Vampire Survivors & other Jack Me Into the Device And Turn My Brain Off-lites

[WhiteShark]

so… enemy hell?

Dang, I'm ashamed I didn't think of that. Seems fitting, although 'enemy hell' doesn't quite have the euphony of 'bullet hell'.

[agentorange]

Considering that shmups are some of the most difficult and skill/attention demanding games, it would be a horrible misnomer to call these games something similar. These really are just cookie clicker/progress quest games but with slightly more bells and whistles and decorations to make them look more like a real game. From what I've seen a lot of gatcha games have game layers that are similar to this, with the "game" being basically on auto-pilot with huge numbers popping up constantly.

[WhiteShark]

Are there any exceptions within this genre that are challenging? I haven't played a single JMItDaTMBO-lite.

[agentorange]

Are there any exceptions within this genre that are challenging? I haven't played a single JMItDaTMBO-lite.

Crimsonland, which has been around forever as a browser game before getting a Steam release, is pretty challenging. Although I feel like when game like this becomes challenging enough and has some real skill mechanics behind it, then it sort of passes over into being a twin stick shooter or shootemup or some other genre. What distinguishes a JMItDaTMBO-lite is how brainless, automated and unchallenging they are and how they encourage addiction by presenting the player with a constant stream of unlocks, loot drops, and lots of big numbers and flashy effects.

Edit: Writing the last part really made me think about how much I miss when developers tried to make a game have lasting appeal by simply focusing on making a good game with deep underlying mechanics and systems , rather than filling the game full of progression mechanics like perks and upgrades. So sick of this ****.

[rusty_shackleford]

I remember asking about games sorta like this, then the monkey's paw curled. I wanted sports sim-style management smooshed together with RPG where you manage teams of adventurers, and instead this becomes popular.

[Segata]

Was zum fick

[Acrux]

I found this one recently. Not much different than the others, but it does have missions for the map.

[Fargus]

This ******* braindead (its fun tho, not gonna lie) game spawned many opportunitstic impersonators that want to nibble some gibs out of VS popularity. I wouldn't give the time of the day to most of them but i kinda like how this one looks, and its 93% positive on steam.

[rusty_shackleford]

How come all the new "genres" suck so much? When was the last time we got one that wasn't ****?

[Suissant]

I remember 20 years ago (15?) these games being the hot potatoes of XBLIG.

[Lich]

I blame mobile games and estrogenic substances in the food supply.

[KnightoftheWind]

How come all the new "genres" suck so much? When was the last time we got one that wasn't ****?

The rate of innovation plateaued years ago, I don't think we'll ever see new genres again. This Vampire Survivors crap is really just a spin on Diablo-type games, in fact I'm sure I played something very similar on an old Flash site years ago. It's an old idea that just "happened" to get popular, maybe because zoomers have awful taste in games.

Despite the lack of new genres, the old ones still have yet to reach their full potential I think. We have yet to see a truly next-generation RPG, one that leverages A.I and crafts a more dynamic world with NPCs that actually have things to say. It's one of the few things that I'm excited about when it comes to A.I tech, and there isn't a whole lot.

[Ranselknulf]

I gave vampire survivors multiplayer a shot. It actually adds to the difficulty of the gameplay by restricting you to 4 weapons and making it take longer to get your evolutions because of how the level up mechanics work in multiplayer.

Now you can be autists with friends.

[Ranselknulf]

Was zum fick

As long as they model the show on the format of "The Walking Dead", I think it will be good!

[Boontaker]

I remember asking about games sorta like this, then the monkey's paw curled. I wanted sports sim-style management smooshed together with RPG where you manage teams of adventurers, and instead this becomes popular.

Didn't there used to be an old ROM game name something like Gladiator where you had a slowly growing group of dudes walking around a map full of enemies. Leveling up, getting new skills, recruiting new team members? You had a basic fighter who was a dude in a horned spartan helmet, an archer chick, halfings, mages. Played the **** out of that game while waiting for the bus at my grandparents house. The enemies had the same classes as you just in different colors.

[Acrux]

That almost sounds like Gauntlet as described by someone who never played Gauntlet.

[Norfleet]

The rate of innovation plateaued years ago, I don't think we'll ever see new genres again. This Vampire Survivors crap is really just a spin on Diablo-type games, in fact I'm sure I played something very similar on an old Flash site years ago. It's an old idea that just "happened" to get popular, maybe because zoomers have awful taste in games.

They "got popular" because Flash died and thus the barriers to posting this kind of schlock have become much higher, reducing its available supply.

Meanwhile, I can think of entire genres that don't, apparently, have any modern representation anymore.

[ManjuShri]

Boneraiser Minion dev's new game.

[Vergil]

Boneraiser Minion dev's new game.

Is it supposed to lack any visual stimuli that my brain can pick up as definable objects?

[Finarfin]

[logincrash]

This ******* braindead (its fun tho, not gonna lie) game spawned many opportunitstic impersonators that want to nibble some gibs out of VS popularity. I wouldn't give the time of the day to most of them but i kinda like how this one looks, and its 93% positive on steam.

Rogue: Genesia is pretty good. I sank more hours into it than into Vampire Survivors. Not sure if it's optimized better by now than when I played. Because my game would slow down even on the lowest graphical settings with how many mobs there were on screen.
It is very fun, though.

[ManjuShri]

[logincrash]

[ManjuShri]

[Acrux]

Vampire Survivors has a Castlevanis DLC out on Halloween.

[Oyster Sauce]

I've played a lot of these and ultimately I think Brotato is the best of the bunch. There are dozens of characters and they all play pretty differently, making it a unique challenge to beat the highest difficulty with each. It even has workshop mods that add dozens of new guys and items. The biggest weakness it has is level design, since it's just a square that rarely changes.

[ManjuShri]

I've played a lot of these and ultimately I think Brotato is the best of the bunch. There are dozens of characters and they all play pretty differently, making it a unique challenge to beat the highest difficulty with each. It even has workshop mods that add dozens of new guys and items. The biggest weakness it has is level design, since it's just a square that rarely changes.

DLC releasing in a few hours.

[Oyster Sauce]

I've played a lot of these and ultimately I think Brotato is the best of the bunch. There are dozens of characters and they all play pretty differently, making it a unique challenge to beat the highest difficulty with each. It even has workshop mods that add dozens of new guys and items. The biggest weakness it has is level design, since it's just a square that rarely changes.

DLC releasing in a few hours.

I played the beta which felt a little overtuned. Like you need to go full glass cannon since you die in 2-3 hits no matter how hard you focus on defense.

[DDC]

I don't usually play games of this type but bought this one for the retro aesthetic:

[Zothique]

This looks funny as hell.