walk walk walk, shoot shoot shoot, level up level up level up
February 17, 2022 7:00 PM Subscribe
Vampire Survivors is a free “bullet-hell roguelike” game where you walk around endless crowds of monsters, randomly firing bullets into them, while trying to survive. It doesn’t require no skills, but it also doesn’t require all your attention and is free and fun.
A Polygon review of the $3 Steam version.
A Polygon review of the $3 Steam version.
"A Polygon review" by one Justin "Hoops" McElroy
posted by glonous keming at 7:36 PM on February 17, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by glonous keming at 7:36 PM on February 17, 2022 [1 favorite]
I have been playing this game practically all my free time the past weeks. I shouldn't be this laced into it, but when number go up my brain releases the happy chemicals and I am lost.
posted by KChasm at 7:43 PM on February 17, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by KChasm at 7:43 PM on February 17, 2022 [2 favorites]
number go up
Better than an NFT…...
posted by Going To Maine at 7:55 PM on February 17, 2022 [5 favorites]
Better than an NFT…...
posted by Going To Maine at 7:55 PM on February 17, 2022 [5 favorites]
A coworker and I were discussing Vampire Survivors earlier this week; she and I were both impressed by how well-balanced the game is.
posted by The Great Big Mulp at 8:00 PM on February 17, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by The Great Big Mulp at 8:00 PM on February 17, 2022 [2 favorites]
⚰️⚰️⚰️out of⚰️⚰️⚰️⚰️
posted by clavdivs at 8:36 PM on February 17, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by clavdivs at 8:36 PM on February 17, 2022 [2 favorites]
I've been trying to get some friends into it as it certainly is worth the $3. but I'm such a fan of these little labors of love like this. It's not a game you'll play for super long, but it's great to come back to every week or so, as it updates at a fever pace right now.
I do feel the last 5 to 10 minutes can be a slog, as you tend to either be ready to demolish all the stands in your way, or swiftly fall to the screen filling waves of enemies.
but that sweet spot from 5 to 15 minutes is perfect.
posted by AngelWuff at 9:02 PM on February 17, 2022 [2 favorites]
I do feel the last 5 to 10 minutes can be a slog, as you tend to either be ready to demolish all the stands in your way, or swiftly fall to the screen filling waves of enemies.
but that sweet spot from 5 to 15 minutes is perfect.
posted by AngelWuff at 9:02 PM on February 17, 2022 [2 favorites]
Doesn't seem to work on iOS?
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 9:04 PM on February 17, 2022
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 9:04 PM on February 17, 2022
I’ve been trying to get some friends into it as it certainly is worth the $3. but I'm such a fan of these little labors of love like this. It's not a game you’ll play for super long, but it’s great to come back to every week or so, as it updates at a fever pace right now.
I do think that “Hoops” is a bit overhyped when he suggests that, with the right kind of polish and planning, this could be the next Hades, but something built around the same mechanic it perhaps could be. As is, this is indeed a perfect $3 time suck. Although I never played it, the almost deliberate ugliness of the game reminds me a lot of XEvil, from a bygone era. (Or, I suppose, any kongregate game.)
posted by Going To Maine at 9:51 PM on February 17, 2022
I do think that “Hoops” is a bit overhyped when he suggests that, with the right kind of polish and planning, this could be the next Hades, but something built around the same mechanic it perhaps could be. As is, this is indeed a perfect $3 time suck. Although I never played it, the almost deliberate ugliness of the game reminds me a lot of XEvil, from a bygone era. (Or, I suppose, any kongregate game.)
posted by Going To Maine at 9:51 PM on February 17, 2022
I think the boys (incl Justin) on Besties pointed it out, but this would be simply perfection on Switch.
Justin was on Polygon’s stream playing a 4-up version of this this afternoon. It was pretty fun.
posted by supercres at 10:00 PM on February 17, 2022 [1 favorite]
Justin was on Polygon’s stream playing a 4-up version of this this afternoon. It was pretty fun.
posted by supercres at 10:00 PM on February 17, 2022 [1 favorite]
Other commenters have joked about how much time this game sucks up before, but if you are one of those persons that easily gets addicted to idle games (like the many clicker games we have featured on the Blue), approach Vampire Survivors very carefully...
posted by bigendian at 10:18 PM on February 17, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by bigendian at 10:18 PM on February 17, 2022 [3 favorites]
I mean, conversely, I got all the achievements and unlocked everything in about ten hours total of playing it, so even if you do get the completionist itch, it won't hold you for all that long.
