V Rising Early Access Review – Vampire Survival With Insane Potential

I started this V Rising Early Access review because I noticed the game was made by Stunlock Studios. They’re the same people that made Bloodline Champions, one of the most unique and fun MOBAs out there with clean and highly complex combat and movement mechanics

But once I saw V Rising, I was confused. This was an open-world survival game. Not something I expected to see from Stunlock Studios in the slightest. But since everyone’s talking about the game, I figured I should give it a shot. And to my surprise, everything I loved about Bloodline Champions is here. But, before we dive deep into the game and everything it has to offer, let’s answer some of the most commonly asked questions about the game.

What is V Rising?

V Rising is an incredibly popular open-world survival game that’s still in Early Access.

Who made V Rising?

V Rising is being developed and published by Stunlock Studios.

When does V Rising release?

V Rising entered Early Access on May 17, 2022.

How long is V Rising?

V Rising offers anywhere between 30-60 hours of PvE content for players to enjoy.

How many bosses are in V Rising?

You can find 37 V Blood Bosses in the game in its current state.

How much is V Rising?

You can buy V Rising for 19,99€.

Where can I find a cheap V Rising key?

You can find a cheap V Rising key on HRK Game.

V Rising Early Access review — Image credit: Stunlock Studios

A standard survival formula with insanely slick combat

Survival games don’t really put a whole lot of emphasis on their combat and movement systems. Which makes sense, since that isn’t the focus of those games. But, since V Rising features stellar gameplay progression, all the grinding you have to do pays off immensely as you feel your rise in power. You feel just how much stronger you are than you were before.

V Rising and its gameplay excel at pointing the player in the right direction. As soon as you awake from your shadowy tomb, you start slaying Skeletons. Crush enough of them to get as many bones as possible to get some bone tools and weapons. From there on out, the formula stays the same. Crush your enemies, obtain better gear, and start putting your sights on the boss.

V Rising and its gameplay are very ARPG-like

Since Bloodline Champions had a very complex learning curve, I expected V Rising’s skill-based combat. Right from the start, you get a skill shoot to fire off at enemies. Each weapon also has its own unique attack patterns. To maximize your damage, you need to learn these.

Dodging is another important aspect. Why? Well, when you’re fighting during the night, everything is easy. Vampires dance through the shadows quite effortlessly. But during the day? Sunlight will burn you to a crisp. So you can’t stand in the sunlight and tear apart some unfortunate bandits.

V Rising makes you spill and drink a lot of blood

And you will kill a lot of bandits in V Rising. Their camps are full of materials, items, and crafting recipes. Most of them are easy to acquire, but others will require some effort on your part.

V Rising has a traditional health bar, but it also has powerful spells that use blood. You need blood from your foes to keep your blood gauge filled. How do you feed on enemies in V Rising? Weaken them first, kill the rest, and then sink your fangs into their flesh. Just make sure you don’t do that while there are others around you. Enemies will attack you with all they’ve got when you’re sucking the life out of one of theirs. But once you finish your feeding, you get a small buff. Depending on whose blood you’re sucking, you can get increased crit damage or more tankyness.

V Rising and its bosses

V Rising has a map full of hard foes for you to take down. They are all capable and vicious world bosses, but if you take one down, you get new abilities. These are not exactly all balanced properly, but since the game’s in Early Access, it will most likely get fixed sometime in the future.

Each new ability gained from these bosses increases your vampire capabilities by a ton. And these teach you about combat as well. Taking on the Alpha Wolf isn’t recommended unless you use healing a lot. The game teaches you the right way, by punishing risky plays and impulsive attacks. But once you take down the Alpha Wolf in V Rising, you get the ability to turn into a wolf. This makes traveling around the map in V Rising a lot more fun.

Other bosses in V Rising give other types of powerful abilities, and you can swap them on the fly.

V Rising is a lot of fun in co-op

V Rising shines when you experience it in co-op. PvP servers are a whole other type of thing, but I’ve yet to enter one because I’m still enjoying the PvE aspect of the game. Gaining more materials, raiding for resources, expanding your vampire empire. It’s all here, ready for the player. Just make sure you’re always prepared for the enemy you’re about to face. Taking on the Stone Golem early will result in your death, so keep that in mind before taking on that powerful behemoth.

Taking down groups of enemies as a pack of vampires is enthralling. Each one building his own gothic castle and weapons and then preparing to take on the next boss? An amazing feeling, and it seems like the game was created to be played with or against other players, as the skill shots are most satisfying when used against other players, and this is probably a part of me that likes MOBA speaking.

Create a castle that feels like home

You need to have a home in V Rising. The sunlight is your biggest enemy, so you need a roof over your head. While my time playing the game for this V Rising Early Access review was limited, I didn’t get to create the castle of my dreams. You won’t have issues like that when playing, as there’s plenty of time to play around with your sinister home.

This is where the survival and crafting part of V Rising starts to rear its head. Create workbenches, grinders, furnaces, and other essential crafting stations that help you forge your weapons and tools.

Progression in V Rising is tied to both abilities and equipment

Progression is tied to abilities just as much as it’s tied to your equipment. As soon as your home is created, make sure your mist brazer is there as well. You want the fog to protect your home from the deadly sunrays as soon as possible so you can build more.

Building in V Rising is astoundingly complex

And the building is done in real-time. You want a new weapon? Well, a simple sword is made in only a few seconds. That isn’t all that bad, right? But what happens when you’re making something huge? That’s where the PvP and player raids elements mix together. As I said, I have no experience with those, but I haven’t heard of any significant problems in that area of the game.

While things start off rather simple, with only a wooden little house, it grows substantially. Once you get your vampire claws on enough resources, your dreamy and gloomy vampire castle is ready for creation. The build options are insanely varied, so there’s plenty of room for you to be creative. Another thing that I didn’t quite expect from this vampire survival game, but I’m glad it’s there. So those of you who like creating cool goth castles, V Rising has you covered from the start.

Conclusion – Should you buy V Rising?

V Rising is still rough around the edges. Granted, it’s much more content-packed than 90% of other Early Access games, and the movement and combat are brilliant. Who knew packing this kind of gameplay loop with such an impactful combat system would be such a good combination? Well, I did, since top-down survival games shine extra bright with a good combat system. And anyone familiar with Stunlock Studios expected nothing less than brilliant from them.

So, at the end of this V Rising Early Access review, the final judgment is clear. This is the same kind of Early Access gem as Valheim. It’s a game that can only get better, and since it’s already terrific, you should definitely pick it up.

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