[PlayHalloween] 5 great vampire themed games

Diabolical characters, tragic stories behind them, creatures capable of bringing death and destruction but also charismatic and fascinating, lords of the night and at the same time damned: vampires are among the most important and famous figures of the horror and gothic imagery, central to literature and the visual arts thanks to masterpieces such as Dracula or the Nosferatu of Murnau.

Charismatic figures that have also entered the videogame market by becoming protagonists of various brands.

Whether they are our adversaries or our alter egos, these monsters - among the most beloved of literature and horror cinema of all time -have been protagonists of the video game almost from its beginnings.

We then send you to find out five brands focus on this legendary figure, starting from the legendary Castlevania to ending with Vampyr.

Prepare swords, stakes and hammers and ready to leave for Transylvania: it's going to be a really dark journey.

Castlevania

Probably one of the most important and influential platforming sagas in the history of the video game, the series of Castlevania was born in 1986 with the first, historic chapter of the series and continues triumphantly until 2014, the year of Lords of Shadows 2.

Focus on stories of the brave vampire slayers of the Belmont family and on their exploits aimed at destroying Dracula (yes yes, just that Dracula), over the course of about thirty years the Castlevania, while changing the gameplay, have led us into obscure crypts, dark woods and of course infested castles on the hunt for the most famous horrors of gothic literature with a level of challenge that is still challenging today.

From a thematic point of view, it is perhaps still today the more genuine and interesting contamination between classic atmospheres from vampire and pulp stories, capable of establishing their own narrative canon by standing on the shoulders of a giant like Stoker.

If we think that from its title (and from that of Metroid) it is derived the naming of an entire genre (Metroidvania) and that Netflix has decided to immortalize it with a successful anime series, we realize how fun, enjoyable and above all foundational the saga of Konami, unfortunately disappeared from the radar together with his company.

Legacy of Kain

Saga with certainly not "canonically vampire" aesthetics, Legacy of Kain is a real "fantahorror" that along five chapters released between 1997 and 2004 led us into the dark world of Nosgoth, a world in which we were called to move among dark covens, gothic and disturbing characters, decadent locations.

Both his first episode, Blood Omen, and his most famous exponent, Soul reaver, Were action with strong rpg components capable of giving players considerable and fun freedom of action, able to build a dynamic, frenetic and fun gaming experience, giving the game an unmistakable imprint also thanks to extremely powerful writing and narrative framework for the times.

All while dressing in the shoes of two legendary vampires for the history of the medium: Kain and his descendant Raziel.

Of course, this is not a "normal" vampire game, at least by the standards of gothic and horror stories, but not treating him in such a ranking seemed like a real affront.

Vampire: The Masquerade-Redemption e Bloodlines

Vampires: The Masquerade was one of the most influential brands in the paper RPG, famous for his ability to put role players from all over the world in the shoes of the "bloodsuckers" within an organic setting created by one of the best rpg creative teams of the 90s, and its arrival on PC first and consoles later (with Bloodlines 2) it really proves it.

There are two main transpositions of this popular series: Vampire: The Masquerade – Redemption (2000) e Vampires: The Masquerade - Bloodlines, two old-fashioned RPGs that put us at the center of the ruthless plots of the Vampire world as one of them.

Redemption had a more defined storyline, with a pre-generated character -Christophe, a French crusader bitten in the Middle Ages - while Bloodlines had a much more role-playing approach able to make us create our own PG. Beyond various technical limitations and some roughness, the two Masquerades have succeeded in the titanic enterprise of getting the player to dress the role of a damned inserted in a complex social system, restoring the whole atmosphere of ambiguity, violence and sick omnipotence of the White Wolf role-playing games.

Waiting for Bloodlines 2, arriving in 2021 (delays permitting), WW's vampires have returned to center stage with Coteries of New York e Shadows of New York, pleasing visual novels in a western style able to make us live the thrill of moving within the vampire society, between intrigues, double games and macabre rituals.

If you are a fan of Ann Rice novels or want to play a vampire story other than the classic bloodsucker big hunt, World of Darkness video games and RPGs should be your very first choice.

The Dracula of Microids

Few times the video game has taken on the history of horror literature in such a reckless and cultured way as it happened with the Dracula from Microids, point-and-click series released in the early 2000s which gave a real apocryphal sequel to Bram Stoker's novel.

Set five years after Jonathan Harker and Mina defeated Count Dracula, the first two games in the series were based on the hypothesis of a sudden return of the vampire among humans and that of sweet Mina under his mental domination.

In the role of Jonathan Harker, co-star of the original events, we found ourselves a leave again for Transylvania in search of our beloved in a classic graphic adventure which, while failing to fully convey the atmosphere of the novel due to some technical limitation, gave the player an extraordinary atmosphere thanks to the artistic packaging and the beautiful soundtrack.

Even more interesting then the third episode of the series, The Path of the Dragon, released in 2008, which developed the Dracula saga in a completely unexpected way. Set in post-Great War Romania, Il Sentiero del Drago managed to create an evolution of the myth of Dracula in a tale suspended between esotericism, Story and pure horror that we have analyzed better in this special.

If you are a fan of retrogaming and still looking for a good "canonical" game on the character of Stoker, then this series might really be for you.

Vampyr

Finally we come to Vampyr, anomalous title by the standards of Dontnod (Life is Strange, Tell me Why e Twin Mirror) which represents the latest attempt by the industry to put us as a vampire in a dynamic action game.

Set in gloomy London in 1918 devoured by the last echoes of the First World War and the disastrous Spanish Flu epidemic, Vampyr puts us in the shoes of Jonathan Reid, London doctor returning from the coming war bitten by a mysterious and powerful vampire, awakening as undead.

Finding ourselves at the center of a semi-open-world contained in size but full of well-hatched NPCs, we will have to deal with a dark fantahorror story and with a not insignificant moral problem: we will stick to our role as a physician who is well integrated into society and committed to the mission of saving London from the epidemic, or will we heed the instinct of a bloodthirsty predator?

Thanks to a setting that remembers White Wolf's World of Darkness, to a perhaps cumbersome gameplay from the point of view of the combat system but perfect in the management of the role-playing part and the social dynamics of the characters, Vampyr was one of the surprises of the mid-generation, as imperfect and raw as it is fascinating and with a narrative apparatus capable of satisfying those who want to live a beautiful story of death, mystery and redemption.

If you want to try it and have a subscription PlayStation Plus, this is the time to do it: Vampyr is in fact one of the two games of the month.

Alter-ego damned and melancholy or evil villains to destroy, the vampires have managed to mark the history of the video game in profound way, in a similar way to what happened in other arts and, as in these fields, they have managed to embody real pop myths that we still look at with respect.

Revolting, fascinating, ambiguous, violent, the protagonists of stories like Vampyr or Bloodlines attract us because they are imperfect and at the same time perfect, evil and at the same time above any boring moral parameter and, especially in an immersive medium like the video game, capable of making us adopt uncomfortable points of view, capable of raising powerful and engaging moral doubts.

These are our proposals on some great vampire stories that we can find in the contemporary video game, but we are sure we forgot something on the way: what other night trip do you recommend?

Have you already read the first episode of #PlayHalloween, dedicated to the 5 haunted places in which to set a horror video game?