The vampire survivors' ode to Castlevania should be just the tip of the iceberg

After a relatively quiet early access period in December 2021, Vampire survivors was released in full on PC in October 2022, where it became a huge hit overnight. While 2022 was full of great indie titles, Vampire survivors has risen to prominence thanks to its addictive gameplay, consistent sense of progression, and abundance of unlockable characters and modifiers. And that was just the beginning Vampire survivors'tale.

Over the past two years, developer Poncle has continued to add content Vampire survivorsintroducing new characters, weapons and levels via both free and paid DLC. These paid DLCs have occasionally featured collaborations with other video games such as Contra AND Between usbut those pale in comparison to the latter Vampire survivors Crossover DLC. Titled “Ode to Castlevania”, the latest Vampire survivors the expansion adds more content than any previous DLC, bringing over 20 new characters, over 40 weapons, and the largest stage in the game, all for just a few dollars. While this is more than enough content for fans to sink their teeth into, this should only be the beginning of the game's vampiric crossovers.

More vampire games that vampire survivors should team up with

Vampire

Vampyr, a fairly radical departure from Dontnod's previous title, Life is strangewas originally published in June 2018. In Vampireplayers take on the role of Jonathan E. Reid, a doctor who has just returned to London after World War I and discovers that he has been transformed into a vampire. The central hook of Vampire it's its moral system that is woven naturally into the gameplay. Players can only level up their combat skills significantly if they feed on human blood, but are able to complete the game without harming a soul if they use their powers of deduction and stealth.

While Vampire received mixed reviews upon its initial release, the last six years have been pretty kind Vampireand many now consider the game something of a hidden gem for the genre. It would be fun to see Jonathan E. Reid come to his senses Vampire survivors in a future crossover DLC, perhaps next to a stage inspired by early 1900s London.

Vampire: The Masquerade

Born as a tabletop role-playing game in 1991, Vampire: The Masquerade is widely considered one of the best vampire franchises in gaming. 2000 Vampire: The Masquerade – Redemption was the first video game adaptation of the TTRPG, and although it received extremely mixed critical reception, its 2004 successor Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines it fared much better, setting a new standard for choice-based narratives and variety for the role-playing genre.

THE Vampire: The Masquerade the franchise may not be as influential as it once was, but it still has its fans and would be a great one Vampire survivors DLC. Rather than bring back individual characters, a Vampire: The Masquerade X Vampire survivors The DLC could add playable characters based on each of them Masquerade the clans of the franchise, such as the Brujah, the Ventrue and the Nosferatu.

El Paso, Elsewhere

Still considered one of the most overlooked indie games of last year, El Paso, Elsewhere it's a Max Payne-inspired third-person shooter that sees players take control of a vampire hunter named James Savage as he tries to track down his former vampire who wants to end the world. The high-octane action of El Paso, Elsewhere It would lend itself well to a fast-paced game like Vampire survivorsmaking it a great choice for future collaboration.