I liked it. It reminded me of the glory days of Kongregate, when a particularly good game would drop and it was all everyone at the office did for a week.
posted by Scattercat at 11:15 PM on February 17, 2022 [9 favorites]
I liked it. It reminded me of the glory days of Kongregate, when a particularly good game would drop and it was all everyone at the office did for a week.
posted by Scattercat at 11:15 PM on February 17, 2022 [9 favorites]
It's a terrible game.
It's so bad that I just quit after unlocking Krochi after killing 100000 enemies and didn't get to 20 minutes on hyper on the free form game which sucks because for some fucking reason I still haven't evolved the holy water even though I got everything else including those goddamn pigeons.
I want my 3 dollars back, wth.
posted by lkc at 11:54 PM on February 17, 2022 [6 favorites]
It's so bad that I just quit after unlocking Krochi after killing 100000 enemies and didn't get to 20 minutes on hyper on the free form game which sucks because for some fucking reason I still haven't evolved the holy water even though I got everything else including those goddamn pigeons.
I want my 3 dollars back, wth.
posted by lkc at 11:54 PM on February 17, 2022 [6 favorites]
You gotta use the attractorb for the santa water
posted by Scattercat at 1:04 AM on February 18, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by Scattercat at 1:04 AM on February 18, 2022 [3 favorites]
Maybe it's just because I haven't unlocked all that much stuff, but garlic seems essential for the skeleton swarm at ~10 mins.
posted by juv3nal at 1:50 AM on February 18, 2022
posted by juv3nal at 1:50 AM on February 18, 2022
I had the arc of "this looks like garbage" -> "oh there's a free version on Itch and a couple of my friends won't shut up about it" -> "goddamn it it's actually good"
Like, it looks like trash! It looks like knockoff Castlevania, and the loop is entirely putting a bunch of monsters on screen that slowly advance towards you, and you don't even get to shoot them yourself. And yet it's compelling, because your loadout is entirely yours, the game plays completely differently depending on what weapons you take, and every minute the spawn pattern changes and it can change wildly. It looks like trash because the developer found the fun first, and a lot of games are not this fun this early.
Maybe it's just because I haven't unlocked all that much stuff, but garlic seems essential for the skeleton swarm at ~10 mins.
You need something for that swarm, but garlic's damage doesn't scale very well so it won't get you past the chonky bats. The secret is that chests don't just contain upgrades to your existing items; if you fulfil the right conditions, they can instead contain a much more powerful version of one of your weapons.
posted by Merus at 2:28 AM on February 18, 2022
Like, it looks like trash! It looks like knockoff Castlevania, and the loop is entirely putting a bunch of monsters on screen that slowly advance towards you, and you don't even get to shoot them yourself. And yet it's compelling, because your loadout is entirely yours, the game plays completely differently depending on what weapons you take, and every minute the spawn pattern changes and it can change wildly. It looks like trash because the developer found the fun first, and a lot of games are not this fun this early.
Maybe it's just because I haven't unlocked all that much stuff, but garlic seems essential for the skeleton swarm at ~10 mins.
You need something for that swarm, but garlic's damage doesn't scale very well so it won't get you past the chonky bats. The secret is that chests don't just contain upgrades to your existing items; if you fulfil the right conditions, they can instead contain a much more powerful version of one of your weapons.
posted by Merus at 2:28 AM on February 18, 2022
So it's like a tower defence game except you're the tower and you can walk around?
posted by seanmpuckett at 4:33 AM on February 18, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by seanmpuckett at 4:33 AM on February 18, 2022 [4 favorites]
The way Wiger has been raving about it on Get Played had convinced me to avoid it for productivity purposes but now that it's here... I guess I'm gonna have to finally try it.
posted by saladin at 4:50 AM on February 18, 2022
posted by saladin at 4:50 AM on February 18, 2022
I was up til 3am because of this post. The first round was confusing, but once I discovered the garlic, it felt less hopeless, and one time a treasure chest hit me with five items at once, and like an addict, I hit the cycle of "I know it's late but I can get in just one more round"
posted by Leviathant at 7:25 AM on February 18, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by Leviathant at 7:25 AM on February 18, 2022 [3 favorites]
I played the heck out of this game a couple of weeks ago. Then put it away and expect to play again at the sweet spot of whenever even more content is added. For anyone struggling to win, two gameplay mechanics tips.
The order you buy the metagame upgrades in matters for total cost. When you have enough money to buy a bunch of upgrades you'll find it's best to buy the expensive items first. There's free refunds so you can try different builds.
In a single gameplay there are special weapon upgrades that only unlock in specific circumstances. These are incredibly overpowered and planning your build around them is a key part of winning consistently. There's a wiki with full spoilers or you tend to stumble into them organically as you play.
posted by Nelson at 7:44 AM on February 18, 2022 [3 favorites]
The order you buy the metagame upgrades in matters for total cost. When you have enough money to buy a bunch of upgrades you'll find it's best to buy the expensive items first. There's free refunds so you can try different builds.
