Vampire Survivors

[Dcubed]

6 hours ago, Hero-of-Time said:

With any type of game with rogue elements its really about just finding a weapon and setup that suits you best. There will be a lot of trial and error until you find what works for you and your play style.

I fired it up yesterday and enjoyed what I played but did question just what I would get out of it. I liked that there was an in game achievement system as it would give me something to work towards should I decide to buy it. Is there even an end to the game or is it just a question of surviving as long as you can and that's it?

There is certainly a defined "end", which I won't spoil, but there's a seemingly endless amount of post-game content and DLC that continues to trickle in on a regular basis.

Completing all of the achievements and unlocking everything (as well as completing every task checkmark) is what people use to define "100% completion" in this game, and that'll take you a very long time to pull off.

[RedShell]

14 hours ago, BowserBasher said:

So I got this on the iPad as it was free when everyone was raving about it but just couldn’t get into it and would die within a few minutes. Decided to give it a go on Switch cause of the free trial, thought maybe using an actual controller may help. Well it certainly does, managed to last a lot longer and even break 10 minutes within a few tries. But damn, I have no idea what I’m doing when it comes to powering up things and what to pick. Best I’ve found so far is to get the garlic power up item. Other than that I just end up running around avoiding things and just picking a new weapon. 
May decide to buy it one day. 

A good tip when starting out is to focus on only a few weapons and constantly upgrading those at every opportunity, rather than collecting lots of different ones and therefore having a bunch of weaker attacks.

Garlic is a great choice though, especially if you can combine it with the books that rotate around your character and the holy water. Get those 3 running simultaneously and powered up and you’ll be laughing.  

6 hours ago, Hero-of-Time said:

I fired it up yesterday and enjoyed what I played but did question just what I would get out of it. I liked that there was an in game achievement system as it would give me something to work towards should I decide to buy it. Is there even an end to the game or is it just a question of surviving as long as you can and that's it?

For most people (as has been mentioned) getting all the achievements is considered the end of the game. I have 100% completion on my Steam copy with around 50 hours playtime.

Not sure if it’s still the case, but they used to add new unlocks/achievements with each update and DLC which would lower your achievement percentage, a lot of people were complaining about that though so it might be done differently now. Personally it never bothered me much and I actually looked forward to unlocking the new ones each time, but obviously some people just want to reach the end and be done with the game.

[Dcubed]

8 minutes ago, RedShell said:

Not sure if it’s still the case, but they used to add new unlocks/achievements with each update and DLC which would lower your achievement percentage, a lot of people were complaining about that though so it might be done differently now. Personally it never bothered me much and I actually looked forward to unlocking the new ones each time, but obviously some people just want to reach the end and be done with the game.

"Base Game Completion" is treated somewhat seperately from everything that was added after version 1.0 (it's not a seperate achievement list, but the game acknowledges the completion of all of the original achievements seperate from completing everything else; and also gives a particular noteworthy reward who I'm sure you're already well familiar with ).

[WackerJr]

I’ve managed to survive over 10 minutes now on a few occasions, but I’ve been struck down each time by the new wave.  I’ve no idea yet how to get past it, but I’m having a blast trying!

[darksnowman]

Nice to have the chance to try this on game trial. Did three attempts and got done in by the screen filling with skeletons every time. I suppose you have to just take the Ls and grind it for better starting abilities/ power ups/ characters. Not what I'm looking for right now.

[BowserBasher]

10 hours ago, WackerJr said:

I’ve managed to survive over 10 minutes now on a few occasions, but I’ve been struck down each time by the new wave.  I’ve no idea yet how to get past it, but I’m having a blast trying!

 

1 hour ago, darksnowman said:

Nice to have the chance to try this on game trial. Did three attempts and got done in by the screen filling with skeletons every time. I suppose you have to just take the Ls and grind it for better starting abilities/ power ups/ characters. Not what I'm looking for right now.

I was in that boat a few days ago too. Played a bit more and taking hints from here about going after one weapon and upgrading, trying to get as many coins in a game I managed to upgrade a few items. Not sure if I just got better or if the Library level is just easy but get that unlocked. First time I played it I got to about 25 minutes and think I maxed out all my weapons. Racked up like 2,000 coins in the game too as I got some coin shower thing where killing enemies gave me coins. Played a couple more games and both time got to the 30 minute mark, I’m assuming what happens when you get there in unavoidable on normal levels. But each time I had all weapons maxed and was getting a bag of coins per level up which was like every 10 seconds, Garlic, Bible books and the healing item make it seem like you’re invincible. 
I think I’ll pay the £3.39 for this as it does make for a good hour time waster (yesterday I had wasted two hours just like that.)

[BowserBasher]

Just bought the game after completing my first Hyper mode run. 

After you get past the starting few games and get some of the power ups powered up, the game really does start to shine.

