It’s been a real “Will they, won’t they?�dynamic between Vampire Survivors and Castlevania. It’s the crossover that makes the most sense, but it’s because it makes the most sense that I believed it wouldn’t happen. Tim??e makes fools of us all.

Ode to Castlevania is funny because Vampire Survivors is already an ode to Castlevania. Nowhere ??is this more evident than with the new weapons t??hat don’t have a lot to do with Castlevania. That’s because all the weapons most associated with the game were already in it originally, from throwing crosses to holy water.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. By default, a Castlevania crossover is going to be the best expansion for the game because I love Castlevania. However, it’s also the best expansion so far for other reasons.

Ode to Castlevania can be summed up as a lot of whips, a lot of music, a lot of Belmonts, and one big map. Unlike the previous two expansions, there is no new Adventure mode here; that one big map is the central focus. And it is big. It’s dominantly Dracula’s castle, filled with bosses and broken into sections via locked doors. It’s not exactly Vampire Survivors metroidvania, but that sounds like it would b?e a hassle?? anyway.

The castle is laid out in a more-or-less linear fashion. You kick down the door and march your way up to Dracula’s bedroom to put him back to sleep. Is he actually there? Does Vampire Survivors actually have a vampire in it now? ?I’m not ??telling because that would be lame.

Much like the last two crossover expansions, this is still Vampire Survivors, but it’s wearing Castlevania’s clothes. But unlike those games, Castlevania fits Vampire Survivors a lot better. The enemies, all torn from various games in the s??eries, look as though they belong here, and the castle could easily be compiled from various stages already in the game. Unsurprisingly, it isn’t much of a stretch.

The one big level is easily the best that the game has seen. It’s large enough that it’s extremely difficult to make your way through it, from start to finish, in a single round. Instead, after beating specific bosses, a nearby teleporter will be activated that you can transport yourself to from the start. This allows you ??to essentially continue from close to w??here you left off without having to wade through everything again.

There are a tonne of bosses torn from the series�history, and while many of them are just the sort that you keep your distance from while bashing on them, a few have some unique attacks that? make them int?eresting. There are also moments within the castle where things turn into a sidescroller, which can be disorienting but feels appropriate.

If there’s one place that the Castlevania conformity actually hurts the game, it’s with the whips. Most of the Belmonts come packing one, a??nd while they’re all different, most of them kind of suck. ?They’re often short-range and only attack in specific directions. The whips that were already in the game are far better; it’s just sort of a drag that you can spend time turning yourself into a whip machine for less reward than you’d usually find from holding a whip.

Sonia Belmont has the Sonic Whip, however, which absolutely wrecks house. It’s not all bad, but when you’re shoveling more junk weapons on an already threatening pile of them, it can become difficult to effectively create your desired build. There are other much more useful weapons that were added, fortunately. Although, as I mentioned before, some of them don't have much to do with Castlevania and feel like they were added b??ecause they needed to add something aside from whips and spe?llbooks.

This is all backed by an extremely impressive list of songs and remixes from the Castlevania series. The composers working with Poncle did a great job with Contra in Operation Guns, and the same is true here with tracks torn from all over the series. There are even some tunes that I wouldn’t ?have thought to include that are made irresistible through their loving remixes. Easily, one of the best parts of this expansion is the soundtrac??k.

Overall, It’s a loving tribute from a developer who is a clear fan of the Castlevania series. So much of a fan that there isn’t a Gabriel Belmont in sight, but there is a Sonia. That’s how you really know.

It’s also only $3.99, which is a buck-and-a-half more expensive than something like Operation Guns, but I think the remix soundtrack is worth the value alone. In a world with horse armor, it’s a g??reat valu?e.

As a fan myself, this is easily the most fun I’ve had with the game since diving into the base version. The big map adds a lot more playtime than you might expect, and being able to unleash hell on various foes from the series while a frantic remix of Bloody Tears plays is, as one would expect, rather arousing. The way that Vampire Survivors has matured over the years almost feels like it was preparing to wear the Castlevania dress. And it fits so well. It’s almost like it wa??s m?ade for it. 

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Oh, wow. I didn’t think they would do it, but Vampire Survivors is coming in hot with the Ode to Castlevania expansion. It’s almost here, ?releasing?? on October 31, 2024.