In a single gameplay there are special weapon upgrades that only unlock in specific circumstances. These are incredibly overpowered and planning your build around them is a key part of winning consistently. There's a wiki with full spoilers or you tend to stumble into them organically as you play.
posted by Nelson at 7:44 AM on February 18, 2022 [3 favorites]
I'm just glad to see the Robotron game mechanic live on. Still my favorite game.
posted by JoeZydeco at 7:45 AM on February 18, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by JoeZydeco at 7:45 AM on February 18, 2022 [4 favorites]
If this becomes a genre, "One-Stick Robotron" would be a good description of it. :D
(Picked this game up a couple weeks ago and enjoyed the heck out of it for a while. Very slightly frustrating at first but takes maybe five or ten minutes of "why am I dying?" play and then you luck into your first solid set of upgrades and, WOOSH, the neat power loop of the game is revealed and it's not frustrating any more.)
posted by introp at 8:03 AM on February 18, 2022 [1 favorite]
(Picked this game up a couple weeks ago and enjoyed the heck out of it for a while. Very slightly frustrating at first but takes maybe five or ten minutes of "why am I dying?" play and then you luck into your first solid set of upgrades and, WOOSH, the neat power loop of the game is revealed and it's not frustrating any more.)
posted by introp at 8:03 AM on February 18, 2022 [1 favorite]
I play maybe one video game a year for a little while before I get bored but I have 27.5 hours into VS and I'm still having fun.
You may not know just how much of an endorsement that is, trust me, it's huge.
posted by djeo at 8:15 AM on February 18, 2022 [2 favorites]
You may not know just how much of an endorsement that is, trust me, it's huge.
posted by djeo at 8:15 AM on February 18, 2022 [2 favorites]
Maybe a silly question but can you kill the bat that glows with a blueish outline? I haven't played a bunch yet but that's the only creature that I have yet to see die, even after heavy damage.
posted by Carillon at 8:43 AM on February 18, 2022
posted by Carillon at 8:43 AM on February 18, 2022
You can. He's a boss character, like the praying mantisses. So he'll sometimes drop a red gem or a chest.
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 8:46 AM on February 18, 2022
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 8:46 AM on February 18, 2022
A great game! I discovered it through SplatterCat on YouTube, who does excellent 30 min vids every day of new/updated indie games.
Already put dozen(s) of hours into VS — I put a lot of hours into the free game and was too excited when the Mac version dropped on Steam. Once you get the evolved weapon recipes in your head the game really opens up imo. Garlic is OP until it isn't, luck is more powerful than you think, and knife is great BUT is also frustrating as one of the only weapons that requires you to aim. There's some great YouTube vids showing fun runs, too — successful Pentagram run, killing Death (yes, it's possible) etc. Excited for future updates!
posted by wemayfreeze at 9:22 AM on February 18, 2022
Already put dozen(s) of hours into VS — I put a lot of hours into the free game and was too excited when the Mac version dropped on Steam. Once you get the evolved weapon recipes in your head the game really opens up imo. Garlic is OP until it isn't, luck is more powerful than you think, and knife is great BUT is also frustrating as one of the only weapons that requires you to aim. There's some great YouTube vids showing fun runs, too — successful Pentagram run, killing Death (yes, it's possible) etc. Excited for future updates!
posted by wemayfreeze at 9:22 AM on February 18, 2022
There's plenty of wikis out there for it but once you start getting in deep you want to keep an eye on the evolutions, since some weapons / items don't couple. The chests will only give you a bump on something you've already got, and there are rare chests that will give you 3 or 5 items.
To get most evolutions you only need one level of the item and 8 levels of the weapon, so it's good to focus on getting an evolved version of something before necessarily filling all the slots.
The birds are the most annoying since its 2 weapon slots that both need to get to level 8 and are quite difficult to work with early on, but you get one spot back after the evolution.
knife / wand / rod are good starting choices and you'll want garlic or the books as a perimeter defense.
Another nice thing is that its free to respec upgrades. The per item cost increases with each purchase, but I haven't quite figured out how that balances, seems like it is better to get the pricey stuff first.
And there is an end a while after the level boss, but I find it a little jarring, but probably for the best because once you've made it that far it seems like you could just go forever.
posted by lkc at 10:00 AM on February 18, 2022 [1 favorite]
To get most evolutions you only need one level of the item and 8 levels of the weapon, so it's good to focus on getting an evolved version of something before necessarily filling all the slots.
The birds are the most annoying since its 2 weapon slots that both need to get to level 8 and are quite difficult to work with early on, but you get one spot back after the evolution.
knife / wand / rod are good starting choices and you'll want garlic or the books as a perimeter defense.