[WackerJr]

Spoiler

When the boss appeared I thought I had a chance as I was constantly freezing it & pummeling it so it wasn’t getting to me. Then a second showed up!  I was somehow managing both of them before a third blighter showed up and demolished me!!! 😂

Well I feel as though I made the most of that trial.  By some miracle I managed to survive 30 minutes on one level once (library - thanks folks for your tips!).  

Frustratingly I’ve just realised that you could evolve items and I now understand how.  Oh well.

It’s great value for money and I can see why it’s so popular.  I don’t know if I’ll go back to it and get it, with the backlog I’m still working through.  I thoroughly enjoyed it this week although can see it getting a little repetitive after a short while and I don’t think I’d have the patience (or ability?) to unlock everything.  It’s a very satisfying game though!

[Hero-of-Time]

PS4/PS5 version finally announced  for this Summer. Also, Contra DLC is on the way.

 

[Glen-i]

Guns are easily one of the best weapons on base Vampire Survivors, so more guns can only be a good thing!

Man, that's a deep cut at the end.

[Dcubed]

Of all the Konami series to crossover with…

… of course it’s not Castlevania LMAO!

Also yes, THE GARLIC LOOKS LIKE BALLS!

Edited April 10 by Dcubed

[RedShell]

2 hours ago, Dcubed said:

… of course it’s not Castlevania LMAO!

Saving that for the final update.
I actually think it's not completely impossible now, seeing as they've managed a Contra crossover! Hope so anyway, Castlevania DLC would seriously be the icing on the cake for this game.

[Glen-i]

13 hours ago, RedShell said:

Hope so anyway, Castlevania DLC would seriously be the icing on the cake for this game.

Wouldn't that completely ruin the joke though? Because if you had Castlevania in there, you'd have to have Alucard as a playable character, and that means there would be a vampire in this game.

[RedShell]

55 minutes ago, Glen-i said:

Wouldn't that completely ruin the joke though? Because if you had Castlevania in there, you'd have to have Alucard as a playable character, and that means there would be a vampire in this game.

At this rate, by the time they get around to the final DLC (if they ever do ) most people probably won’t even remember that joke.  

Anyway, will be interesting to see just how many content updates the game does eventually end up with, I get the feeling it’ll be quite a lot though.

[Dcubed]

Self explanatory really

[RedShell]

Yet another great "out of nowhere" update. Man, there is nothing else quite like Vampire Survivors when it comes to utterly warping the flow of time!
I'm back at 100% completion though, which is currently 211 achievements.

[Hero-of-Time]

 

 

[Glen-i]

Welp, welcome to the cult, @Hero-of-Time.

Solid free update, here. I'm back to 100% for the next 6 days! Yay?
Gonna assume the new enemies here will get reused for the Contra DLC, because they don't have bestiary entries yet, and they'd fit in there well.

Spoiler

Figured out the secret riddle pretty much immediately when I got to the second new stage. (Hilarious gimmick there!) Thanks, Donkey Kong Country 2!

New weapon's neat. I don't think it'll be part of my go-to build, but the upgraded rosaries the evolved weapon brings are stupid good!
Secret character is intriguing. Not sure what the description for it is referring to, but it implies that it's starting weapon gets stronger every level.
But it's weapon is already evolved (NO FUTURE)? That has the potential to be devestating. Shame it keeps it's more organic version's +1% curse per level.

 

Edited May 3 by Glen-i

[Glen-i]

Operation Guns is out now. Get on that this week, and save yourself that whopping 20p!

And don't forget to attack aggressively!

Edited May 9 by Glen-i

[Glen-i]

Man, Poncle really dig Hard Corps, huh? More then half of the music in this pack is from it!

That said, mad respect for including Plissken from Contra Rebirth (The best Contra game, also, on an unrelated note, the only one I've played through)!

Great pack, some very cool things here.

[FalcoLombardi]

I ate some edibles last night and played the Contra DLC last night. Got into the zone a few times. 

[Glen-i]

Welp, I've done it. I became so godly powerful during a run, the poor Switch couldn't handle it, and the game crashed!

So which character did it? Was it that super secret one that's purposely overpowered? A strong one hocked up on thousands of eggs?

Nope, Sheena from the Contra DLC, with no eggs what so ever!

So, a bit of context. Sheena's gimmick, apart from the one all Contra characters have, is that if you upgrade her movement speed, her weapon cooldown also decreases a bit.
This gets ridiculous when you combine it with Empty Tome, giving her 90% cooldown naturally!

Halfway through Mad Forest, I got to the point where I could've easily stood still and nothing could touch me, but where's the fun in that?

Yep, this was me

But yeah, it crashed shortly after the 30 minute mark. A bit annoying because the run didn't count, but still, I feel accomplished now.
Probably won't stack Wings with Empty Tome with this character again though...

