REVIEW / Vampire Therapist (PC)

It’s always nice to come across something new and unexpected. This is something that happens in gaming when genres merge or when two ideas that are just crazy enough to go together birth something pleasantly surprising. It’s not often I’m wowed anymore, (old, grumpy, and jaded,) but wowed I am and I’m rather looking forward to telling you lot all about Vampire Therapist, the PC game on the slate for today.

I have to admit I wasn’t expecting great things when I picked up Vampire Therapist. I like the vampire genre in all its gory, gothic, glory and I wasn’t sure I wanted one of the only areas of the horror genre that I enjoy messing about with. This is very much a case of don’t knock it till you’ve tried it and this visual novel come therapy SIM is just off the wall enough to make for some very entertaining play. Some of my teammates are going to come looking for me with pitchforks for saying this, but the simple fact that I’m saying nice things about a visual novel is astounding. I usually want to read, not play, my books but here we are.

Vampire Therapist is pretty much what it says on the tin. You take the role of an aging vampire called Sam who has decided that unlife isn’t all about murdering innocents and eating them. After a long period of soul-searching, you decide that you can help other vampires talk through their problems and become better people. You seek out a mentor who teaches you the refined art of therapy and off you go. This is about as simple as the story gets, it’s obviously a lot more nuanced than I’ve just mentioned but it gives you a basic idea.

In Vampire Therapist, you’ll sit down with a series of vampires, all of who have their own issues. As you talk you’ll need to get to the bottom of what their problem is and help them see things in a different light. You do this by listening carefully to what they’re telling you and then choosing from a series of options as the need presents itself. These options represent certain cognitive distortions. These are things that we all think but aren’t generally true to our situation. For instance, the word should is dangerous because it turns something we love into a chore that could easily be resented later. Labeling is another fallacy where we say pretty awful things about ourselves that aren’t true but might need pointing out by a friendly listener.

The story in Vampire Therapist is really clever in that it deals with some quite real traumas but does it comfortably. We empathize with the people we’re trying to help, from a doctor who’s become addicted to synthetic blood, to a theatre muse who’s having an existential crisis. The characters are likable and the fact that they’re vampires takes things just enough into fiction so as not to bog the game down by making it overly serious. This isn’t a lesson in becoming a therapist and certainly isn’t meant as a therapy session but it definitely is thought-provoking, which is great.

I know I often say this but I don’t want to go too deeply into the ins and outs of Vampire Therapist because I think I’d ruin a lot of the enjoyment of the game in doing so. My only caveat is that some players might find some of the subject matter a little close to home and I definitely wouldn’t want anyone playing something that might upset them. Even though this is a fictional setting, much of the trauma could be likened to very real scenarios. Saying this, it’s worth doing a bit of research first if you think you might be affected by playing.

All in all, Vampire Therapist has a great art style and is excellently voiced. The controls couldn’t be simpler as it’s all point and click so nothing to complain about there. The other nice thing is that you aren’t punished for making mistakes. You’re being guided by your mentor for much of the sessions and he’ll reverse time and let you go again if you head off the correct path. As this is a game about learning this is a really good call on behalf of the devs.

If you enjoy a good visual novel you could do a lot worse than spending some time in the world of Vampire Therapist. As this is coming from someone who doesn’t usually like visual novels that should be enough merit in and of itself. The subject matter is intriguing and the writing is excellent. Obviously, bear my little warning in mind but that’s just a friendly bit of advice. The game itself is, in my humble opinion, well worth playing.