Another nice thing is that its free to respec upgrades. The per item cost increases with each purchase, but I haven't quite figured out how that balances, seems like it is better to get the pricey stuff first.
And there is an end a while after the level boss, but I find it a little jarring, but probably for the best because once you've made it that far it seems like you could just go forever.
posted by lkc at 10:00 AM on February 18, 2022 [1 favorite]
I think my current most elaborately insane run was Mortaccio in the Hyper Library with evolved Garlic, Bibles, Santa Water, Wand and Lightning Ring, using Crown as the loose item for XP boost and Tiramisu for endgame revives, alongside the bones. At that point you have this catastrophic aura of devastation and obliterating force+knockback for anything that breaches the perimeter, the attractorb range (plus gold upgrades) lets you pull in xp while just standing still - in the final minute or two of the run I was siphoning up enough xp to level every four or five seconds (mostly gold bags with a floor chicken every now and again when a boss got spicy enough to kiss me), and hit lv. 127 before Death claimed my final revive.
The Skip/Reroll unlocks in the upgrade menu are super handy for the mid-game when you need one particular item/weapon to show up on leveling, but pumping Gold Find upgrade and then XP is a must when trying to earn all the cash to get those things.
Fun library tip! There is a free Stone Mask along the top wall if you head to the right for a minute or two from the start, and a free Book if you head to the left the same amount. If you wait to grab those until after your six standard item slots are filled, you get them as a seventh and eighth item that can be leveled!
posted by FatherDagon at 12:18 PM on February 18, 2022 [4 favorites]
The Skip/Reroll unlocks in the upgrade menu are super handy for the mid-game when you need one particular item/weapon to show up on leveling, but pumping Gold Find upgrade and then XP is a must when trying to earn all the cash to get those things.
Fun library tip! There is a free Stone Mask along the top wall if you head to the right for a minute or two from the start, and a free Book if you head to the left the same amount. If you wait to grab those until after your six standard item slots are filled, you get them as a seventh and eighth item that can be leveled!
posted by FatherDagon at 12:18 PM on February 18, 2022 [4 favorites]
I think the strategy guide that Tom-B linked is already out of date after 3 weeks - some of the stuff he doesn't list an upgrade path for has one - santa water + attractorb fully upgraded kept things off my back for a few minutes in the 20s and kept me from having to spin2win to make the hellfire plow 'em back.
And I think he's probably too hard on garlic - if I could only hold three or four weapons, I might be more selective, but once I've got the axe and magic wand and fire wand ... eh? That pulsing AoE deals with a lot of the horde waves outright if you keep upgrading it.
I sorta wish I could, I dunno, skip the first 5 minutes or so? Just gimme (x) levels of upgrades and drop me in the thick of it, rather than the usual slow passive clicker-style buildup. After that when you're trying to keep the weapons ahead of the mobs, and slowly getting mildly OP until the mobs level up is just right.
posted by Kyol at 3:01 PM on February 18, 2022 [1 favorite]
And I think he's probably too hard on garlic - if I could only hold three or four weapons, I might be more selective, but once I've got the axe and magic wand and fire wand ... eh? That pulsing AoE deals with a lot of the horde waves outright if you keep upgrading it.
I sorta wish I could, I dunno, skip the first 5 minutes or so? Just gimme (x) levels of upgrades and drop me in the thick of it, rather than the usual slow passive clicker-style buildup. After that when you're trying to keep the weapons ahead of the mobs, and slowly getting mildly OP until the mobs level up is just right.
posted by Kyol at 3:01 PM on February 18, 2022 [1 favorite]
I'm still in the early game, but garlic seems to turn an entire class of enemies into buibblewrap, allowing you ignore them, which saves mental energy for other things. That makes it worth putting an upgrade into it for me.
posted by fnerg at 3:05 PM on February 18, 2022
posted by fnerg at 3:05 PM on February 18, 2022
I'm incredibly proud of myself for having seen this thread after I had already decided to go to bed, and managing to only play three times before closing the window and actually going to bed.
It's okay though, I've already told coworkers about it, so I am doing my part to spread this infection. And I will be playing when I get home after work.
posted by Ghidorah at 3:24 PM on February 18, 2022 [3 favorites]
It's okay though, I've already told coworkers about it, so I am doing my part to spread this infection. And I will be playing when I get home after work.
posted by Ghidorah at 3:24 PM on February 18, 2022 [3 favorites]
Garlic is great early in the game but the damage doesn't scale as fast as you need to. In particular it doesn't scale with some of the buffs you get like Projectile number or Duration. The evolution for garlic is pretty great though.
