Vampire Therapist Steam Charts & Stats

I was expecting this game, based on the name, to be much more irreverent than it actually is. Instead, it is a genuinely thoughtful exploration of what therapy is and what it means to grow as a person. Genuinely a useful tool for those interested in psychology, or looking for a perspective into therapy as a profession and science. Also features some incredible character designs.

I love vampire games, and Vampire Therapist looked funny so I decided to get it. While this game does have a fair amount of humor, it's actually serious about the therapy components. Apparently, the devs consulted actual cognitive behavioral therapists about this game so the various cognitive distortions you learn about and apply are real. The voice acting and characters in this game are great. Sam is just about the best type of vampire the devs could have chosen for the main character since he's very down-to-earth (for a vampire) and contrasts a lot with his patients due to his "fish out of water" personality. The vampire patients, themselves, behave realistically even though some of them are hundreds of years old. It's hard to choose a favorite patient because they're all interesting, but I think I like Isabella the most since her issues are pretty relatable to me. I also like the art quite a lot. Each vampire looks like they belong in the period when they were still living and they all have different "meltdown" states that can be disturbing at times. While they don't go totally crazy like the characters in the Ace Attorney games, it's pretty amusing when a session isn't going very well. However, the game is a linear visual novel and the days can be very repetitive in that most of them involve talking to the bartender, having a therapy session and then going to your coffin with a nightcap. I wish there were more locations involved and branching story endings. Also, there is really no way to lose. There are achievements like getting enough cognitive distortions in a row correct and there is some mild dialogue branching, but you never have to worry about making a mistake because Andromachos helps you. There are also a few minigames but they're pretty janky and not particularly fun. I had trouble getting the meditation segments to work but I learned that having more than one input device interferes with it so I fixed this by unplugging my controller. I suppose this is more of an "edutainment" game than anything else because the techniques can be applied to your daily life, though I'm not sure how an actual cognitive behavioral therapist would feel about helping patients with large body counts. Overall, I enjoyed this game and would like to see more interesting VNs like this in the future.

Its very funny and clever and laying it has helped my mental health a bit :)

