Vampire Survivors creator talks chaos, content and Castlevania ahead of the fresh DLC

Published:

Even if you’re a games journalist, it’s scarce to get an interview with a developer whose game you’ve played for over 100 hours. But that’s where I found myself recently, sitting at a tiny table across from Luca Galante, the creator Vampire survivorsduring a community event celebrating the upcoming release of the highly popular Ode to Castlevania DLC.

For those who don’t know and have probably been living under a rock for the last three years, Vampire Survivors is one of the biggest, award-winning independent hits of the 1920s, emulating the kind of runaway success that can only be compared to the likes of Stardew Valley, Undertale , and in the last few months, Balatro. So far, we’ve seen four DLC offerings, regular updates, and even a fresh game mode in the form of Adventures. So I had a lot to say to the creator of one of my favorite games.

- Advertisement -

First, I asked Galante about his approach to creating DLC ​​like Ode to Castlevania, and whether he’s focused on balancing fresh ideas with those already in the game, or if he’s more interested in just making it fun. “It is absolutely not a balance; balance is completely out the window. I just want to do things that will be enjoyable. In fact, this was especially tough because we introduced the concept of Adventures for other DLCs, so that if someone wanted to start over with these items, they could do so.

He continued: “In this case it was much more difficult because we didn’t have the resources to create the Adventure and the base game. So it was difficult, but we tried to find a different balance than other DLCs with different power scaling. It’s still crazy, still unsustainable, but definitely different.” For me, this was quite a refreshing answer, because the best games put fun first, and that, at least in my opinion, should be a basic principle of all developers. There’s little point in balancing your game to perfection if it’s not fun to play.

When it comes to the fresh Castlevania-themed DLC, I asked Galante which part of the world of Konami’s genre-defining series he was most excited to bring to his indie game, and his answer was unsurprising and filled with genuine enthusiasm. “Honestly, I can’t pick one thing. When I saw this email from Konami, I couldn’t believe it.”

After thinking about it for a moment, he spoke up and said, “I want every fan to, ideally, find something in the show that they really like.” After fifteen minutes of hands-on time with the Ode to Castlevania DLC before speaking with the developer, I feel his mission was a success, as even those familiar with Castlevania reach back to hazy memories of the GBA and Super Smash Bros. characters. Ultimate, they should do this find something they recognize quite early.

A screenshot of the Vampire Survivors interview with Luca Galante showing one of the new Castlevania DLC characters exploring the new map

Moving on to the game in general, outside of the thrilling Castlevania DLC, I asked Galante about something that struck me recently while playing the game. Can you defeat the Vampire Survivors? With the game’s various bosses, achievements and secrets to unlock, the game never really makes it clear that you’ve “beat” as the kids like to say, so I asked the developer what he would do if he was forced to classify as someone who had beaten your game?

“I’m the worst person to ask this because I’ve been working on this game for three years and I’m probably the most played person in the world. I tried to create some checkpoints for people to say, “OK, that’s enough; I don’t want to play anymore, but it didn’t work out very well. From my own experience I can say that the developer is making money here and I have the hours of play to prove it. Still, I think Galante’s own game description perfectly explains why it’s so addictive. The mark of a good game is that you don’t want to put it down. I’ve beaten every checkpoint in the game and keep coming back to regularly create glowing lights and high damage with Queen Sigma.

Regarding Queen Sigma, I asked which character the creator of Vampire Survivors uses when testing a fresh level. “Of course, I always try out the newest characters and then go back to the first few characters, the ones that everyone has played at least once, like Antonio. Plus, of course, I have to run with Queen Sigma and see how much chaos I can bring to the screen. I’m glad I’m not alone in giving Queen Sigma a good run in all its fresh locations.

Screenshot of an interview with Luca Galante from Vampire Survivors, showing Poe with this garlic attack, fighting several enemies

If you haven’t watched the fantastic movie Noclips YouTube documentary when discussing the early development of Vampire Survivors, you may not know that the game began as Galante’s passion project, with its creator working on a future indie hit in his spare time. As a result, I asked Galante if he feels more pressure creating fresh content now, given his huge and voracious audience, than he did when he was just doing it for himself.

“I think the vibe is the same. I feel a little guilty about it, but at the same time I think it’s the right decision. My point is that I still treat Vampire Survivors as my little project that’s meant to be fun. Because I feel like if I start approaching it more professionally, it might end up losing some of what made this book stand out. So I still think of it as a game for myself. Then, of course, I let player feedback influence a lot of decisions, but mostly it’s about what to prioritize versus what I want to do with the game.”

Finally, I had to do my main job as a gaming journalist, interviewing the developer, asking what plans Galante and the rest of the team at Poncle had for the future of Vampire Survivors. “So we have plans to continue building something until at least the end of next year, so free updates will continue to be provided. I have started too many update cycles to not complete them.” As a superfan, this was music to my ears, but the sequel to Galante was captivating.

“I would like to create more DLC and more collaborations. The problem is that I’m starting to feel like we’re somehow doing too much. I want to do it, but at the same time I feel like I’ve had bad experiences in the past with games that have too many microtransactions, too many DLCs, or too much development, and I feel like it’s affecting me in a negative way. But I would absolutely just like to do more. Especially if players want more too. I would love to do at least one more original DLC. ” This is a fascinating response from Galante because it shows how much he views his game from both a player and developer perspective.

A screenshot of a Vampire Survivors interview with Luca Galante, showing the character fighting a legion of enemies

Apparently he knows the pain we’ve all experienced of loading up a fresh game with countless DLC options and then putting it down again ten minutes later. I can only assume it’s this kind of self-awareness that helped the creator create something that so many people connect with. As a huge fan of the game, it’s certainly comforting to know that he has this kind of artistic integrity and doesn’t seem to view the game as a cash cow at all.

I finally said this before the last question, but Galante, being the generous developer that he is, had one more tidbit for me before I left. “Let me tell you something humorous, although I’m not sure if I told anyone about our own DLC. Basically, they’re all from games I never finished or D&D campaigns I ran years ago. This immediately makes a lot of sense, as the gameplay in original DLC offerings like Tides of Foscari and Legacy of the Moonspell clearly resembles the core content in terms of gameplay, story, characters, and even weapons, making them feel like they stand out from the rest. basic game. I mean that in the most flattering way. They could be standalone games and I’d still enjoy them.

Ultimately, from the conversation with Galante, I concluded that he is a programmer with a real passion for his work, which is close to him. I’ve never had such an straightforward job interview. It was basically just two people talking about something they both loved; it just so happens that one of these people is responsible for bringing a slice of pixel perfection to the world.

Our interview also got me excited about the future of Vampire Survivors, as not only is Galante still extremely enthusiastic about his game, but he also seems to have a cautious approach. I’m struck by the approach that the creators of some of my favorite indie games have also taken to ensure that their games continue to delight audiences and never tarnish their image, and that’s what I can count on in the future of Vampire Survivors. Oh, and I managed to get through it all without fanboying too much, so that’s a bonus.

There you go, our interview with Vampire Survivors creator Luca Galante. If you still haven’t tried Vampire Survivors, it’s one of many Apple Arcade games now, and the fresh Ode to Castlevania DLC is coming on October 31st. If you’re looking for more fantastic titles to assist you get comfortable with the spooky season, be sure to check out our picks for the best horror games on Switch and mobile while you’re here. For now, though, continue with Vampire Surviving.

Related articles