Vampire Survivors (2022)

When I reviewed Far Fishing earlier this year, I asked:

Are there other games like this? I'm hungry for more!

I later learned that, yes, there are many... most clearly owing a debt to Vampire Survivors. Now that I've played it, I understand why!

The core concept ("be the bullet hell") is wonderful. The automatic nature of the combat makes it surprisingly relaxing, yet the frequent upgrades, mix-and-match evolution paths and wealth of secrets and unlockables keep it engaging. To call this gameplay loop addictive would be an understatement.

As with many addictive things, the experience eventually grows a bit hollow. As the pace of rewards slows down, it becomes increasingly challenging to ignore the repetitiveness of each run or the rough edges of the game's presentation.

But up to that point? Hell of a game!

Playtime: 14h24m (couple dozen games)

Intro

In VS you slowly walk around a map, awkwardly trying to aim your attacks while trying to dodge enemies and picking up stuff. Along the way you get new weapons and upgrades to provide some variation.

Review

I had kind of a weird time with VS. At first i didn't really get it. Then i did get it. Finally i died trying to get the Yellow Sign and i completely lost interest.

VS is fun, to some degree. You quickly unlock a bunch of stuff and that makes your brain think you're actually accomplishing something. It's the standard MMO/F2P-formula. You die a few times, figure out you have to combine certain items to win, and then you win almost every game afterwards. And all the while the game is distracting you from the fact that it's actually really really shallow. It's basically just Asteroids with a bit more variation.

Once VS stopped showering me in unlocks my brain was like "nah, let's play a proper game".

PS: If you like Vampire Survivors you might also enjoy Nation Red. It's less than €3 on Steam.

Vampire Survivors is a casual arcade game with rogue-lite elements, where you have to mow down thousands of night creatures and survive until the end of the game timer. It's a game that I love and admire for its simplicity, creativity, and fun. In fact, I propose that the specific genre of Vampire Survivors is "Spaghetti Pac-Man".

What do I mean by that? Well, the game is, like Pac Man, basically a top-down game where you move around a maze-like map, collecting gems, weapons, power-ups, and special items, while avoiding or killing hordes of bats, zombies, werewolves, skeletons, and other monsters. The game is very fast-paced and chaotic, with enemies constantly spawning and chasing you.

And “spaghetti”, because the guy who created it is an Italian living in Britain, and the game is chock full of Italian sounding names for characters and items; so like the “Spaghetti Westerns” of yore, “Spaghetti Pac Man”

Despite the fact that there are weapons and projectiles, the game reminds me of most strongly of Pac-Man, the classic arcade game where you eat dots and fruits while avoiding ghosts, because the only user input you have during the game is to “Move”, just like in Pac-Man. Attacking is handled automatically, a brilliant design stroke that sets Vampire Survivors apart. But it's also very different from Pac-Man, because it has a lot more variety, randomness, and challenge throughout its various levels. The game has dozens of different characters, weapons, passive items, power-ups, pickups, relics, and arcana to unlock and experiment with. The game also has several stages with different themes, enemies, and bosses to face.

It occurs to me now that another way the “spaghetti” description applies is in its style, in the sense that the graphics at the game’s most intense level of play look somewhat messy, tangled by the sheer number of enemies on the screen, and yet still gorgeous, like a funkadelic kaleidoscope. The game has a very distinctive pixel art style and atmosphere. The sounds and visual design are also so peculiar and iconic, that they really define the game. I love how the game can sound like popcorn sometimes, with the deaths of each of the enemies sounding like the popopppopoppop of a popcorn machine. Because of the distinctive sound design, it’s know as “the popcorn game”, in my house. The game is also influenced heavily by slot machines, as the designer has a background working on digital slot machines. The game's presentation and feel so often feels like a gambling payout. Lights flash, brilliant sound plays, and points are thrust at you with feelings of delight. Here these things are used for good, instead of ill! There's nothing predatory about the monetization of this game.

The game also has some hidden depth and complexity. Vampire Survivors has some puzzles that are buried and presented somewhat implicitly. It really makes it satisfying to solve the puzzles in this game because things are not really spelled out for you. You have to discover them by yourself or by reading the wiki. For example, there are secret rooms that can be accessed by using certain items or weapons in specific locations.