[h1]So Should you buy this game?[/h1] YES: -If you like visual novels. -If you like quirky characters, vampires and good voice acting. -If you are inquisitive and empathetic and can handle some drama. -If you wanted a grounded, more serious narrative. -If you feel unsure about the main character, consider giving the game 45-60 minutes and consider then. If that’s the case and the premise sounds good to you, get the game it’s absolutely worth it. NO If you plan to play it on the steam deck with a controller (TV Mode). You plan to play the game with a controller on the couch. You expect a flawless input experience but don’t use mouse&keyboard. You expect a weird-west story. Inputs are wonky, the game might bug out occasionally on them. Praiseworthy are the writing and storytelling. It’s a game which very well might linger in your mind after completion because it delivers on narrative experience. Go play it if you’re unsure. However don’t play with a controller, best play with mouse controls. Seriously play if the title sounded intriguing to you. The 90%+ positive reviews are there for a very good reason, if the title spoke to you you’re the audience for this game. At this point the review is over, I will fill the rest with some in-depth thoughts after playing. No great game is free of criticism. [hr][/hr] [h3]Main Character:[/h3] Samuel Walls is a cowboy. Not the type of person which is feeding into the vampire or therapist fantasy. After playing the entire game he makes sense. I tapped into this trap from the marketing material, thought it’s more an unserious “haha” type of story and without information I connected this with “Weird West”. I was unsure if this now would get into pure pulp/ satire take or just poke fun – definitely not what THIS game should feel like for the first exposure and after experiencing it I am sad that this was my first misguided impression. The game is very aware of what it does, but the initial reaction on my behalf I also could observe in many people I showed the game since. Sam simply doesn’t sell the game very well. Not the fact that he is a cowboy, but the way he looks and sounds and how the firs timpression misses. [h3]The elephant in the room: Technology:[/h3] The coding of the game is quite poor and there are many game-breaking bugs. Testing done didn’t really seem to Q&A beyond playing through the game. Once you plug in any gamepad you’re in for a rough run. A few of the issues I encountered: -Menu can be opened and operated when the initial black-screen comes on the screen, you already have full control. -Visual hints on gamepad input being to subtle (e.g. choosing buttons or save files). -Touch controls on deck more than once took another button / save game as the one I wanted. -No prevention of pressing two buttons at once, the game gets confused. Being unable to bring up the distortion menu or interact with it in a lot of occasions. Please do some professional in-depth Q&A the next time around. -There is even a truly game-breaking bug appearing about 2/3rds into the game when you unlock “Blaming” at this point you simply cannot progress with a gamepad. Honestly I was pretty close to turn that review for this bug initially negative, as it’s game-breaking in nature and the steam-deck rating says “playable”. Sorry if you can’t play through it full yon deck and you already encountered about 10 other bugs on the way there which either required loading or restarting the game, it’ snot what I expect. -On the controller you cannot open your journal book without interacting with the textboxes. Pretty big problem, which takes away a thing you might need, especially early on. -Wrong shaders applied in the book UI, at some point in the early story as I opened it in the first actor arc, the default pink material showed in it for information not uncovered yet. -In the first of the 3 additional post added free content drops, the layering in the office room is garbled and Andy will appear behind the window light effect. -In the menu running the credits will display them behind the additional content and therefore they are unreadable. [h2]Spoiler territory:[/h2] [b]DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVEN’T FINISHED THE GAME[/b] [spoiler] The Only point which bugs me about the narrative: “Disclosure”. So actually after every session Sam goes to the bar, and talks with the barkeeper about his clients. The BARKEEPER. At the bar! Man… what should I say. Sam doesn’t name his clients, but gives enough hints who it is and it’s a pretty big sticky point for me in the story which I really and truly don’t like about this game and me really uncomfortable. The point that disclosure later is brought up in the talks with Andy about some secret just puts the cherry. It’s hypocrisy. As nice as Sam is otherwise, how this could slip in a game which approaches the topic so seriously is totally beyond me. I get it from a design standpoint, but there had to be a better solution. 5 selected flaws/holes/opportunities/observations in the story I want to bring up: -Meddy is a vampire from the Bronze Age which is by now 1800 years old. Her client sheet say that much and the age is a constant point in the story. The problem: Bronze Age was from 2200BC to 800 BC. That’s a miss of a 1000-2000 years. Andy is from the Bronze Age! Meddy definitely not, this needs to be addressed and corrected. -Vampire blood stops ageing and heals/stops cancer but doesn’t regenerate bodies/bodyparts. Ok… that’s a bit weird I could agree on it if there would be a clean explanation. Especially weird since at some point Sam literally pulls out the gun and says then “the next months won’t be comfortable if I fire this” or something along those lines. So do vampires have human healing capabilities? What’s the internal logical explanation here? The game doesn’t explain it and the basic lore that vampires can regenerate are definitely explained away. But it simply left me scratching my head. Looking at Bert and the DLC characters, the is no clear thought out rule-set to this it seems. -In the actor arc, it’s brought up that the mother of him was an actress herself. Acting was seen as “dishonest” work for the longest time throughout western history, performed either by men (e.g. original Nosferatu movie), or if performed by women who got stigmatized and put in a specific social group for it. So it’s then even more interesting, that we get that flavour of this “dishonest” work reflected with feelings and everything back at us in the actors narrative and how he felt, but the whole impact it probably had on his mother gets conveniently clamped out and is not even talked about. This is what I call an insanely big missed historical opportunity. -Breathing/Meditating : vampires are dead. They don’t have a heartbeat. Do they breathe? Do they mediate with breathing? Again something which is overthinking the gameplay indiction, just a funny thought to consider. -German Grammar: in the DLC the crypt vampire first slings an insult, than uses either plural or what one would know as third person polite form. From a historical standpoint the derogatory term doesn’t fit, from a contemporary standpoint the second half of the sentence would look different. I understand the difficulty to get it right, but it’s a bit awkward if you know the language. [/spoiler] [h2]A Personal Conclusion:[/h2] I loved Vampire Therapist. It made me think and I engaged with the game on a deeper level than I engage with many stories of other games. Here is not only something to be said, but also humour and human experience. The love and will to make this game can be felt. That’s what I want to feel from the games I play. For me Vampire Therapist goes directly in the category “a bit flawed, but really cool concept worth to be loved for what it is”. I also want to congratulate the developer on finishing it and the many positives and well done things for one of their first games. I am up for part 2.

This game is beyond amazing. Not only is it so much fun and creative, it's given me insight on navigating tough conversations and taking a step back and looking at myself and understanding that everyone can need help. It's a very beautiful experience. 10/10

This game is... uniquely amazing. You don't even have to be a fan of vampires to get enjoyment and many thought-provoking moments out of it. Do not take my playtime as an indication of the length of the game as I am still playing through it. Contained within can be found many different people with different perspectives, each of which are analyzed and talked about in a mature way, yet the game is wrapped in a veneer of light comedy. The method by which you help others is by identifying some of the major and most common ways we sabotage ourselves on a daily basis as a player. Then, our character will help their client to apply it in-game. This combination is fun as a game, but also helps to practice identifying these stumbling blocks, while simultaneously seeing how others have dealt with similar issues we may have, Well worth the price. Frankly, I would have expected it to be around $20 with $5 DLC. Even its base price is below that. Seriously, it's well worth it. I also recommend playing with a friend if you get the chance. It is nice to be able to talk about it together.

Well written, great art, and fun narrative game.

Really lovely game, beautiful characters - I just wish I could date them

This game is AMAZING! You're going along finding all the distortions, focusing on the game, and then BAM, the funniest line ever is just delivered deadpan and you dissolve into laughter. Not only is the content wonderful and thought-provoking, it is masterfully written with comic relief and joy at the perfect time.

This is not just a game, it is a therapy session in itself, if you can see it. Less than 30 minutes in, I realized I use labeling on myself and will now try to avoid doing it! Awesome!