I love the subtlety of the game, the balance is very good. I also like how deceptively simple it is. You have remarkably few choices in the game, mostly just which of 3 (or 4) upgrades you take from leveling up. But that turns out to have a lot of complexity on several different levels.
posted by Nelson at 4:52 PM on February 18, 2022 [2 favorites]
I love the subtlety of the game, the balance is very good. I also like how deceptively simple it is. You have remarkably few choices in the game, mostly just which of 3 (or 4) upgrades you take from leveling up. But that turns out to have a lot of complexity on several different levels.
posted by Nelson at 4:52 PM on February 18, 2022 [2 favorites]
I can get to about 15:00 but after that I quickly get swarmed. I've only managed to evolve a weapon once so far.
I think I must be doing something wrong.
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 1:34 PM on February 19, 2022
I think I must be doing something wrong.
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 1:34 PM on February 19, 2022
There’s a lot of luck involved. My first successful run came out of absolutely nowhere.
posted by Going To Maine at 2:02 PM on February 19, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Going To Maine at 2:02 PM on February 19, 2022 [1 favorite]
Also, it might just be me, but I find the library easier than the forest. I do keep a quick list of what pairs with what so I'm not winging it _as_ much. But that said, it's such a new game and in such a heavy state of development that I honestly don't think you can really take any of the "do this, don't do that" strategies too seriously. I think it could stand to be tuned a bit better so the losing weapons aren't traps, but I've managed to end a run with both garlic and santa water, and it was fine.
Also this definitely follows in the vein of clickers - you earn long term unlocks through achievements and buy bonuses that make you stronger and earn you more unlocks and more bonuses, so the introductory period is maybe a _little_ slow, but it ramps up pretty decently.
posted by Kyol at 3:01 PM on February 19, 2022
Also this definitely follows in the vein of clickers - you earn long term unlocks through achievements and buy bonuses that make you stronger and earn you more unlocks and more bonuses, so the introductory period is maybe a _little_ slow, but it ramps up pretty decently.
posted by Kyol at 3:01 PM on February 19, 2022
Also, I think there's an inflection point where you realize that bosses are meant to be beat like the loot piñatas they are - getting their chests is a quick and easy 1-5 powerups in one fell swoop. But you have to be able to put out enough damage that mobs aren't a huge threat any more and you can just sit there whittling down the boss.
posted by Kyol at 3:18 PM on February 19, 2022
posted by Kyol at 3:18 PM on February 19, 2022
Also!
...
ok I need to step away and, like, have dinner or something.
posted by Kyol at 3:19 PM on February 19, 2022
...
ok I need to step away and, like, have dinner or something.
posted by Kyol at 3:19 PM on February 19, 2022
I'm well aware that I'm weak to these types of games. Like, suuuuuuuper weak. I remember my days on Kongregate, Enter the Gungeon, and that wretched Bloons 5, and how I'd click play, then suddenly snap out of a trance and 4 hours evaporated like nothing. But I clicked anyways. In 2 days, I must have sunk 10-12 hours. What'd I expect would happen?
Turns out the person who made it used to be a software dev for slot machines, and knows exactly what they're doing.
So I had to make a decision. For someone like me? We're just not gonna play this game. It's a non-option. Vampire Survivors is now 100% off limits. These types of games have that Ring of Power type of effect on me. It either completely sucks me in and hijacks all my mental faculties, or I cast it into the fires of Mount Doom, however painful. There's no middle ground.
I did get to like, the 25 minute mark? 30 minute mark? Does it even matter? All I know is, I was spinning around in place like The Sound of Music, mowing down large man-eating plants wave after wave, until the bats with the glowing forcefields did me in. I think I had the maxed-out whip that gives health regen, the stream of knives with zero cool-down, ultra hyper garlic, the two doves (but not completely maxed out), and some other stuff I don't recall. I think one of the most satisfying lil details about the game is when you get the full-screen attractor orb in the later levels, and you're just leveling up like ever second. That's probably the dopamine climax. THAT SURGE! THAT STREAM! THEM SPARKLY SOUND FX! UGH!!!
GET BEHIND ME, YOU WRETCHED, STICKY, MENTALLY HIJACKING O-SO FINELY TUNED TIMESUCK!
(For my Bloons 5 weaning, watching a few playthroughs of others doing insane runs helped me realize I'd never be able to get to that level of insanely destructive powers, and kinda helped me "get over" wanting to play. Planning to do the same for this game as well and hopefully move on with resolute determination.)
posted by room9 at 6:11 PM on February 19, 2022 [4 favorites]
Turns out the person who made it used to be a software dev for slot machines, and knows exactly what they're doing.
