Vampire Survivors creator talks chaos, content and Castlevania ahead of new DLC release

Even a gaming journalist rarely gets to interview a developer whose game you’ve played for over 100 hours. However, this is where I recently found myself, sitting at a small table opposite Luca Galante, creator Surviving Vampiresduring a public event to promote the upcoming launch of the much-hyped Ode to Castlevania expansion.

For those who don’t know and have presumably been living under a rock for the past three years, Vampire Survivors is one of the award-winning indie hits of the 2020s, emulating a runaway success that can only be matched by similar hits. Stardew Valley, Undertale and in the last few months Balatro. So far, we’ve seen four DLC offerings, regular updates, and even a new game mode in the form of Adventures. So, I had something to say to the creator of one of my favorite games.

First, I asked Galante about his approach to creating DLC ​​like Ode to Castlevania, and whether he focuses on balancing new ideas with those already in the game, or whether he’s more interested in just having fun. “It’s absolutely not a balance; balance is completely thrown out the window. I just want to do something interesting. This was actually especially difficult because we introduced the adventure concept in other DLCs, so if someone wanted to start over with those items, they could do that.”

He continued: “This was much more difficult because we didn’t have the resources to create an adventure and a base game. So it was challenging, but we tried to achieve a different balance than other DLCs, with different power scaling. It’s still crazy, still unbalanced, but definitely different.” This was quite a refreshing answer for me, as the best games put fun first, and that, in my opinion, should at least be a core principle for all developers. There’s little point in polishing a game if it’s not fun to play.

Regarding the new Castlevania-themed DLC, I asked Galante what part of the world of Konami’s genre-defining series he was most excited to bring to his indie game, and his answer was both unsurprising and genuinely enthusiastic. “Honestly, I can’t choose just one. When I saw this letter from Konami, I couldn’t believe it.”

After thinking a little more, he continued, telling me, “Ideally, I want every fan to find something about the show that they really love.” Having played with Ode to Castlevania for fifteen minutes before speaking with the developer, I think his mission was a success, as even those whose Castlevania familiarity extends to vague memories of GBA and Super Smash Bros. characters. Ultimate, must do this. find something they recognize fairly early on.

Moving on to the game as a whole, beyond the exciting Castlevania DLC, I asked Galante about something that struck me recently while playing. Can you defeat the surviving vampires? Between the various in-game bosses, achievements, and secrets to unlock, the game never lets you know you’ve “beaten it” as the kids like to say, so I asked the developer what he would do if forced to do so. classify him as a loser in his game?

“I’m the best person to ask because I’ve been working on this game for three years now and I’m probably the person who’s played it the most in the world. I tried to set up some checkpoints so that people could say, “Okay, that’s enough; I don’t want to play anymore,’ but it didn’t work.” I can tell you from personal experience that the developer is making money here, and I have the game hours to prove it. However, I think Galante’s description of his game does a great job of explaining why it’s so fun. The hallmark of a good game is that you don’t want to give it up. I beat all the in-game checkpoints and still come back regularly to create flashy lights and big damage with Queen Sigma.

Regarding Queen Sigma, I asked which characters the creator of Vampire Survivors relies on when testing a new level. “Of course, I always try new characters and then go back to the first couple of characters, the ones that everyone has played at least once, like Antonio. Plus, of course, I need to work with Queen Sigma and see how much chaos I can bring to the screen.” I’m glad to see that I’m not alone in giving Queen Sigma a good experience in all the new locations.

If you haven’t watched the science fiction film Noclips yet documentary on YouTube While covering the early development of Vampire Survivors, you may not have known that the game began as a passion project for Galante, with the developer working on a future indie hit in his spare time. To that end, I asked Galante if he feels more pressure to create new content now, given the huge and insatiable audience he has, than when he was just doing it for himself.

“I think the atmosphere is the same. I feel a little guilty about this, but at the same time I think it’s the right thing to do. I mean, I still look at Vampire Survivors as my little project for fun. Because I feel like if I start being a little more professional about it, she might end up losing some of what made her stand out. So I still consider it just a game for myself. Then, of course, I let player feedback influence a lot of decisions, but it’s mostly about what to prioritize versus what I want to do with the game.”

Finally, I had to do my day job as a games journalist, interviewing the developer, asking what Galante and the rest of the Poncle team had planned for the future of Vampire Survivors. “So, we have plans to continue building things until at least the end of next year, so free updates will continue to be released. I started too many update cycles not to complete them.” As a superfan, this was music to my ears, but Galante’s follow-up was fun to listen to.

“I would like to do more DLC and more collaborations. The problem is that I’m starting to feel like we’re doing too much. I want to make them, but at the same time I feel like I’ve had bad experiences in the past with games creating too many microtransactions, too much DLC, or expanding too much, and I feel like it’s affecting me in a negative way. But I would really like to continue to do more. Especially if the players also want more. I would love to make at least one more original DLC. This is an amazing response from Galante because it shows how much he views his game from a player’s perspective as well as a developer’s perspective.

He seems to know the pain we’ve all experienced loading up a new game with countless DLC options, only to have it turn off again ten minutes later. I can only assume that it was this kind of self-awareness that helped the developer create something that appeals to so many people. As a huge fan of the game, it’s certainly encouraging that he has such artistic integrity and doesn’t seem to view the game as a cash cow at all.

I said “finally” before the last question, but Galante, being the generous developer he is, shared one more tidbit for me before I left. “I’ll tell you something fun about our own DLC that I’m not sure if I’ve told anyone about. Basically, they’re all from games I never finished, or from D&D campaigns I ran years ago.” This immediately makes a lot of sense because while the gameplay of original DLCs like Tides of Foscari and Legacy of the Moonspell are clearly similar to the main content in terms of gameplay, their lore, characters, and even weapons feel different from the others. base game. I mean that in the most complimentary way possible. These could be separate games and I would still enjoy them.

Ultimately, from talking with Galante, I realized that he is a developer with a real passion for his work, and he holds it close to his heart. I’ve never had such an easy interview. Essentially it was just two people talking about something they both liked; It just so happens that one of these people is responsible for introducing a piece of pixel perfection into the world.

Our interview also inspired me for the future of Vampire Survivors, as Galante not only remains extremely enthusiastic about his game, but also seems to be taking a cautious approach. I’m amazed at the approach that the developers of some of my other favorite indie games have taken to ensure their games continue to delight audiences and never ruin their image, which is all I can hope for from the future of Vampire Survivors. Oh, and I managed to get through it all without being too fanatical, so that’s a bonus.

That’s it for our interview with Vampire Survivors creator Luca Galante. If you haven’t tried the Vampire Survivors game yet, now this is one of many Apple Arcade Gamesand the new Ode to Castlevania DLC will be released on October 31st. If you’re looking for more fantastic games to help you get through the spooky season, be sure to check out our selection of the best games. horror games on Switch and mobile while you’re here. Until then, continue Vampire Surviving.