Castlevania Fans Need to Play This New Vampire Game (2024)

V Rising is a recent release that has a lot of vampire fans buzzing. Taking control of a recently awakened vampire, players can hunt and kill their way through the country of Vardoran to reassert their dominance over the human society that has driven the vampire kingdom into near extinction. Along the way, they gain powerful weapons and magic that bolsters their ability to wage their campaign of terror. Players even have the ability to build mighty fortresses to rest in during the daylight hours. The true vampire experience is found in V Rising and gamers with a love for being the bad guy should leap at the chance to sink their fangs into it.

If that wasn't enticing enough, this game also contains many nods to the beloved Castlevania franchise. Aside from having a very Gothic aesthetic to the entire game, V Rising also has a Castlevania DLC, gifting players with several cosmetics based on its most popular character. After all, there are few Castlevania fans who wouldn't want to build their own character, dressed in the franchise's best-known regalia, and then go on a rampage in the dead of night.

V Rising Has Fascinating Lore

• V Rising is set in the country of Vardoran, where vampires once ruled.
• Their secret society was destroyed by Dracula when he tried to rule over humans and vampires.
• Dracula was defeated by human forces but made a plan to return.

While the game itself does not contain cutscenes and is really just a long battle throughout the world, that doesn't mean V Rising has no lore at all. In fact, the story of Vardoran is fascinating and used to explain how the vampires became so diminished in the current age. As the story goes, centuries ago, vampire society ruled over humanity from the shadows.

They manipulated events to play convoluted political games against rival vampire clans, often killing their human pawns in the process, with humanity being none the wiser. The vampires were fine with this arrangement, as their unwitting puppets further supported their lavish lifestyles and, so long as no vampires waged open war, then they would be secure in the knowledge that humans would have no way of stopping them.

Then along came the game's main boss: Dracula. While this isn't the Dracula of Castlevania, he is no less sinister or powerful. He desired not to rule from the shadows, but to do so openly. His ambition was so great that he desired not only to rule over humans but vampires as well. This obviously didn't sit well with the other clans, who began resisting Dracula and his war efforts. Unfortunately, these vampires were quickly overwhelmed by the power Dracula had; power that not even they had harnessed before. Dracula had tapped into the power of other planes, with a dark throne in his castle acting as a conduit for all this power. Vampire society was quickly defeated by Dracula's magic and his army, the Legion of Noctum.

With the main vampire resistance out of the way, he began conquering the human settlements of Vardoran. Though they were unprepared for the onslaught, human determination and ingenuity allowed them to devise several means of resisting and even killing vampires, such as the discovering how silver was a dangerous weapon to wield against vampires. Most importantly, they prayed for help from a higher power, and something answered. Humans were suddenly blessed with a holy light, the natural opposite of a vampire's dark magic.

Using this power, they routed Dracula's forces and destroyed him. This was not the end of the Immortal King, however. As an act of vengeance, he seeded his blood throughout several human bloodlines in hopes of one day returning. This is why the player character's vampire has awakened. They have sensed that Dracula's return is imminent and have risen up to stop him from reclaiming his throne. Perhaps along the way, they might even reassert vampire dominance over the country.

Players Get to Live Out Their Vampire Fantasies

• V Rising is an open world that takes full advantage of a vampire's strengths and weaknesses.
• Players will gather resources and build mighty fortresses.
• They also acquire powerful magic and weapons.

The major appeal of V Rising is that it takes full advantage of the vampire myth — both the good and the bad. Players get to be a dark force of nature that can tear a human apart limb from limb if given the chance. However, they must also contend with the weaknesses of being a vampire. They are vulnerable to sunlight, and this world possesses a day-and-night cycle that can kill the player if they are not careful. This is why it is important to find, and later build shelters: to endure the deadly rays of the sun, but also the numerous enemies across Vardoran.

Humanity is not the only threat to be found here, as players will need to drink their blood to become more powerful. Players will also come across all kinds of enemies. Different variations of the undead, plants, animals, other mythical creatures, practically everything that moves on Vardoran is hostile to the player. It adds a level of danger that will require a true vampire's cunning to survive out in the open. The player will not have the resources of the once mighty vampire kingdom, they will need to build them up again, gathering resources from across the lands they travel through to build weapons, armor, and places to hide.

Perhaps most enticing is the prospect of gaining power and artifacts to assist in this conquest. Players are not simply limited to the standard trope of a vampire stalking the streets at night to bite an unsuspecting victim. No, this is an age when vampires do not need to be so subtle in how they use their powers. Players can acquire deadly blood magic to counter the light and inventions of humanity, as well as dominate the dark power of other vampires. In addition, powerful weapons and armor exist in the world to bolster a player's physical prowess, guaranteeing that if magic won't cut it, then hitting something hard enough will.

There Are Plenty of Nods to Castlevania in the Game

• V Rising has a DLC called Legacy of Castlevania.
• It gives players numerous cosmetic items based on the franchise.
• The DLC also provides Simon Belmont as a boss.

While V Rising is not set in the world of Castlevania, it is clear that the world is heavily inspired by the Gothic action-adventure game. Character design allows for fans to build the vampire of their fantasies, or even build their own versions of Dracula and Alucard. Even building one's own castle can be a way to literally live within the power trip of residing in Dracula's castle. The game went a step further by even having a DLC that incorporates a lot of the designs of Castlevania into the game: the Legacy of Castlevania DLC.

The DLC unlocks various cosmetics that allow a player to model themselves after Alucard, including his hairstyle and clothes. They may also use three new shapeshifting forms to look like characters from the series, or even take on Alucard's wolf form. One of the best parts of this DLC is that it also includes structure variants for building and decorating one's castles after Castlevania's design. Finally, it also includes Simon Belmont as a boss fight, with the series' most famous music being added to the soundtrack of the game.

Players have numerous opportunities to live out their Castlevania fantasies here, building a vampire that is truly their own, but inspired by a game series so quintessential to the idea of taking control of a powerful vampire. For the first time, they get to be the monster terrorizing humanity instead of the one fighting to stop the darkness. This game is so unique because it embraces the twisted nature of being a vampire, reveling in the horror that can come from being a child of the night. Though vampire civilization has fallen to humanity, for every dawn, there is also a dusk.

V Rising

Platform(s)

PC

Released

May 17, 2022

Developer(s)

Stunlock Studios

Publisher(s)

Stunlock Studios

Genre(s)

MMORPG , Survival

Multiplayer

Online Co-Op , Online Multiplayer

Engine

Unity

ESRB

T For Teen due to Blood, Violence

How Long To Beat

40 Hours