So I had to make a decision. For someone like me? We're just not gonna play this game. It's a non-option. Vampire Survivors is now 100% off limits. These types of games have that Ring of Power type of effect on me. It either completely sucks me in and hijacks all my mental faculties, or I cast it into the fires of Mount Doom, however painful. There's no middle ground.
I did get to like, the 25 minute mark? 30 minute mark? Does it even matter? All I know is, I was spinning around in place like The Sound of Music, mowing down large man-eating plants wave after wave, until the bats with the glowing forcefields did me in. I think I had the maxed-out whip that gives health regen, the stream of knives with zero cool-down, ultra hyper garlic, the two doves (but not completely maxed out), and some other stuff I don't recall. I think one of the most satisfying lil details about the game is when you get the full-screen attractor orb in the later levels, and you're just leveling up like ever second. That's probably the dopamine climax. THAT SURGE! THAT STREAM! THEM SPARKLY SOUND FX! UGH!!!
GET BEHIND ME, YOU WRETCHED, STICKY, MENTALLY HIJACKING O-SO FINELY TUNED TIMESUCK!
(For my Bloons 5 weaning, watching a few playthroughs of others doing insane runs helped me realize I'd never be able to get to that level of insanely destructive powers, and kinda helped me "get over" wanting to play. Planning to do the same for this game as well and hopefully move on with resolute determination.)
posted by room9 at 6:11 PM on February 19, 2022 [4 favorites]
New update came out today and its crashed on me twice mid-game trying to get the last couple achievements. Pretty disheartening since there is no save or recovery when that happens.
posted by lkc at 6:58 PM on February 19, 2022
posted by lkc at 6:58 PM on February 19, 2022
I read the article that room9 posted, and I was ready to forgive the dev for being a slot machine designer, but then I read that he's not even a Castlevania fan, and he just used a Castlevania-themed sprite pack by accident. Fuck this guy. I will be uninstalling this game. I just need to get a few unlocks first...
posted by The genius who rejected Anno's budget proposal. at 6:58 AM on February 20, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by The genius who rejected Anno's budget proposal. at 6:58 AM on February 20, 2022 [1 favorite]
I suppose it would be better if you were limited to 30 minutes per day, and any after that required a token. What if one of the pick-ups you could get was another start token. And luck improved your chance of getting those. And what if you could buy tokens for, say, $0.25 each. Cheaper than any arcade cabinet you'll ever see these days.
Y'all are "mad" at the guy for making an all-you-can-eat dessert buffet that only requires self-control, when he could have cashed in big time with the in-game purchases.
Though, I'm reasonably confident this particular mechanic will be fucking everywhere in six months with extremely professional custom sprites, optimized sound effects, cash-for-upgrades etc etc etc.
It's a fun diversion. I gave the developer the $3 and tbh it's keeping me from being mad about not being able to play Horizon Forbidden West.
posted by seanmpuckett at 9:20 AM on February 20, 2022
Y'all are "mad" at the guy for making an all-you-can-eat dessert buffet that only requires self-control, when he could have cashed in big time with the in-game purchases.
Though, I'm reasonably confident this particular mechanic will be fucking everywhere in six months with extremely professional custom sprites, optimized sound effects, cash-for-upgrades etc etc etc.
It's a fun diversion. I gave the developer the $3 and tbh it's keeping me from being mad about not being able to play Horizon Forbidden West.
posted by seanmpuckett at 9:20 AM on February 20, 2022
I don’t think many people are mad about this, really. Rather, I think people are uncomfortable with casinos and ties to the casino industry, and the (true) sense of how connected casino games are to video games.
posted by Going To Maine at 10:32 AM on February 20, 2022
posted by Going To Maine at 10:32 AM on February 20, 2022
I respecced buying t he +1 projectiles power up and using the skeleton and that seemed to get me quite handily over the 15 minute hump.
It really does end up just being about DPS in those later stages.
Though I did pull a 5x chest on both occasions where I won. So it still may be somewhat luck focussed.
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 11:34 AM on February 20, 2022
It really does end up just being about DPS in those later stages.
Though I did pull a 5x chest on both occasions where I won. So it still may be somewhat luck focussed.
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 11:34 AM on February 20, 2022
It really does end up just being about DPS in those later stages.
Yes, I've found that one of the tips in the strategy guide linked above has held true for me: Damage is everything. Avoid using slots for passive items that are defence- or utility-focused, like +armour or +max health, unless you need the item to evolve a weapon. Always take the Duplicator.