It was a pretty great misdirection when Poncle announced that their big Konami crossover was with Contra for Operation Guns earlier this year. I thought they might really play up its “featuring no vampires�jest and release everything adjacent to Castlevania without actually crossing over with Castlevania. Doing the crossover just seem??s too obvious. But, I guess when Konami has their portfolio open, you should grab all ??you can.

I mean, Vampire Survivors already has a lot of legally distinct homages to Castlevania, and now it’s going to have actual characters from the games in it. Over 20 charac??ters, apparently??. That’s a real Belmont family reunion. One must assume that Dracula won’t be able to attend. There are also going to be 40 (plus) weapons to the game, 30 music tracks, and the biggest level yet featured in the game. I’ll give you the whole bullet-pointed list I was sent in a moment, because it’s a lot.

I’ve been digging the expansions getting piled into Vampire Survivors, but I’m a bit afraid that the central, non-adventure gameplay mode is going to get buried under a glut of weapons. But I don’t know, excess is sort of Vampire Survivor’s thing. Asking it to take the foot off the pedal isn’t ??going to do much. Anyway, here’s the bulleted list. I?? added an Oxford comma:

• 20+ New characters: What a horrible night to have a curse, especially if you are:

  • The Belmonts, your favorite whip-obsessed family of vampire hunters, including Simon, Richter, Trevor, and even Sonia.
  • The Belnades, Sypha, Yoko, and a myriad of legendary witches from throughout the history of the occult clan. Even the likes of Charlotte Aulin and Maria Renard have their spellbooks ready.
  • Other Heroes, not just Jonathan and Charlotte, but Jonathan Morris AND John Morris?! Amazing allies abound, from Shanoa to Eric Lecarde.

• 40+ New weapons, fighting the forces of evil is hard as hell:

  • Whips - Whole lot of whips. More whips than we can count (it's eight).
  • Spells: elemental magic has finally made its way in Vampire Survivors, offering a wide array of spells inspired by games such as Portrait of Ruin and Harmony of Dissonance.
  • Magic weapons: not any sword, but Alucard's Sword. And Alucard's Spear. Also Alucard's Shield, Alucard’s etc.
  • Projectiles: do you remember that time the Morris' were throwing javelins and iron balls?
  • Glyphs: Confodere, Vol Confodere, Melio Confodere, but also plenty of non-Confodere, we swear.

• A monstrously large Stage

  • Enchanting mysteries and danger await those who enter:
  • The largest map Vampire Survivors has ever seen, stacked with sinister secrets and a bunch of baneful bosses.

• 30+ New Music Tracks

  • A ridiculous amount of remixes of Castlevania tracks from Vampire Survivors historic composers Daniele Zandara and Filippo Vicarelli, but also from fan-favourite Evelyn Lark and Keygen Church!
  • Vampire Killer, Bloody Tears, Simon's Theme, Leon's Theme, a lot of themes.
  • Moonlight Nocturne, Lost Paintings, Dance of Pearls, but like you've never heard them before.
  • Aquarius, The Beginning, Divine Bloodlines, everything that screams "this is Castlevania".
  • An Empty Tome, Invitation of a Crazed Moon, Pitch Black Intrusion, so many hits from the more recent entries in the series.
  • Amber Scenery, Sarabande of Healing, Jaws of a Scorched Earth, and many others you didn't know the title of!
  • On top of that we have borrowed several dozen original tracks from Castlevania games. There is so much music we revamped the music selection panel for the occasion.

Vampire Survivors: Ode to Castlevania is out on October 31, 2024 and w??ill run ??you $3.99.

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Fans of Vampire Survivors simply can't get enough of the pixelated chaos. While some of us are choosing to play the game on Xbox (me), others go for the PC version, while a few may be ?opting for the Switch or even mobile ports. However, Play??Station users have been out of luck thus far.

When will PS4 and PS5 users get to play the indie hit sensation? Cur?rently, there's still no word on that, but developer Poncle ha??s given an update about what's happening on that front.

In a couple of posts on X/Twitter recently, the Vampire Survivors creator said this is the first time the team has been "going through submission process?es on PlayStation," which means it's "taking a little longer than usual." The developer is also doing some "trial and error on Trophies" to get them just right.

