I found Vampire Survivors while looking through my Steam discovery queue. With 99% positive reviews and priced at $3, I figured I’d give it a try.
I’m not typically into rogue-lites or bullet hell shooters, but a while back I picked up Nova Drift and had a great time with it – runs may only last a few minutes, but you always get to try something new. Vampire Survivors is similar, but you don’t control when you fire (your abilities just constantly fire without input), so you’re only focused on dodging enemies and picking up experience and various power-ups. Your abilities don’t combine quite like Nova Drift, but there are a few weapon and passive combinations that allow you to “evolve” the weapon into a significantly more powerful version.
You earn coins during each run that you can use to buy permanent buffs and unlock new characters. Each character starts with a different weapon and has a custom buff that improves as they level. My favorite is Mortaccio, who has a custom bone weapon they toss out that bounces around between enemies. (And his buff is a max +3 projectiles, which is really powerful.)
If you last 30 minutes, all the enemies disappear and Death appears, darts to your location, and instantly kills you, ending your run and granting you bonus coins. Along the way, swarms of enemies fill the screen and you mow them down.
Overall a lot of fun for a small price. It’s still in early access, so I’m hoping they continue to add new characters, levels, and abilities to keep mixing things up. It’s a lot of fun, though definitely an easier and “lighter” game than Nova Drift. (Which I recommend if you like Vampire Survivors.)
I feel like it could use a better title, though…