Vampire Survivors (2021) by poncle

The indie scene is so strong for video games right now. For every complaint one might hear about predatory practices in AAA gaming, failed promises, broken launches, abuse of fear-of-missing-out mechanics, there's a small indie game which comes along that completely blows one's mind in its compelling simplicity. Vampire Survivors—which is basically Castlevania meets Cookie Clicker with some bullet hell aesthetics thrown in the mix—is a prime example of the golden age of indie games we're currently finding ourselves in.

Vampire Survivors was probably never meant to be anything profound. Although surely the developer has labored a great deal over the balance, it's a relatively simple game. It appears to be a bullet hell, but in reality, there's very little twitch input required from the player. Your player character fires off their attacks automatically so you're tasked mostly with choosing which upgrades and build paths to pursue, while occasionally moving the player character around the map in order to avoid enemies. Enemies have no projectile attacks of their own; they're relegated to contact damage only, which is a great choice that ends up facilitating this more passive style of playing. So describing this as a bullet hell game, while it might appears accurate from the game's aesthetics, is not really all that accurate. This is a more passive, casual experience in which you are mostly tasked with planning rather than taxing your mechanical skill as a player.

Personally, I love that. I'm not a huge fan of bullet hell, and roguelikes are often unappealing to me because I dislike their randomness and the lack of any permanent, long-term upgrades most roguelikes eschew in favor of appealing to the crowd which prefers RNG and chance coming together to facilitate a successful run. Vampire Survivors does have a built-in permanent progression system of unlocking stages, player characters, weapons, and permanent passive upgrades. This all serves to dampen what I dislike about roguelikes, and drew me in to Vampire Survivors even further.

In the beginning you'll find yourself mostly bewildered as you experiment with new weapons and tactics, but as you grow more familiar with the game you'll begin to gravitate toward specific playstyles, and putting together the pieces and acquiring evolutions becomes intensely addictive and rewarding.

If any of this sounds the least bit compelling to you, then take a shot on Vampire Survivors. Although it's in Early Access, I believe the game currently offers more than enough to warrant the $3 USD price tag, and I'm shocked the developer has kept the game at such a low price. It's an absolute steal with at least twice as much value as the current price tag, so there's really nothing to suggest against purchasing this. I'd go even further and urge anyone considering this game to jump on it now before the developer comes to their senses and raises the price.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Playtime: 40 hours