Patience will be appreciated

This ??does, however, mean that a PS4 and PS5 version could still be some way off, but Poncle has assured us that fans will know more about a "solid date" as soon as possible. Many in the comments are ju?st grateful to be getting any kind of update at this point.

An immediately gripping experience, Vampire Survivors has been a pretty big deal since it released in October 2022. Currently, it has an Overwhelmingly Positive review score on Steam,? helped by the studio conti??nuing to pump out new content.

We recently got the Operation Guns DLC, which mixes the vanilla experience with some bombastic Contra-style action. If you want to know what it's like to actually be the bullet hell, you should absolutely check the game out. Here, I did a Vampire Survivors guide to get you started.

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The premise of Vampire Survivors is pretty simple: what if you were the bullet hell? Given gaming's propensity for fulfilling a player fantasy in terms of might, ability, heroism, fame/infamy, and feeling rested after a good sleep, it's little wonder that Poncle's roguelike release �which spins the bullet hell genre on its head �has been receiving significant praise on Steam since it came out in 2022.

But for those who haven't played the game �or are new to it �its blend o?f retro-style visuals and the opportunity to "mow down thousands of night creatures" is offset by the sheer chaos and perhaps surprising difficulty, despite the aforementioned power fantasy needs that are met.

So in this very beginner's guide to Vampire Survivors, I thought I'd g??ive a few pointers so that you, too, can experie?nce the pixelated dopamine surge that is this game.

You'll die a lot early on - and that's okay

Get used to seeing that screen above. If you've ever played any kind of rogue-ish, run-based game before, you know dying a lot is par for the course. Even though Vampire Survivors is about being this unstoppable slaye??r with a wealth of projectiles and power-ups spewing out of you like a fire hose through a colander, there's quite an uphill battle when you first start playing.

But that's ??fine. The game doesn't hand you everything on a plate as soon as you i??nstall it. There's some work that needs to be done. You'll find yourself being easily swamped by hordes of enemies and once you die, you start the level from scratch.

But like any game of this sort, it's about learning what ??works. Use these first few runs to become acquainted with how it all functions. What kind of enemies are you likely to encounter, which ones are the toughest, what does each weapon and power-up actually do. Dying isn't the end; it's just another chance for you to get back into the ring �as it were �and try again.

NOTE: Levels go on for a maximum of 30 minutes, at which point The Reaper will spawn to finish you off. Although this results in a Game Over screen, it is classified as completing the map.

Build up your gold

If you want to give yourself a bigger advantage against the throng of baddies coming at you like a S?NES-era flash mob??, you're going to need some firepower and additional perks. That's where the in-game shop comes into play.

As time marches on during a round, you not only level up your weapons and defense items, you also get the chance to earn gold. This could be by smashing certain objects on the map (such as light sources), opening a treasure chest that wil?l also contain an upgraded power-up, or through Gold Fever, which allows you to collect coins from enemies you kill within a certain time limit.

Once you amass enough, you can begin building up your deck with better armor, increasing yo??ur speed, having an extra projectile from the start, becoming stronger, increasing the area of attack for your weapons, and more. You can also giv??e yourself a revival so you come back to life at least once when you die, as well as spawning "defanged" enemies, which don't deal damage.

There's also a cursed power-up, which makes the game tougher by increasing enemy speed and health. At this stage, best to avoid this ?one like some sort of cliché saying.

Level 2 is actually more newbie-friendly than level 1

Vampire Survivors has a lot of stages to tackle. Obviously, the game will want you to get to know the basics first, so will start you off on lev??el 1: Mad Forest. This is an open space containing a lot?? of greenery. You can move about the place, seemingly forever, while fighting off groups of creatures. Here, you'll acquaint yourself with the fundamentals.

However, there's an argument to be had that level 2 �Inlaid Library �is actually a bet??ter stage for new players. Perhaps the main reason for this is it's a long stretch from left to right, rather than incorporating all four directions. This means you have a tighter space to fight in, but still enough room to maneuver. There are still some snags,? such as bookcases, tables, and alcoves you can get stuck in, but it's an easy level to navigate.

