Vampire Survivors' next update adds a mini-campaign mode as well as what's always been missing: 'A whole bunch of deep lore lmao'

2022's roguelike of the year and eternal sovereign of my heart, Poncle's Vampire Survivors, has announced its next major patch. The 1.8 Adventures update is due to release in a few weeks, and brings with it barely explained additions like remixed content, a new "sort of mini campaign" mode for members of the Vampire Survivors cast, and most important of all: "a whole bunch of deep lore lmao."

Those mini campaigns are the titular adventures, and the dev describes them as "self-contained miniature story modes that reset and remix the game's content, following the Survivors cast on a series of wacky sidequests." Perhaps some of that deep lore will strike during one of those stories, giving us a chance to finally unfurl the rich tapestry of Vampire Survivor's fiction.

Or perhaps not. The new adventures are meant to give you an opportunity to start from scratch without losing all those unlocks you spent so long accruing, guiding the protagonists through "custom challenges with a limited arsenal." Each one will be made up of a number of chapters that give you certain gear and certain winning conditions. Win, and you move onto the next one. Simple.

There won't be adventures for all—or even most—of the game's characters when 1.8 launches. The Adventures Update FAQ says that the patch will hit with two adventures tied to the base game and one for the Legacy of the Moonspell DLC. I would imagine that more will pop up as time goes on if the new mode proves a hit with fans.

And if you're wondering if these stories count as official, canonical lore, Poncle has an answer for you: "What if the real official lore was the friends we made along the way?"

So, the entire announcement for the patch feels like a gleeful shitpost, which is very much in-keeping with the game's general vibe, and I for one could not be more excited. The content of the Adventures update was originally going to form part of Vampire Survivor's Christmas-themed Halloween patch but Poncle "decided to play it safe and leave the risky bits to a future update." This is that update. Hooray for the risky bits.

One of Josh's first memories is of playing Quake 2 on the family computer when he was much too young to be doing that, and he's been irreparably game-brained ever since. His writing has been featured in Vice, Fanbyte, and the Financial Times. He'll play pretty much anything, and has written far too much on everything from visual novels to Assassin's Creed. His most profound loves are for CRPGs, immersive sims, and any game whose ambition outstrips its budget. He thinks you're all far too mean about Deus Ex: Invisible War.