Vampire Survivors, a not so thinly veiled homage to Castlevania, is finally bringing its unofficial source material out of the shadows and into the spotlight. Ode to Castlevania will bring the Konami franchise’s characters and weapons to the hit bullet-hell roguelite on Halloween in its biggest DLC yet.
Ode to Castlevania was announced on Monday as part of Konami’s Castlevania Fest and arrives on PC, Nintendo Switch, Xbox, PlayStation 5/4 and mobile for $4 on October 31. The latest expansion features 20 characters, including both Simon and Richter Belmont, over 40 new weapons, eight of which are whips, over 30 new music tracks, including some from the original Castlevania games, and Vampire Surivovrs’ biggest map ever which, despite being Dracula’s castle, still does not include any actual vampires.
Here’s the trailer:
Ode to Castlevania follows an earlier Konami/Vampire Survivors crossover from this year, a Contra-themed expansion called Operation Guns. The latest DLC, however, has the distinction of being the first to arrive since Vampire Survivors finally became available on every platform after hitting PlayStation in August, two years after its PC launch. The base game remains $4, which makes it easy to justify buying it on each new console it arrives on.
I somehow doubt the Steam hit’s DLC slate will be slowing down any time soon. A classic arcade experience with a retro look and incredibly clever roguelite hooks, Vampire Survivors is as ripe for crossovers as PowerWash Simulator, which I hope means it eventually gets both a Final Fantasy VII expansion and a DLC homage to Shrek. In the meantime, the Castlevania update feels perfectly timed with Halloween just around the corner. I might just end up sneaking in a run or two while my kids are trick-or-treating.