It's also not much harder than Mad Forest. All stages begin in a more calm fashion, throwing in a few low-tier enemies so you can concentrate on becoming powerful and strong (like ox). They progressively get harder as t?ime marches on, but Inlaid Library doesn't have much of a difficulty spike when compared to the first level.

However, you do need to unlock it before you can play it. Fortunately, all this means is getting to level ??20 on the first stage. You don't have to reach the end of the 30 minutes. Just get those levels up nice and quick and stage 2 will be yours.

Stick to more open areas

I mentioned above how there are obstacles on each stage that you can get stuck on. Well, this doesn't affect your adversaries. I neglected to say that enemies come at you from all angles, ?regardless of the level's layout and geometry. This means they com?e through the literal scenery in order to get to you.

Given this, you'll want to make sure you've got as much room around you as you can. Creatures will advance regardless, but what you don't want is for a 360-degree circle of pixelated hostiles encroaching on you while you're bumping your head against a tree or a wall you weren't expecting to come across because it blends in?? perfectly with the texture of the floor.

You could say that sticking to areas that are open is generally good advice for a lot of action-based games. However, in the midst of a battle in which you can become swamped by tough hombres, it's easy to panic and find yourself backed into a space, which just creates ??more problems for you.

You'll first notice this in the Mad Forest, with its liberal placement of conifers, which has pro?mpted my girlfriend and?? I to simply refer to them �at all times �as "Tree Bastards." We're in our 40s.

Defense is just as important as offense

One of the game's biggest appeals is getting to become the bullet hell you always imagined you'd be. Choosing projectiles and explosives that have become so powerful, the screen is nothing more than a headache-inducing visual noise of cascading missiles and magic (Vampire Survivors does come with a sensitivity warning) is pretty m??u??ch the end goal.

However, you're not exactly invincible. In fac?t, when first starting out, you're actually pretty easy to kill, so you're going to have to balance powerful weaponry with life-affirming safety. This means choosing defensive items as well as offensive ones.

Everything from extra health, regeneration, shields, armor, and even power-ups that encircle you as they do damage to creatures will go a long way to protectin??g yo??u from harm.

One that many would recommend �and I would agree with them �is the Garlic item. This gives you a (presumably smelly) ring of defensiveness around you, which deals damage to enemies. If you get this early on, you can watch those ?lo??w-level enemies just fizzle away as you walk through them.

The best character to choose for this is Poe Ratcho. He's slow and a bit weaker, b??u?t he starts off with the Garlic, which is invaluable �even when you're not new to the game �at the start of each map. Unfortunately, you do need to unlock him, which involves advancing the Garlic to level 7 during a round and forking over 500 gold. After that, he will be a formidable addition to your roster.

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Vampire Survivors has established itself as a solid entry in the fairly niche "bullet heaven" category. Its simplistic yet chaotic style and retro-inspired visuals mean anyone can jump in. It's also been given a healthy dose of updates and DLC, and the latest one �Operation Guns �has just been released.

Essentially bringing the world of Contra to Vampire Survivors, the new download (which is currently 10% off on Steam I hasten to add) ups the octane to what some would? describe as "high," thanks to the inclusion of guns.

As for a storyline (there is one), it's descri??bed thus:

Are you a bad enough Vampir??e Survivor to save the President's cousin's sister's dog from the traitor squadrons of Red Falcon?

Well? Are you?

On top of the action-packed content, Operation Guns also comes with 11 "Contra-Tough" new characters, including Bill Rizer, Lance Bean, Ariana, Lucia. Wait. You also get 22 new automatic weapons to go with all that. Pfft! Hold your horses. I'm not done yet. There are also some Contra-inspired levels, such as Alien Zone and Neo City. And to finish us off good and proper, there are also several Contra tracks and remixes. I really hope you like Contra.

No, but seriously, if you haven't played Vampire Survivors, it's absolutely worth getting hold of. It's massively cheap as it is, but even if you don't want to buy it outright, it's on Xbox Game Pass. There, I ?feel I've done my? due diligence to get more people addicted to this game.

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It’s finally here, the Konami/Poncle crossover everyone dreamed of the moment they first picked up Vampire Survivors. Contra has finally arrived ??to mow d??own waves and waves of identical enemies.

