However, a few poignant aesthetic moments and sporadic sharp dialogues do not a cult classic make, and all of it is mere stylish distraction which cannot hide the lack of substance.

The core of Vampyr is based on using the protagonist as a framing device for the conflict between player convenience vs. moral integrity. Jonathan Reid is a veteran doctor who returns home towards the tail end of WW1 only to find an Influenza-stricken London teetering on the brink of collapse. His homecoming is cut short by an attack which inflicts vampirism upon him, setting up his quest of moonlighting as a medic while trying to find a cure for his condition.

Thus, Jonathan is constantly tempted to feed on patients, which provides the most significant amount of power advancement. This dilemma is contextualized by a social system which keeps track of every NPC and offers clues that can be discovered regarding their vices and virtues. However, this is woefully mismatched with the rest of the game, in which every aspect of the gameplay serves a mediocre-at-best combat system.

As an RPG, Vampyr is all about how you customize your murder abilities. To say that non-combat abilities are sorely missed would be an understatement. This is a game choked by generic conventions, such as nameless respawning mobs that exist outside the social system.

Put simply, for 80% of its length Vampyr plays as a generic Action-RPG. What should feel like a drama about haunted supernatural creatures, such as Interview with a Vampire, actually ends up as the leather-clad dark superhero fantasy of the Underworld series.

Overall, Vampyr is conceptually interesting, but practically toothless due to the lack of commitment to the social system and the thematic questions that are asked by its premise.