games I've played. There's nothing much more to say, everything about the game is fantastic. It's simple enough to get into without frustrating yourself, and deep enough to keep you coming back for quite a long time. The story is good enough that you'll want to continue playing through it, and the free play can keep you entertained for a long, long time.

If you buy this game purely for the singleplayer aspect, you'll enjoy it. There's a decent amount of singleplayer missions (plus more if you include DLC). Getting those crazy x-ray slow motion kills never ceases to be entertaining. Whether you're shooting teeth, thighs, or testicles, watching the x-ray shots tear muscle and crack bone is always an enjoyable experience. The shooting mechanics are excellent and depending on difficulty level can accomodate even the newest player yet challenge the most hardened of veterans. The multiplayer leaves some to be desired, not necessarily because of poor balancing or mechanics or anything like that, in fact the multiplayer is enjoyable... when you can play it. The real difficulty when it comes to multiplayer is finding a server with a decent ping that actually has players on it.

If you can deal with a limited multiplayer experience, and are mainly looking for the singleplayer campaign, it's absolutely worth the purchase.

Chivalry used to be very smooth and I loved the gameplay, everything about it felt smooth, fast, and responsive. This, however, was before they updated anything, right around the first release of the game. Now, however, when I occasionally go back to this game, everything feels so sluggish and unresponsive. It feels terrible compared to when I first played the game, and I just don't know how they managed to turn such a fun, fast paced, responsive experience into a slow, unenjoyable, and sluggish one.

It's a good game. Don't want to take my word for it? Check the "Awards" section, maybe you'll take theirs.