Vampire Survivors just didn’t feel complete without Bill Rizer and Lance Whosits. And there is no game that can’t be made better with the inclusion of guns. Just go back and ask 8-year-old Zoey, she’d definitely tell you Mario would be better with a gun. Vampire Survivors already had guns, but its arsenal was missing one thing: lots of guns.

Vampire Survivors: Operation Guns?? is here to salve those gaping, festering wounds and finally deliver to us the game we’ve always thirsted for.

Similar to the last DLC, which crossed it over with Among Us, Vampire Survivors: Operation Guns contains a new “one big map,�an adventure to add to the growing list, and a tonne of new unlocks. Operation Guns brings the heat with 22-ish new weapons, and 11-ish new characters from across the Contra series. There's also an extra-s??pecial?? level that includes hoverbikes.

Poncle named the laser weapon upgrade the “C.U. Laser�and now that’s what I’m going to call it in Contra. Thanks a lot!

Most importantly (maybe) is that new music tracks have arrived to drill their way into your ears. There are six remixes and 13 new tracks. I have the Hard Corps remix stuck in my head right now. It won’t stop!

Personally, I’ve always put Contra on a much higher pedestal than Among Us. That’s probably because I’m old, don’t have any friends, and remember the good old days. However, as with the Emergency Meeting DLC, Operation Guns doesn’t really add much of Contra’s DNA into the mix. It’s still Vampire Survivors in a Contra T-Shirt.

Despite that, the references are very well interwoven. The “one big map�stretches from a jungle, to a ruined city, to a?n alien hive. There’s even a familiar boss that pops up in? there. It bops to the music! I don’t know why it dances or whose decision it was to make it dance, but it is easily the best thing ever.

A number of the guns still behave as they do in the classic run-’n-gun shooter series: the spreader spreads, the C.U. Laser penetrates deep into enemy skulls. New to Operation Guns is an item specifically for evolving Contra weapons. While you sometimes still need a passive power-up to evolve Contra guns, they also require the Weapon Power-Up item, which doesn’t take a spot from your subweapons, but is a pretty finite resource. Mostly, they’re just found on maps. And they weren’t added to non-Contra maps.

Which is strange to the point where I think I’m missing something. I wouldn’t believe that you just can’t upgrade the Operation Guns guns on normal maps. That would make all the new weapons feel like nee??dless clutter in an already bloated selection.

I don’t feel like the new weapons are as overpowered as some of the ones I found in Emergency Meeting. But, as I said there, I think part of the appeal of Vampire Survivors is becoming so overpowered that it starts to fe??el like? the game is about to break.

However, as with Emergency Meeting, I never hit the point in Adventure Mode where I felt like I was going to lose. I always hit the endpoint of a level, but having clocked so many hours into Vampire Survivors already, I’ve alrea?dy built skills to? pay the bills.

So, it’s kind of hard to rate Operation Guns, which is why I’m not doing that. It’s another part of the growing, grotesquely mutating mass of Vampire Survivors. If you’re already in love with that mass, then you’re probably going to want to shovel more into it. And at $2.50, Poncle still remains hilariously bad at taking your money. If you think Vampire Survivors would be better if you could spend hours looking at Brad Fang’s hairy, shirtless torso (and why wouldn’t you?) then the question of whether or not you should purchase Operation Guns should be obvious.

Hopefully, this won’t be the last Konami crossover we see. There are many other great licenses that could be a great fit in the overstuffed bag of Vampire Survivors. For example, Rocket Knight Adventures. For another example, Ganbare Goemon. Those are all the Konami games I can think of.

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As part of the Triple-i Showcase stream, Poncle has announced that their mega-hit move-'em-up Vampire Survivors will be crossing over with Konami's classic run-and-gun Contra. Vampire Survivors: Operation Guns is releasing all current platforms on May 9th, with ??the PlayStation version arriving?? this Summer.

"The President’s cousin’s sister’s dog has been kidnapped by Red Falcon. Are you bad enough to come to the rescue?" asks the presser. Yes, sir, I am pretty b?ad. S??ufficiently bad, I must claim.

