Vampire Survivors Review – Single-Stick Masterpiece

Since its Early Access launch on Steam last December 3, the cult following Vampire Survivors have grown rapidly and are spreading their message far and wide. This seemingly easy game has grown exponentially over the past year with an endless stream of new updates, adding incredible amounts of content and depth to it. Vampire Survivors was highly recommendable due to the compelling gameplay and low price. This tradition is continued in full-game release, making more than 50 hours of gaming pleasure accessible to a wider audience.

The initial steps of Vampire Survivors are simple. To move, you only need the left analog stick. Your attacks occur at regular intervals. Monsters approach non-stop from all directions as you dodge through the gaps and make sure they’re in your attack radius. You can clearly see the Castlevania influence as you begin with a whip to take on terrifying creatures both from old gaming horror and original ideas. If you can last 30 minutes, Death will swoop in for an instant kill, but you can consider that “beating” the level.

Every attempt starts you at a base level with only your character’s starting weapon. Although they might seem limited at first glance, most offensive options can still be made to feel incredible. For a clear path, you can blast a firehose with knives. Melt a colony of bats as you wade through them with garlic’s circular field. A cloud of fighting cats will provide shelter. Every type of weapon I imagined and many other things I couldn’t have dreamed were available to me.

 

You’re constantly making decisions, weighing the pros and cons of every randomized item presented during the leveling process. You can only have six weapons firing simultaneously. Six accessories are available that alter weapons or gameplay. These include increasing projectile size, decreasing cooldown times, increasing experience gain, and increasing your ability to increase the speed of leveling up. Certain accessory and weapon combinations can provide powerful evolutions that will turn the tide in your worst hour. It’s difficult to convey the supreme satisfaction you feel when your incomprehensible barrage of attacks makes it impossible for enemies to hurt you, no matter how hard you try to kick the hornets’ nest. I rarely take screenshots or videos of games I’m playing, but Vampire Survivors puts on such a glorious show based on your smart choices that I couldn’t help but share it.

Developer Poncle has expertly balanced the rollout of unlocks so you’re never overwhelmed by the mix of weapons and powers, but you never tire of them either. There’s always a new character, weapon, accessory, or mechanic to look forward to all the way to the very end. You can experiment and take risks by ignoring the initial daunting task list. In one run, I’d blow it or get a bad shake on level-up options and die without checking off any objectives, but the next, I’d have a perfect run and accomplish a dozen tasks. In a dopamine rush, the achievements and unlocks pour down. You can still learn from your mistakes and unlock permanent upgrades in the game shop. 

As you get deeper into the game, almost every rule that you know is changed or altered. The Vampire Survivors love to subvert your expectations. “What is the heck?” I wondered at several times. Wait, so I can do This now?” You can’t resist the next run. “Well, now I must see what this new crazy-looking character does.” “What’s this unsettling new stage?” This strategy must work. This can’t wait until tomorrow.”

I hesitate to recommend it to Xbox users because of the launch bugs. They impede stage unlocks, achievement unlocks, and many other weird odds and ends. The patching system has worked well so far and I expect it to become as easy-to-use as the PC version soon. 

Despite the early setbacks on my console, Vampire Survivors quickly became one of my favourite games. Imagine me grabbing your sides and screaming, “Play Vampire Survivors!”

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