Saw a few people talking about this so figured might be enough buzz for it’s own thread.

I’m content ill probably never beat the first level but I’m enjoying it so far, took me embarrassingly too long to realise you couldn’t control your attacks, I still need to work on being a much more offensive player.


Cool to see this is free on mobile too without monetisation, just watch some ads for a revive type deal (wish PC version had that 😒).

Got the DLC but not played it yet. Had 4 secrets left before it released to find. Lords knows how many were added with that one expansion.

The fact they even put the DLC this dirt sheet is trying to bait me to jump back into this game. I JUST saw the credits of this game like 2 weeks ago, I have to take a break for my sanity.

Game is legit, think it's finishing in my top 5 of GOTY. It's free on Game Pass if you have that for XBOX or PC, you owe it to yourself to give it a try. I was playing some duds game wise before I cracked this game in and it really saved the year. Just addictive, and if you want to catch up on a podcast, this is the absolute perfect game to do it. Did a little writeup of Vampire Survivors, I will share it:

Vampire Survivors 

I needed something good at this point and time so I figured hey this well acclaimed game by tons of folks came out just now for XBOX Game Pass so lets give this a shot and deep dive in. To say I was a bit confused or overwhelmed at first would be not doing it any justice but once everything clicked with Vampire Survivors, man it clicked because this game was such an addictive, great time. It is as addictive as everyone says it is to be where I am putting forth hours on end of a sitting, where this game meshes so well is needing to catch up on any podcast or videos on Youtube or even an album while getting in a session or so of Vampire Survivors. This is largely due to how lax and simple this game can get. By no means is this something you turn on and just dominate from the get go, this game is meant to be a "get stronger as you progress" sort of deal where each run in a typical good roguelike game matters and is something you can build upon. But why this game meshes so well with something in the background is because while your attention is certainly demanded of when playing this game due to everything that is happening on the screen where one mistake can overwhelm you, this game at times can have your character practically be invincible on screen as your getting closer & closer to the timer hitting the 30 minute mark which is the game's way of saying that you completed the stage.

It's tough to describe what type of game Vampire Survivors is because it's something I can't say I have played much of. You pick a character in a very 2D, NES Castlevania art inspired and you are essentially moving up and down, left and right throughout the map all the while enemies begin spawning as your tasked in surviving 30 minutes of various monsters(If you've played Castlevania, you will recognize a ton of these shameless ripoffs!). Sounds easy but enemies begin appearing and flooding you instantly as the timer goes higher and higher, this game tries to set it up to make you fail or die due to getting overwhelmed by sheer numbers as waves upon waves of enemies keep on coming the longer you go. Your lone saving graces are that each character has a special attribute that gets them a head start out the gate and as you kill the various enemies scattered throughout, you pick up blue/green/red gems that boost your level and after each level, you are given 3(or 4 pending on luck which is one of the most vital attributes you can boost) choices of what to upgrade. It can be weapons such as whip or garlic or axe or fire wand(There's various weapons but you can only have ____ on a run) or abilities such as better luck or a regenerating shield or making your character quicker or gain EXP faster. There's a vast variety of choices you can make upon each level but knowing that each wave get tougher you get farther in the 30 minute gauntlet, you have to use some strategy and wit to pick what you pick & what to avoid. It's all about damage output and if you have a character strong enough to mow down the mobs that will(not if but will) swarm you at once.

As simple as this game is and while it is the perfect game to put a podcast or catch up on an album in the background, you will get punished by an onslaught of enemies if not prepared barring you being just amazing out the gates. What Vampire Survivors does so well is progression where due to the currency you pick up when destroying items within the environment, you can purchase skills in the main menu as well as new characters to bolster your odds of survival. A lot of the abilities I mentioned are available in this menu so it becomes very paramount to invest gold into these buff locks. The best part of this is you have the ability to dismantle what you chose if you feel you made a mistake and essentially reuse your earned gold for maybe a better use as you begin to learn the nuances of the game. Never once did I feel a run was a pure waste of time because of the gold acquired on the run ended up mattering upon these aforementioned menu selections.

In fact, I think part of the appeal of Vampire Survivors is this, it's not just addictive gameplay wise but you really get the whole "Zero to Hero" feel where progression is slow and yeah there's a literal learning curve. However, the reward of your character & knowledge of the game ends up growing stronger and you feel as a player that your time & effort pays off with success. As someone who felt overwhelmed at first with this game, seeing the credits was the true culmination of overcoming initial struggle into somewhat getting the game down pat where I felt borderline invincible(There's a surprise that happens at the 30 minute marker to try and knock you down a peg admittedly) and for that, I think Vampire Survivors does a great job in this regard.

The lone gripes I can even think of is repetitive music and the graphics admittedly are an eyesore at first and it's easy to judge this book by it's cover. I know I did so initially but upon booting this game up and really getting your teeth sinked in, you begin to see that this isn't some cheaply made shovelware sort of game. The music is good at first but when you are doing 30 minute runs of this game, it gets tiresome hearing the same track replayed and replayed and replayed, hence why this game is great for catching up on an album or podcast in the background.

Great game altogether and the cherry on top is this game is being sold for under $5 dollars(Was even cheaper not too long ago!) which is ridiculous with the content your getting in this game. I happen to play this via XBOX Game Pass but with a cheap DLC incoming, I may very well jump right back into this game after having just come off of seeing the closing credits. There's so much content that I didn't even fully get every single achievements but there's that if you really want to squeeze everything out of this game.

Even if you don't have Gamepass, this with the DLC is under $7 bucks. Jump the hell in.

This is tied with Grounded for my game of the year. It is just a fucking awesome game. The hours for dollars you get from it is insane.

Got the PS5 version, need to follow a guide or something as I’ve never beat the timer