Vampire Survivors: Operation Guns will supposedly encourage "min-maxing and stat manipulation" and will add a tonne of weapons, which is more specifically 20 including evolutions. Brad Fang from Contra: Hard Corps will be there. That's pretty cool. It doesn't mention any new levels, but having the game become more Contra-flavored should be enough??. It's always nice to see Ko??nami getting mixed in with a few stews after it spent decades burning all its goodwill.

Wait a minute, how is Vampire Survivors crossing over with Contra before Castlevania? Oh, that Poncle. Always zigging when you think they s?hould be zagging.

Vampire Survivors: Operation Guns infiltrates the main game via a patch on May 9th on all current platforme??rs. PlayStation ve?rsion will be arriving this Summer.

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It's about to get garlicky

Video game adaptations are all the rage, and Vampire Survivors is now joining the trend. Developer poncle??'s ever-evolving auto-fighting survival game has an animated series in the works.

Via Deadline, poncle's founder Luca Galante is partnering with Story Kitchen, the company working on other game adaptations like Sifu, Streets of Rage, and more. Founded by John Wick writer and creator Derek Kolstad, Sonic the Hedgehog film and TV producer Dmitri M. Johnson, and former APA agent and partner Mike Goldberg, Story Kitchen is certainly tackling a dec?ent amount of video game adaptations. Games consul?ting agency Robot Teddy will also be supporting the show.

As for?? what the sh??ow will be about? Well, that's still a bit unclear.

"The most important thing in Vampire Survivors is the story, so it's a dream come true to see what started as a little indie game I made on my weekends come to life as an animated TV show!" Gallante said in a press release. "It’s also great to be partnering up with such experienced and talented people to make the show. I do wonder if they've realised that there isn't a single vampire in Vampire Survivors, though."

The release confirms that, just like the g??ame, the actual existence ??of vampires has not been confirmed.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvMkS6GcxFU

Adapting the Survivors

Normally I'd be wary, but it seems like poncle and Gallante are keeping a bit of fun mixed in with the whole project. Seeing as Vampire Survivors draws heavily on past works like Castlevania, it's hard not to see the potential; but I'm also curious to see how those ideas play out, and look any different, in a Survivors series.

As long as there's some solid garlic jokes, though, I'll probably be along for the ride. Vampire Survivors was a surprise hit that's kept growing with time, and I can't say I'm not curious to? see what this team does with their very own series adaptation.

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A fighter, a mage, and a thief walk into a forest...

Vampire Survivors is one of my favorite games of 2022 and it's pretty hard for me to explain why. It's the type of game everyone needs to play for themself to see if they vibe with it. Some people won't, others definitely do, and this bit of news is for the latter group. Today, the developers at poncle announced new paid DLC for the indie darling is coming in about two weeks. Vampire Survivors: Tides of the Foscari includes the new forest map, Lake Foscari, which is home to the Foscari Academy where parents send their kids to be wizards, warriors, and spies. Lake Foscari is described as a "continent-size forest" which the developers say will contain multiple biomes, similar to the map from the Legacy of the Moonspell DLC.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=2iZVpnu5Dmc

The DLC will also add eight new characters to Vampire Survivor as well as 13 new weapons and seven new music tracks. If the kazoo in the trailer is giving you PTSD flashbacks to the very worst of the Yoshi franchise, know that i?t's only for the trailer and not representative of what you'll hear in the new songs.

As with the last bit of DLC for the game, Tides of the Foscari will only set players ba??ck $1.99 when it releases on April 13, 2023.

Related: The 10 best mods for Vampire Survivors on Gamepur

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This is going to be dangerous for my free time

[Update: Confirmed live on The Game Awards 2022 stream, yes, Vampire Survivors is officially out and free to play on mobile.]

Horde survival hit Vampire Survivors just landed on some new platforms. Vampire Survivors is now available on mobile, through the iOS App Store and Google ??Play Store for Android.

The indie bat-blasting survival game seemed to drop out of nowhere, indicating this might have been a planned reveal for tonight's show at The Game Awards 2022. Vampire Survivors is nominated for Best Debut Indie Game at tonight's awards.

The iOS and Android versions of the? game are both free-to-play, and will take up a little over 470 MB to download.

Overall, this mobile version looks to be the legit, real Vampire Survivors that has suc??ked away hours and hours of time on PC. For phone, there is an option to play with different orientati??ons, vertical or landscape.