Vampire Survivors is such a cool game and it really underscores how the actual game design part is its own distinct art form from all of the other disciplines that go into the games, like illustration and music. What I think is so interesting is that there's really nothing that prevented this game from existing since like the PS1, yet it didn't come along until more recently. It's a game that shows how much creativity and fun can be achieved with simple mechanics and minimalistic graphics. I highly recommend it to anyone who likes action games, roguelike games, or just games in general.

A mechanically simple yet highly addictive gameplay loop will keep you entertained for many hours, late into the night. There's a ton of content and the fair, steady progression system means you'll likely see new 'stuff' after every run.

Vampire Survivors is essentially a reverse bullet hell (be the bullet hell, is their tagline) which tends to make the end of your run rather easy as you'll have unlocked and evolved a number of powerful weapons. There's not the high skill ceiling of bullet hells and late stages tend to involve just walking directly into waves of enemies, hoovering up the experience gems they drop. It can be quite hypnotic and even relaxing, but it's not much of a challenge and I wouldn't exactly call it fun. It's very much the kind of game that one you've unlocked enough of the content there's not actually much of an incentive to keep you playing because the gameplay is pretty basic, rather shallow and dare I say it, boring?

But that's unfair, I've spent a fair number of hours on VS and a lot of love has clearly gone into its development. I've certainly got my money's worth, even if I'm unlikely to revisit the game despite having some content left to unlock.

If it was expensive I might tell you to avoid it as a bit of an endorphin trap, but at under a fiver it's a bit of a steal, especially when compared to other games at this price point.

There's also no sneaky microtransactions in a game that if it were developed for mobiles* by a company like Zynga, would be full of them. You pay your money, you get your game. How tragically old fashioned.

6.5/10

*This is the kind of game that should be being developed on mobiles rather than the microtransaction laden toss designed to pull money from the vulnerable that basically plays itself.

One of the most important elements of a successful indie title, if it isn't one of those ones about depression (most of them), is a solid gameplay loop. something that is approachable with hidden complexity. a framework that allow you to perform the same tasks over and over, gradually improving over time.

As you might imagine, vampire survivors is such a game. at the onset it feels like a mobile game. a simple reverse bullet hell where you are the source of bullets and the only control is to steer yourself around, avoiding harm (collecting resources) and pointing your projectiles where they can deal damage. and choosing which upgrades and weapons you want on level ups. from this, a great deal of strategy emerges and a wealth of secrets and unlocks will appear, exponentially more as you unlock new weapons and power ups to appear on your runs, new characters, new levels. there is a requirement, both secret and listed, for each tiny piece of the mass of elements you can add to the game.

the goal is to enjoy run after run. shutting your brain off to an extent, but still strategizing. this is an ideal game to listen to a podcast while playing, but that would almost be a shame because the music is excellent and fits the retro style of the game (it's one of those pixel art games that looks like it came out 40 years ago, are you into that?)

I could sell the game more intricately but the price tag is pocket change and it's on sale for even less right now. Just go try it. it's worth it

This is not a game. This is drugs. And my devout Christian faith excludes me from enjoying drugs this bad for me.

1. Beer alleviates the pain.
2. Marijuana relaxes the mind and body.
3. Caffeine makes me a super fun guy.
4. Vampire Survivors leaves me feeling like a chump.

So yea, it's addicting. Yea, I played this for 20+ hours in one week late 2022. So what? Should I recommend meth based on it's addicting nature? No. Because I really think if you strip this game of its addicting qualities, you are left with a Skinner Box. There is no art in it. No value beyond scratching an itch.

But still 2 Stars. There is some joy in lying to yourself about the ugliness of this game.

Every second playing this game was a second I could have spent joyously crying in awe of God's creation!

This is the second highest score I've given to a game since I'm writing for GamerFocus. Some can't believe I have a game as "simple" as this in such high steem. But the truth is that I haven't been having this engaged and having this much fun with a game in years.

You can read my full review in spanish here.

Did you knew that James Stephanie Sterling wrote the bestiary entries of this game? They're all great!