Thursday afternoon, the developers behind Vampyr ­held a special Twitch stream to show off gameplay and answer community questions. The stream was hosted by a representative from publisher Focus Home Interactive and Game Director Philippe Moreau from developer DONTNOD. After about 30 minutes of gameplay, it became obvious that Vampyr borrows from many games. It takes elements of Dishonored, Deus Ex, Life is Strange, and even Bloodborne. But what Vampyr did best was create an experience that was uniquely its own.

The developer stream started several hours into what would be the normal gameplay of Vampyr. Jonathan Reid – the protagonist – has to find a nurse, but before he can do that, he has to get past the doorman who is refusing him entry and information. The stream follows what would be normal gameplay for Vampyr, which is an explorative action-RPG set in a grim world. While gathering clues and information, Reid will be attacked by the monsters and hunters of the city and also find various details about the citizens of each district.

Reid can use his vampire powers to determine the health of any NPC he encounters, something which directly affects the District Level. A district’s level is determined by the well-being of the citizens. Since monsters and the Spanish Flu are currently ravaging London, it will be up to Reid to decide if he wants to save the NPCs – and the districts – or to let them fall into chaos. If a district is too far gone – either from Reid killing all the NPCs in it or disease and terror ravaging it, it will become a zone full of enemies and little else. Game Director Philippe Moreau was quick to point out, however, that even if a player decides to destroy every district, the game can still be finished.

The game also showed off some of the interactive vampire abilities of the game. For instance, Reid can mesmerize citizens (if he is significantly stronger than them) to lead them somewhere he can safely feed. Feeding on citizens gives massively more experience if the citizen is healthy and if the player has discovered all of that citizen’s clues. Reid will also absorb victim’s memories, and a few drifting lines from the NPC will linger in his mind after he kills a citizen by sucking their blood. It is one of the great ironies of the game that the healthier Reid makes the citizens and districts of the game, the more experience he will get for killing them.

There are also piles of clues and side events to do in the game. With 60 citizens across 4 districts – each with their own interconnected stories, pasts, and goals – there will be a lot for Reid to interact with and discover outside of the main quest. That means that Vampyr is a semi-open world, but nowhere near as expansive as games like Skyrim. The biggest difference is that the developers clearly want players to interact with all of the NPCs. More XP is given for finding out the hints for a citizen, and learning more clues about characters and events going on in the district will give larger dialogue options. In this way, Vampyr heavily encourages players to immerse themselves in the world instead of just charging blindly through it.

The Q & A also provided plenty of insight into the game:

*What happens when you kill a citizen?

Killing a citizen will change the dialogue, interactions, pathing, and possibly story of all the other citizens linked to that person. For some citizens, the effects are small, for others, they are colossal.

*What determines a district’s health?

Districts have a starting health linked to the story, but each one can be lowered or raised by the player’s actions. Killing citizens, spreading disease, and destructive actions against NPCs will weaken a district. Healing sickness, killing monsters, and generally playing a benevolent doctor will raise a district into a healthier realm.

*What does district health affect?

A fully healed district – Sanitized – will no longer be plagued by certain enemies since diseases often create the monsters in Vampyr, and a sanitized location will be cured of all disease. Similarly, better moods and relationships in Vampyr can often lead to better items or discounts. Conversely, as a district decays, monsters will be more rampant, diseases will spread more quickly (meaning lower XP from citizens), prices will increase, and citizens will be less trustworthy of the player.

*What happens if a player kills every NPC (or lets every district fail)?

The game is still playable and can be beaten. However, the consequences of these actions will be seen across the whole game. Plus, most vendors will be dead and there will be precious few people to talk to.

*Can a player beat the entire game without killing any citizens?

Yes. Killing citizens will give large XP rewards, but it is not necessary to beat the game.

*Is Vampyr open-world?

No. As per the Game Director, it is semi-open world between the four districts.

*How many districts are there?

Four.

*How many citizens are there?

60 with unique stories, pasts, and interconnected social webs. There are also story NPCs and villains.

*Can players turn others into vampires and get servants?

*spoiler* Later, as a part of the story, Reid can turn some people into vampires like him, but they will not be servants.

*How much combat can be avoided?

Most of it. The game boasts stealth abilities and mechanics, so for players that want to avoid fighting, only scripted fights and ‘boss battles’ are necessary to continue the plot.

The stream also announced a limited edition Vampyr XBOX that will be given away through their social media.

Vampyr is currently available for pre-order, which will unlock a limited-edition sword, gun, and outfit as well as the DLC The Hunters Heirloom.

Vampyr will be released on PC, PS4, and XBOX on June 5, 2018.