Interestingly enough, one of the mechanics in this F2P version of Vampire Survivors is the option to view ads. It looks like the ad option lets you get a revive, at the cost of watching a mobile game ad. Truly? not??hing in the vampire afterlife is free, I guess.

Survive the night

Ever since Vampire Survivors dropped into Early Access last December, it's been a popular time-killer. Poncle's blend of pixel art and limited gameplay as your little survivor tries to not get? overtaken by hordes of nocturnal monsters is incredibly compelling.

That's not all the Vampire Survivors in store for 2022, either. Poncle is releasing its first DLC for Survivors next week. Dubbed Legacy of the Moonspell, it will add a new map, characters, weapons, and?? more.

Now that the vampire survival can live on my phone? Between this and Marvel Snap, I'm going to be spendi??ng a lot of time playing som??e mobile games during the holidays.

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Fly me to the Moonspell

Indie hit Vampire Survivors is getting its first big piece of DLC. Legacy of the Moonspell is a new Vampire Survivors DLC arriving next week on December 15.

The new content will be coming to both PC via Steam and Xbox on the 15th, and will run $1.99 USD. The Steam page is live now, with a host of info on what's to come in the Legacy of the Moonspell next week.

What's in store for the Survivors? Well, the Legacy takes the action to a new map in the eastern lands, known as Mt. Moonspell. T?his locale is developer poncle's biggest stage yet, featuring several different environments include snowy mountains, a yokai-infested village, and yes, an abandoned castle.

Eight new characters join the fray, with four getting shown off today. 13 new weapons are also i nstor??e, including a set of season-shifting orbs and an ?ancestral force unleashed by a staff. Seems like a good way to blast a bunch of enemies away for experience.

Additionally, there are some hidden mysteries?? and more in store. Between the characters and weapons that poncle isn't revealing yet, it seems like there is a fair bit to discover in this new drop.

I will survive

It seems like just yesterday that Vampire Survivors was a surprise hit trending up Steam's charts. Now, poncle's horde survival game is dominating Steam charts and commandeering Steam Decks. Heck, it has a Game Awards nomination.

While its star is on the rise, it's nice to see the Vampire Survivors crew keeping it going. E?ven the DLC itself is quite reasonably priced. It'll be nice to have some more crowds to blast through for crystals during the holidays.

Vampire Survivors' Legacy of the Moonspell DLC arrives for PC and Xbox on December 15, 2022.

The post Vampire Survivors gets its first DLC, Legacy of th??e Moonspell??, next week appeared first on Destructoid.

More surprises for the survivors are in store

Vampire Survivors is gearing up for its v1.0 launch. Developer poncle has announced that v1.0 will go live ?on October 20, 2022.

This will mark the completion of the main content for Vampire Survivors, according to the developer update. And it sounds like there are some unforeseen changes in store. Since the official roadmap ended with 0.11.3, everything added in v1.0 is a surprise. Po?ncle says it should "hopefully offer a little someth??ing for everyone".

Official language support is getting updated, with?? a bevy of languages getting official support. Custom patches will still work, and p??oncle will be keeping the names of fan localization creators in the credits as thanks.

New achievements will be added, and some existing achievements will see their unlock conditions altered. Your unlocks will stay if you already have them though, and save data will be left intact. Vampire Survivors will keep on running on Electron for v1.0, too.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=07kmq5ULuOM

The night goes on

Of course, this doesn't mean the end of Vampire Survivors, either. A port to a new engine is still on the way, planned for release by the end of the year. Save data will carry over there too. The goal of the engine? is to have the same game, but with increased performance and compatibility for more machines.

And there's even more on the way, as the developer poncle has continued to grow and evolve. Vampire Survivors will continue to see support after v1.0, and whil??e the game may reach a content-complete status, poncle says there are still more surprises ??in the works.

I'm happy just to see this team get so much support and build up this game so much. Vampire Survivors was a surprise highlight at the start of the year, and though other horde survival games have popped up with their own twists, Vampire Survivors has stayed strong through it all. October looks to be a go??od month for slaying even more bats and monsters.

The post Vampire Survivors hits v1.0 in October appeared first on Destructoid.