Vampire Survivors PS5

Forrest Gump poignantly said "I am not a smart man... but I know what love is." Vampire Survivors could boast in a similar thread: "I am not a complex game... but I know what fun is." There are no buttons to mash in Vampire Survivors. No intricate puzzles to decipher. No tricky jumps to navigate. None of those hallmarks of so many great games. The play loop itself is much more a caveman like cycle of slot machine goes whirrrrl and numbers go up. It is so simple my young son was able to "beat" the first level on his second attempt ever. The sound, visuals, and design are all deceptively simplistic; but it is just so much simple fun to actually play. 

In Vampire Survivors, you are surrounded by all manner of undead enemies that float from all angles towards your character at the center of the screen. You start with a single weapon to combat them and as you collect the gems they leave upon defeat, you earn XP to fill a bar that, once complete, gives you a choice to either add new weapons or level up the ones you have already collected. You have a maximum of six weapon slots and six items slots that provide bonuses like speed, health, or damage boosts to your weapons or character.

Occasionally the enemies trickle in, at other times large waves fill the circumference of screen around you. Sometimes mini-boss enemies with glowing outlines and large health reserves stomp in that take a long while to chip away at, but they also leave behind chests for gold boosts and guaranteed weapon or item level ups upon collection. The developer, Poncle's, previous experience as a slot-machine designer really comes to the fore here as the chests open up as if you just hit the triple 7's jackpot down at the casino. Gold is used post-game to unlock additional characters or general, permanent gameplay boosts based on the in-game items.

The goal is to simply survive for 30 minutes until The Reaper (Death) arrives and takes your life. So when I say my young son "beat" the first level on his second try, I mean that he survived for the 30 minutes before the Reaper swept on screen and obliterated him in all of two seconds. There are certain builds that can allow you to defeat even Death; but another, more powerful, Reaper will just swoop in and probably finish the job. In all this time you aren't even shooting or attacking manually. Weapons fire automatically at a set pace in a set pattern. The skill in Vampire Survivors is all in the movement of your character to try and juke your way out of trouble and the strategy around choosing your weapons and items to synergize into builds strong enough to withstand the onslaught of tougher and tougher waves of enemies as your 30 minute clock ticks up. 

"Beating" the game on your second run is not the expectation however. I've played this game across numerous platforms: mobile, PC, Switch, and now this review for PlayStation. The loop is always the same. My son's success was based much more off my own knowledge of how to piece together a strong enough build to be successful than any inherent skill on his part at juking and jiving across the screen. His success actually proves that, because as a young and inexperienced gamer, to be honest, he had no inherent skill. As a matter of fact, the majority of his success was set up by starting him off with a powerful weapon like the magic wand from his character selection. Combined with his second weapon of garlic, that created a protective barrier around his character that is extremely helpful in the earlier minutes of lower levels, but can be quickly be outclassed by other weapons later into any run. However, that early combo let him freely survive early on before other, more powerful relics could come into play like Laurel for a protective shield and the lightning ring and guns to really start spraying DPS into the mobs. 

Even more impactful than those selections was the simple fact that all of them were unlocked to begin with. The true game loop and chase of Vampire Survivors isn't even in a given thirty minute run. It is rather the slow and steady drip of unlocking new weapons and items to utilize, as well as leveling them up to the max and combining their powers into evolved weapons (of which my kids had three under his belt on his success). Very little of that is even available out of the gate, but the game clearly shows the path to each in an "Unlock" screen from the main menu. So the real loop becomes dive into a run, collect as much gold from chests and other bonuses as possible, die, jump into the power up screen, unlock a few bonuses to assist the next run, take a look at the Unlock screen to plot your next goal, and get after it on repeat.

So even after playing this game across three other systems, firing it up on the PlayStation was just as much fun in the early game as it ever was as I understood that I wasn't walking in a skilled player who could tackle Death at first glance. I needed to maximize my earning potential and work tirelessly to unlock the items and guns needed to even open an opportunity to prove my strategic worth once I had the tools on hand. And even with them on hand comes the RNG of whether the right tools would even be an option on a given run; but fear not there are yet more unlocks to work towards that can re-roll the rewards to choose from or even delete ones from the loot pool to improve your future chances. While my first 30 minute runs followed not long after an initial investment to unlock some better base options, I was far from immediately successful. However, every session was rewarding regardless, either in the success of a run itself or in progress of working towards a better chance at it next time.

It all comes together in an excellently paced package. The game does not require fast twitch skill, but does need a bit of knowledge and strategy to power up a given run. Vampire Survivors does not just vomit out everything you need to be successful at the go, but clearly shows the path required to unlock the treasures required. Every step is clearly laid bare in the menus to pick the few goals you want to strive for on each run. Once you get a taste of success it's up to you how far you want to take it. Conquer each level's map or with each of the thirty or so characters in the base game and more across all the DLCs? There are tick-boxes on each character to track that progress. Unlock every item, powerup, and curse in the game? Go for it, the path is clear.

If you strive to be a completionist you will have an incredible wealth of hours laid out before you to enjoy. I won't even hazard an estimate of how long you might possibly play this game trying to tick every box. On the other hand, if you just want to swipe the major high points or snag that dopamine rush when the Platinum PSN trophy goes "ping!" there is still a ton of activities to work through, a fun time to be had working through it, and a satisfying roadmap on hand too chart your progress.  Either way the progression through the ranks is rewarding every time. There are startling few runs where I didn't feel I moved at least moderately closer to my goals, and starting afresh on a new system does not even slightly resemble a chore. 

If you've never played Vampire Survivors it doesn't really matter. If you're late to the party, there's room here for everyone. For the price of sandwich you can jump in on the Playstation platforms. The five bucks for entry covers both PS4 and PS5 versions - and yes you can double up on trophies by downloading and playing on each system. The four DLCs range from two dollars to two-fifty each. So what is that, fries and a drink to go with your sandwich? Skip a meal and feast on hordes of the undead instead. There is a reason this game has won Golden Joystick, New York Game, DICE and BAFTA awards but if you really aren't convinced then hop over to itch.io to taste the original iteration of a modern masterpiece for free.