Dontnod Presents Vampyr, Episode Three: Human After All

The “Dontnod Presents Vampyr” webseries continues with a new episode (here’s the first and the second one) that focuses on Dontnod’s approach to NPC and world design that result in a system where your actions have long-term consequences for the world around you, and the people you feed on come back to haunt you later. Check it out:

Here’s the official description for this episode:

DONTNOD Presents Vampyr’ – Episode III of the webseries asks players what it means to take a life

‘Episode III: Human After All’ – meet the citizens of Vampyr’s 1918 London, and learn how DONTNOD will make you feel the death of each one you decide to feed on

Join DONTNOD Entertainment in their studio once again, for another look into the Parisian studio’s signature creative process behind their upcoming action-RPG Vampyr. Dontnod Presents Vampyr – Episode III: Human After All introduces more exclusive gameplay footage, while focusing on the citizens of London and how each individual has been hand-crafted to feel as human as possible. This is the penultimate episode of this four-part webseries, produced and realized by the video department of Focus Home Interactive, with the final episode releasing next Thursday.

In Episode III: Human After All, DONTNOD reveals how integral each districts citizens are, both in terms of gameplay and narrative. Players will need to gain XP for Jonathan Reid to evolve new powers and grow stronger, but the most lucrative way to earn this is not through quests or defeating enemies in battle. Instead, the most effective way to get stronger is by killing and feeding on the various citizens living within the game’s four districts. Players are able to increase the XP from each citizen, by curing their illnesses and gaining more insight into their lives and emotions – but the price can be immense.

As explained by Stéphane Beauverger, Vampyr’s narrative director, players will hear the dying thoughts of every citizen they choose to sacrifice. This gives a bittersweet poignancy to every death, as DONTNOD wants players to not consider these citizens as nameless blood bags. In addition, each dead citizen will erode the status of the district they belonged to, with too many resulting in the population evacuating districts and causing them to be overrun by Skals and worse.