[RedShell]

Quote

Why only $2.49?
As usual we've been receiving kind comments about pricing and giving us more money, some intended just as a compliment, some actually serious. Collab DLCs have a much higher production cost for us, but that doesn't mean their price should skyrocket.
You've already given us the luxury to keep working on Vampire Survivors even just for fun (hence the constant free updates), it just seems fair to try keep the cost of major expansions as contained as possible and border-line risky. We'd need something very big to justify a higher price point.
And then if we accidentally inflate our own production costs because we decide to add 12 characters for fun instead of the usual 8... well that's our problem innit

These guys are great.

Anyway, just finished all the unlocks for the Contra stuff.

Personally, I still think the collab DLC choices they've gone with (so far) have been a bit weird/out of place, but I also can't deny that this one was good fun regardless.
I used to really love the Contra series back in the day, especially Contra III on SNES  so it was nice to see and hear elements from that legendary game.

Have to admit that playing this DLC has also increased the temptation to perhaps get the Emergency Meeting one at some point too. Despite the fact I've never played, or have any interest in, Among Us.

8 hours ago, Glen-i said:

Welp, I've done it. I became so godly powerful during a run, the poor Switch couldn't handle it, and the game crashed!

I hit around 30 FPS the other day, which is probably the lowest I've managed since the new engine arrived on PC. But yeah, it did make me wonder at the time, how is the Switch is coping with this?

8 hours ago, Glen-i said:

But yeah, it crashed shortly after the 30 minute mark. A bit annoying because the run didn't count, but still, I feel accomplished now.
Probably won't stack Wings with Empty Tome with this character again though...

That's a shame.
Do you remember your exact setup, Arcanas, stage modes, etc.? I wouldn't mind trying to recreate it, for a laugh.

[Glen-i]

52 minutes ago, RedShell said:

That's a shame.
Do you remember your exact setup, Arcanas, stage modes, etc.? I wouldn't mind trying to recreate it, for a laugh.

Spoiler

Fair warning, I used some Random Event Shenanigans to break the 6 weapon limit, so you'll need a bit of luck to fully recreate this.

I used Sheena, played on Mad Forest, and the Arcanas, in order, were "Beginning", "Gemini", and then "Mad Groove". I also had Random Events, and Limit Break on, every other mode was off.

So, my preferred method is to exploit the weapons that combine to get a ridiculous amount of stuff going on. So to start, I filled the 5 slots with the Triple S weapons. (You know? The ones from the second DLC pack), and the Bayonetta guns.

Once those combined, I focused next on getting the double birds, and then the whip, and then Vento Sacro (the blue whip), and when that finally combined, I got Prismatic Missile to fill the last gap.

Random Events smiled upon me this run, as a Candybox spawned, so I got Greatest Jubilee as my 7th weapon, and then a chest gave me Super Candybox II Turbo. So I added the C-U-Laser's evolution to my enemy blender.

Now then, Passive Weapons. The 6 I went for were Attractorb, Crown, Tirajisu, Empty Tome, Wings, and Duplicator. Obviously, I got Weapon Power-Up along the way, but that doesn't take up a slot.

EDIT: Oh right, I got lucky here and that new passive from Laborratory showed up, so I chose Torrona's Box, banished it before it got maxed out, as you can see in that first video.

While I was waiting for those 6 passive weapons, I bolted south, and got close to the Gold Ring, (but didn't pick it up) to trigger the Egg guardian there. I then slowly edged towards the Clover to the west while whittling down said Egg Guardian.

I then hung around the Clover until I got the 6 passives I mentioned above. Once I did, I nabbed the Clover, and skedaddled north towards the Metaglio there, (didn't pick that up, though), and killed the Egg Guardian there.

Then, I made my way to the Hollow Heart, nabbed that, and cheesed it north to the Silver Ring (Didn't pick it up), killed the Guardian, legged it to the Spinach, snarfed that down, and flailed my way to the last Metaglio, and killed the Guardian there. (Still didn't pick up the Metaglio).

At this point, I waited until 21 minutes, got the second Arcana chest, activated Mad Groove, and bought everything else to me.

Now, I pick up the Silver Ring, and the Metaglio that protects the user, as well as the Pummarola. I discard the Gold Ring, the Metaglio that curses the user, and the Skull O'Manic.

Why do I pick them up now? Well, if you kill the Guardians without picking up the items, picking them up via Mad Groove will make the Guardians respawn! Double Egg, baby! They kinda melted in less then a second at this point, it was hilarious!

Then I just went left and waited for inevitable Death. This is when I got jammy with the Candyboxes, BTW.

I didn't expect Death to come for my Switch though... Well played...

BTW, I highly recommend Emergency Meeting. The weapons there are way wackier then any other DLC. Kill enemies with Crappy ID Cards, Airvents, and Counting! Oh my!

Edited May 12 by Glen-i

[RedShell]

4 minutes ago, Glen-i said:

Why do I pick them up now? Well, if you kill the Guardians without picking up the items, picking them up via Mad Groove will make the Guardians respawn! Double Egg, baby! They kinda melted in less then a second at this point, it was hilarious!

Nice! I did not know that.

Anyway, cheers for that very detailed explanation, I shall give it a go.