It's unclear if the people's champion of 2022 will ever slow down: hot on the heels of an Among Us crossover DLC with outer space maps and enemies in December, Vampire Survivors has released yet another free content update.
Content patch 1.9.0, also more auspiciously titled "Space 54," maintains the intergalactic vibe with a distinct '60s rayguns and spandex thing going on. We'll get to play as the "one and only" Space Dude, an onion-headed little goober with a raygun and a rictus grin, while the other character, shown briefly at the end of the trailer, must assuredly be some kind of Space Ghost with the serial numbers filed off.
Vampire Survivors' free content updates are understandably less beefy than its paid DLCs, but in this economy a $5 game with $2 expansions and free stuff in-between is a precious, precious thing. If you got Vampire Survivors all the way back in early access, this delightful little asset has only appreciated in value in your Steam library like some kind of priceless work of art.
I loved Vampire Survivors all the way back in my October, 2022 review of the game at its full launch, but even before that we just had to watch in awe as it took Steam by storm, the shooter's deceptively simple "bullet heaven" playstyle and comfortably familiar Castlevania vibes just made it the perfect thing to zone out and enjoy. An excellent Noclip documentary released last year charts the amazing story of how Vampire Survivors saved its developer from a purgatory of working on gambling games and other passionless projects.
On top of all that, poncle also released a new trailer riffing on Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth—and seemingly teasing more to come for Vampire Survivors. The delightfully hazy, somehow even narrower than 4:3 video follows an actual 1997 trailer for FF7 almost beat for beat in Vampire Survivors' engine. "How much of what you see in the trailer is actually real content for Vampire Survivors will be left to speculation," teases the video description, but I'm willing to bet that at least some of these new sprites, areas, in-game cutscenes, and a glimpse of another anime-style cinematic trailer are very much on their way.