The best weapon overall, in my opinion, is the Magic Wand. Other weapons like the King Bible start off relatively weak but become extremely powerful when evolved (the bible may actually be overpowered when evolved), but the magic wand starts off strong and stays strong throughout the game. Its passive item partner, the Empty Tome, complements most other weapons as well.
posted by good in a vacuum at 11:57 AM on February 20, 2022 [1 favorite]
Yes, I've found that one of the tips in the strategy guide linked above has held true for me: Damage is everything. Avoid using slots for passive items that are defence- or utility-focused, like +armour or +max health, unless you need the item to evolve a weapon. Always take the Duplicator.
The best weapon overall, in my opinion, is the Magic Wand. Other weapons like the King Bible start off relatively weak but become extremely powerful when evolved (the bible may actually be overpowered when evolved), but the magic wand starts off strong and stays strong throughout the game. Its passive item partner, the Empty Tome, complements most other weapons as well.
posted by good in a vacuum at 11:57 AM on February 20, 2022 [1 favorite]
The game requires so little input that I am really tempted to set up a reinforcement learning project. I find this set of mental steps helpful whenever I wonder "am I playing Spreadsheet the Game wrapped in another game again?"
posted by a robot made out of meat at 6:25 PM on February 20, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by a robot made out of meat at 6:25 PM on February 20, 2022 [2 favorites]
Okay, after a day, I'm at the point where I can beat the game consistently. Here's my strategy guide:
In the power-up menu, get Amount.
That's it. You win.
...
Okay, you should probably read the strategy guide. Your ascension kit is the S, A, and B tier, and Santa water. That means you have one more weapon slot to play with, and it really doesn't matter what you choose. I'm still a fan of garlic water and the whip, just because garlic water allows you to stand in the middle of the map and laugh for about the first 2-3 minutes.
With the whip and one level of Amount, the whip actually attack upwards really well. On the forest stage, I got through the skeleton horde by just going up.
Santa Water powers up into a ring of AoE megadamage, and as you can see here, did the most damage out of anything else in the game:
https://mltshp.com/p/1N0A9
One other disagreement I have with the guide is that the evolved birds are actually less useful than the unevolved versions. Plus they take too many slots and upgrades. The birds are terrible IMHO.
--
When choosing upgrades, go for the rarest buff items you can get first. Spellbinder shows up pretty rarely, grab it, even if it's not doing you much good.
Try to get everything in the ascension kit first. If you have everythiung at level 1, you're still in a good spot, especially with Amount, and upgrades and evoluition is inevitable.
By the end of the game, you're back to sitting in the middle of the screen and laughing. Except for bosses. They WILL slip past unholy vespers, and kill you.
That's really it. The game is totally fun in the same way popping bubblewrap is after awhile.
posted by fnerg at 8:25 PM on February 20, 2022
In the power-up menu, get Amount.
That's it. You win.
...
Okay, you should probably read the strategy guide. Your ascension kit is the S, A, and B tier, and Santa water. That means you have one more weapon slot to play with, and it really doesn't matter what you choose. I'm still a fan of garlic water and the whip, just because garlic water allows you to stand in the middle of the map and laugh for about the first 2-3 minutes.
With the whip and one level of Amount, the whip actually attack upwards really well. On the forest stage, I got through the skeleton horde by just going up.
Santa Water powers up into a ring of AoE megadamage, and as you can see here, did the most damage out of anything else in the game:
https://mltshp.com/p/1N0A9
One other disagreement I have with the guide is that the evolved birds are actually less useful than the unevolved versions. Plus they take too many slots and upgrades. The birds are terrible IMHO.
--
When choosing upgrades, go for the rarest buff items you can get first. Spellbinder shows up pretty rarely, grab it, even if it's not doing you much good.
Try to get everything in the ascension kit first. If you have everythiung at level 1, you're still in a good spot, especially with Amount, and upgrades and evoluition is inevitable.
By the end of the game, you're back to sitting in the middle of the screen and laughing. Except for bosses. They WILL slip past unholy vespers, and kill you.
That's really it. The game is totally fun in the same way popping bubblewrap is after awhile.
posted by fnerg at 8:25 PM on February 20, 2022
One other disagreement I have with the guide is that the evolved birds are actually less useful than the unevolved versions. Plus they take too many slots and upgrades. The birds are terrible IMHO.
Surely they do more damage? The birds aren’t my fave, but you can level the evolved bird up eight times all over again.
posted by Going To Maine at 10:12 PM on February 20, 2022 [1 favorite]
Surely they do more damage? The birds aren’t my fave, but you can level the evolved bird up eight times all over again.
posted by Going To Maine at 10:12 PM on February 20, 2022 [1 favorite]
Thanks for this post. My kids and I lost a whole weekend to this game. Excellent fun. Now that we have all the achievements, we can but it down until there are a couple more updates. (Although, my kids are still plotting to kill Death)
Also, we love the rainbow bird. It's pretty and does gonzo DPS numbers.
posted by 3j0hn at 9:35 AM on February 21, 2022 [1 favorite]
Also, we love the rainbow bird. It's pretty and does gonzo DPS numbers.
posted by 3j0hn at 9:35 AM on February 21, 2022 [1 favorite]
OK I can see what you mean about "amount." I played a bunch of little games, earning nickels and dimes, and then bought amount and the very next game saw me out to minute 30.
