Vampire survivors. What started as a friend telling me about it changed from a short “I’m not really feeling it” gaming session into a 100+ hour 100% achievement career. Originally around November/December 2022 I was talking to a buddy at a party. He was telling me to check out this new game. It might be game of the year! I told him I had already played it (on game pass) and was just kind of meh on it. He told me you gotta give it another go. It took me nearly 6 months to really give it a fair shake, but it May of 2023 I launched the game to give it a real fair shake. After I played a few runs, unlocked more weapons and characters, I could feel myself getting into it. One more run, one more run. I would tell myself, only to look down at the clock to realize I had been playing for 5 hours. I loved this game so much at this point that at the next steam sale I purchased the game and all of its DLC because I wanted to give them money after previously playing the game via Game Pass. Truth be told, I was more excited about seeing what I could do with the starting run from when you first play the game, seeing how much I could unlock with one run and going from there was a hoot and a half. It also really speaks to the level at which I was enjoying this game at the time, to willingly want to go back and replay sections of the game I had already unlocked or completed. The presentation, the abilities, the characters, the enemies, the maps, the secrets, the upgrades. All of it felt like I was peeling back one layer after another and each layer was better than the last.
In my casual opinion, what makes a good game is replay ability and depth. Vampire Survivors has both of those. For instance, in order to unlock characters you have to meet certain criteria in order to fulfill their unlock condition. Some characters it was as simple as surviving a certain amount of time, other characters is was upgrading a certain weapon, others it was vanquishing a certain amount of enemies. Time and time again while I was playing I kept looking up the wiki, guides, articles, you name it in order to figure out anything and everything with this game. Some things I would figure out on my own, others I would have to look up. But it was still satisfying every time. In my opinion one of the best parts about the game is the in game guide you find later on. This guide helps you figure out weapon evolutions. Not by explicitly telling you, but by letting you see a pattern of “this plus this equals this” from there you can play around and experiment with what weapons turn into what, and what passives combine to create the best combinations. Since you can only hold 6 weapons, and 6 passives, you need to keep playing runs and work towards getting different items. With a plethora of both free and paid DLCs all with their own unique items, maps, characters, and weapons. I don’t know if there’s a game that provides a better bang for your buck in terms of playtime and value.
I would say yes, Vampire Survivors is the best game ever. It has kept me enthralled time and time again, and even though I have all the characters and all the achievements unlocked it has me coming back for more every time I hear there is a new update or DLC coming out. If you’re a gamer from any generation, you owe yourself to pick up this game. It’s cheap, it’s simple to learn but hard to master. On top of that, it is available on almost every device under the sun. So even if you’re not someone who has a console, or even a PC, you can buy and play the game on Android and IOS. For those who like to bring a buddy to all of your adventures, this game does support local co op.