Despite a week off of my day job this week I still haven't had time to do much on my blog. I had intended to watch Life of Belle for review today, but once again something came up, this time via me technically finally completing the rogue-like auto-shooter Vampire Survivors. Initially released in 2021, there has been a steady stream of content for this highly addictive game. 2022 saw the release of the Japanese folklore themed 'Legacy of the Moonspell' map, weapons and characters, 'Tides of Foscari' followed in 2023 and was inspired by European fairy tales. Also coming in 2023 was 'Emergency Meeting' that included a sci-fi map with an Among Us crossover, and finally, earlier this month came Operation Guns which was a Contra crossover.
The long running joke with this game is despite being called Vampire Survivors there is not a single vampire enemy in the entire game. Later updates have included the addition of a story mode, but there isn't really much story to talk about. It is only looking on the internet that any type of plot can be gleamed. Set in rural Italy in 2021, hordes of monsters have been summoned by the evil Bisconte Draculó, a large group of adventures have set out to destroy this creatures and stop the plague of creatures assaulting the lands.
There are five default stages to unlock, as well as the four downloadable content maps and a bunch of other additional maps making for an impressive current twenty five stages. Some of these are gimmick stages, such as one that pits you against all the game's boss creatures in a small arena, or one set in a field of constantly spawning flowers. The core game has you working through five stages, the subsequent one unlocking upon completion of the one prior to it. The general aim of the game is to survive against a time limit, with unlimited enemies constantly spawning and homing in on you. Survive the time limit and usually a grim reaper will appear and kill you. The exception of the base maps is stage five 'Cappella Magna' which ends at the half hour mark with an actual proper boss fight.
The simplistic look and gameplay might seem a bit dull, but this is one addictive game, and there are literally hundreds of enemy types to encounter, even if they nearly all attack in the same way. You might have heard of the bullet-hell video game genre, well this is an enemy-hell due to constantly have to weave a path through endless monsters Often there will be hundreds upon hundreds of enemies on screen at once, even with the simple graphics this felt like a fun feat to achieve. There is a random element to which power-ups and weapons you gain. These are all levelled up by collecting gems that defeated enemies drop. Obviously inspired by Castlevania (now that would make for a fantastic crossover), weapons include holy water, boomerang-like crucifixes, whips and a load of other items such as homing missiles, screen clearing pentagrams and rolling wheels. Currently there are well over fifty weapons to use, most of which are able to be evolved into a more powerful type. There are also a load of character to unlock by fulfilling certain criteria, currently there are over eighty characters.
With so much to unlock, this isn't really a game designed to be beaten. I only feel confident enough to post a review having beaten the 'final boss' of the core stages. The game is supremely addictive, and is something that can be really hard to put down, especially due to levels being set against a rigid time limit (though there is an Endless mode that has been added). Best of all perhaps is the dirt cheap price, with the base game and downloadable content all only being a few pounds each to purchase.
With such a low cost Vampire Survivors is a game that is very easy to recommend, and has surprising depth to it for something that looks so simple.
SCORE:
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