Vampirem – Launch Day Gameplay
🩸 Back Into the Dark
Launch day should probably feel triumphant. Instead, Ravenblood wakes weakened, hunted, and surrounded by things that would very much like to make sure he never gets back to full strength.
That was the atmosphere as we returned to Vampirem for its full release, restarting after our earlier pre-release adventures and discovering very quickly that I remembered just enough to be dangerous to myself. Almost two hours later, we had crypts behind us, bosses defeated, Wraiths narrowly avoided, a health bar permanently hovering somewhere near disaster, and at least one puzzle waiting patiently for next time.
🦇 About Vampirem
Vampirem tells another story of Bloodlust through Ravenblood, part Ghost, part Vampire, and apparently 100% determined to survive despite my best efforts.
After two of his original blood donors are destroyed, Ravenblood loses a significant portion of his strength. The vampire council has also placed a bounty on his head, meaning Shadowhunters, assassins and other unpleasant creatures are now joining the queue.
His search for lost strength and revenge leads through dark tombs, ruined castles and underground dungeons filled with puzzles, hidden treasures and things that really should stay in the shadows.
You can learn more at the Vampirem website, visit the Steam page, or follow the game on Twitter and Facebook.
🗝️ Where We Are in the Journey
We had previously played an early version of Vampirem, but that save was no longer available for launch day. Given how much I had forgotten, beginning again was probably an act of mercy.
That meant relearning Ravenblood’s sight ability, his warp movement, equipment system, glyph puzzles and—rather importantly—the art of healing before wandering into territory beyond where our previous playthrough ended.
⚠️ What Happens in This Episode
Things began appropriately chaotically when I realised I had been talking without actually checking whether the microphone was switched on. Thankfully it was. The next problem was the game’s extremely quiet dialogue, followed by the slightly larger problem of remembering how any of Ravenblood’s abilities worked.
Healing immediately became the running battle of the night. I cycled through powers looking for the correct ability before eventually discovering that we simply did not have access to it yet. For an immortal vampire, Ravenblood spent a remarkable amount of time operating under a strict “please don’t hit me” policy.
The early tombs brought familiar traps, breakable containers and the return of the glyph puzzles. I had specifically wondered whether the very small puzzle instructions had become easier to read since the pre-release version. They had not, so solving ancient vampire mysteries still occasionally required leaning suspiciously close to the screen.
Then the Wraith returned.
Unlike most enemies, this thing is not there to be heroically beaten into submission. The sensible options are hiding, running and finding the exit. Unfortunately, “finding the exit” became an adventure in itself as we chased the guiding raven through corridors, searched for keys and repeatedly tried to remember which direction we had already explored.
Eventually Ravenblood reached the first major hunter battle, complicated by his new vulnerability to direct moonlight. With almost no healing resources and little room for error, the fight became a frantic cycle of attacking, retreating and hunting for anything that might keep us alive. Somehow, the hunter fell first.
That opened the way deeper into the castle, where better equipment, magical rings, regeneration bonuses and Bloodlust started appearing. We also found a dangerous creature linked to a set of servers. Destroying those servers turned out to be the answer, producing an in-game question about whether the internet would still work afterwards—which was exceptionally well timed after I had spent part of the stream recounting a real-world VPN disaster from earlier that day.
From there, our traditional approach to action games fully established itself: no health, very little magical power and a growing belief that every pot might contain salvation. At one stage, a snake appeared to be tougher than the previous boss.
We nevertheless pushed beyond the point reached during the earlier version of the game. More glyphs were solved, equipment was reorganised, switches were discovered and a rotating puzzle brought back memories of old Broken Sword laser puzzles.
Chat supplied its own essential contributions throughout, including discussions about eggs, scarves, business presentations, gravy, laundry, suspiciously well-behaved people and shoulder-perching chickens. JD also subscribed during the stream, triggering bonus squeaky-bottle time and the all-important egg multiplier.
Then Ravenblood’s old flame appeared. Her reunion strategy was essentially to say hello and immediately attempt murder.
The resulting boss fight introduced fire-and-ice mechanics, minions and weapons that looked worryingly like lightsabers. Naturally, we arrived with almost no health again. After that, another Wraith-infested bonus area continued the evening’s theme of desperately searching for exits while burning through bloodstones just to remain alive.
Eventually we escaped and reached a new area containing what looked like another light-based puzzle. With the stream approaching two hours, that mystery was left untouched—ready to become our next problem when we return.
🎥 Watch the Episode
If you want to see the full launch-day descent into crypts, Wraiths, microscopic health bars and questionable navigation, you can watch Vampirem – Launch Day Gameplay on YouTube.
You can also visit Dr Ravenholm on YouTube for more gameplay, livestream archives and ongoing series. If you enjoy the episode, leaving a like, comment or subscription genuinely helps.
Continue through the series with the Vampirem playlist.
🔴 Join the Adventure Live
The crypts are considerably more entertaining when there are witnesses.
Come and join us live on Twitch or YouTube, where chat can watch the plans collapse in real time, offer questionable tactical advice and help decide exactly how much trouble we should get ourselves into next.
🌒 Community & Links
The stream may end, but the doors to the wider Ravenholm network remain open.
For the conversations that continue after the lights go out, join us on Discord.
Follow the trail across the wider social wasteland on TikTok, Bluesky, Instagram, Facebook, Threads and X.
If you want something to accompany the next dungeon crawl, my music is available on Spotify and Apple Music.
You can support the channel through the Dr Ravenholm shop, Teespring or Streamlabs.
Beyond the streams, explore the Business Centre, download the brochure, learn more about me or visit the blog.
🕯️ Until Next Time
Ravenblood survived launch day, which considering the Wraiths, hunters, bosses and our near-permanent lack of health feels like a victory.
Next time, there is a suspicious light puzzle waiting in the darkness. Nothing bad could possibly happen.
— Dr Ravenholm
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