I had Heaven Sword, Holy Wand, and Thunder Loop plus maxxed Santa Water and Garlic. I was in the library and, reader, I didn't have to do shit. Bosses wouldn't even get near me. I walked around because I was otherwise bored. Treasure chests and level-ups just gave me cash or food.
The hilariously awkward thing is that my poor old 2012 MBP's fan was howling and the game was lagging and I was getting under 10fps with some serious stutters. So. Many. Objects on the screen.
Definitely feel I've gotten my $3 worth at this point.
posted by seanmpuckett at 6:38 PM on February 21, 2022
I had Heaven Sword, Holy Wand, and Thunder Loop plus maxxed Santa Water and Garlic. I was in the library and, reader, I didn't have to do shit. Bosses wouldn't even get near me. I walked around because I was otherwise bored. Treasure chests and level-ups just gave me cash or food.
The hilariously awkward thing is that my poor old 2012 MBP's fan was howling and the game was lagging and I was getting under 10fps with some serious stutters. So. Many. Objects on the screen.
Definitely feel I've gotten my $3 worth at this point.
posted by seanmpuckett at 6:38 PM on February 21, 2022
Well, I got all the cheevos.
posted by Going To Maine at 1:06 PM on February 22, 2022
posted by Going To Maine at 1:06 PM on February 22, 2022
I'm sort of waiting for the inevitable round of updates where the cheevos get into the "kill death 5 times in one run" sort of territory and I can feel better about noping out. I'm still struggling with getting the birdie union even though they're both unlocked, otherwise I'm sort of at the "grind out all the bonuses" stage and it's not quite that interesting to me once I get the last couple of achievements.
posted by Kyol at 7:11 PM on February 22, 2022
posted by Kyol at 7:11 PM on February 22, 2022
New updates patched in today.
A new level, a bunch of new achievements and some new gameplay mechanics.
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 12:12 PM on March 2, 2022 [2 favorites]
A new level, a bunch of new achievements and some new gameplay mechanics.
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 12:12 PM on March 2, 2022 [2 favorites]
ok, reporting back after 15 days, i finally survived to minute 30 in the free itch.io version. good run. i don't think i have anything much to add to what yall have already said beyond this: for me, the final piece of the puzzle was focusing more on the Vaccuum/Attract thing earlier. up until this run i would stall out around minute 25-26 when it's nothing but screens full of blue lotus and my movement was restricted such that i couldn't pick up enough XP jewels. surely i also got lucky on this run, but that was the strategy change that carried me through. with high enough Attract it didn't matter if i could walk around or not, and this created a feedback loop where i was leveling faster than ever before, faster than the difficulty was going up.
posted by glonous keming at 2:21 PM on March 4, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by glonous keming at 2:21 PM on March 4, 2022 [1 favorite]
Hey, I also survived to minute 30 for the first time today. Along the way I got all the achievements and all but one of the collection (is a maxed out axe really great? Because the non-maxed axe is trash, and that seems to be the pattern). For me, the ascension kit was Unholy Vespers, Thousand Edge, and Holy Wand.
We'll see if it keeps holding my interest long enough the power ups (that strategy guide person, who I think is wrong about a lot of things, is absolutely right when they say buy Amount first).
posted by box at 2:54 PM on March 4, 2022
We'll see if it keeps holding my interest long enough the power ups (that strategy guide person, who I think is wrong about a lot of things, is absolutely right when they say buy Amount first).
posted by box at 2:54 PM on March 4, 2022
Next round of patches! Already down to one cheevo remaining.
posted by Going To Maine at 12:14 PM on March 14, 2022
posted by Going To Maine at 12:14 PM on March 14, 2022
(Pentagram is terrible, but evolved pentagram is great.)
posted by Going To Maine at 12:15 PM on March 14, 2022
posted by Going To Maine at 12:15 PM on March 14, 2022
The new character Christine gets 30% cooldown speed, so an evolved pentagram with fully levelled empty tome means that it fires almost continuously.
I haven't yet tried a maxed out clock lancet with her, but I think it could be quite an interesting combo.
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 2:38 PM on March 14, 2022 [1 favorite]
I haven't yet tried a maxed out clock lancet with her, but I think it could be quite an interesting combo.
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 2:38 PM on March 14, 2022 [1 favorite]
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