{"id":192163,"date":"2022-05-30T16:40:05","date_gmt":"2022-05-30T14:40:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sftarticles.wpenginepowered.com\/en\/?p=192163"},"modified":"2025-07-01T20:42:31","modified_gmt":"2025-07-02T03:42:31","slug":"v-rising-review-vampires-were-good-guys","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/v-rising-review-vampires-were-good-guys\/","title":{"rendered":"V Rising review: what if vampires were the “good guys”?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Saying something is “Diablo<\/a> but better”<\/strong> is a tall, over-simplified order, but V Rising really does deliver<\/strong> on it. The vampire-centric game<\/strong> has elements of base building, combat, bounty hunting, survival games<\/strong>, and loads more. The camera movement, top-down orientation, and abilities even make the action RPG<\/strong> a bit MOBA-like<\/strong>. It has also been likened to recent indie darling Valheim<\/a> <\/strong>-another indie game with base building.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As it has something for everyone<\/strong>, it may also not be successful in pleasing hardcore fans of one particular genre. So let’s break down V Rising<\/strong> for its story, mechanics, performance, and design<\/strong> to see how it stacks up to the excitement around the latest title from Stunlock Studios.<\/p>\n\n\n

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V Rising background<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Stunlock Studios<\/strong>, the development company behind this game, doesn’t have too many games under its belt. Only founded in 2010<\/strong>, the Sk\u00f6vde based studio released their first game Bloodline Champions<\/strong> for Windows PC in 2011<\/strong>. Their subsequent titles, Battlerite and Battlerite Royale<\/strong>, were both MOBA-like<\/strong> in nature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chinese megacorporation Tencent took a controlling share <\/strong>in the company in 2021<\/strong>, but V Rising began to gain traction thanks, in part, to Early Access<\/strong>. To date, more than 1,000,000 players<\/strong> have logged into creating their castles and challenging daywalkers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Setting & tone<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

“Awaken as a weakened Vampire<\/strong> after centuries of slumber in a world full of danger. Stripped from your unholy powers and starving for blood – you must hunt to regain your strength <\/strong>and fight for survival.<\/strong>” That’s what developer Stunlock Studios sets players up with for V Rising. But they also pose the question “will you become the next Dracula?”<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

That said, the open world-game<\/strong> takes place in a gothic era countryside<\/strong>. Animated skeletons stalk the night along with bandits, treants, vampires, and all kinds of creatures<\/strong>. Vardoran<\/strong>, the name of the in-game world, doesn’t seem a very hospitable place for anyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

V Rising story<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The basic setup<\/strong> of the story is a weakened vampire slowly regaining its power<\/strong>. However, Stunlock Studios gives players a decent amount of agency<\/strong> as they choose what path to follow. You can become a diplomat or a total, bloodthirsty count or countess. You can even simply convert humans to worship and serve you<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beyond that, you’ll just have to play and see for yourself what unfolds<\/strong> based on your choices in the dangerous locales around Vardoran.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How long to beat V Rising<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

V Rising does not have a strictly linear story<\/strong> like in Sifu<\/strong><\/a> or Ghostwire: Tokyo<\/strong><\/a>. As such, the time it takes one player to “beat” V Rising may differ wildly from any other. Game producers <\/strong>said that the Early Access<\/strong> version of the game provided 40 – 60 hours of content<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition, some closed beta players<\/strong> said that they spent ~80 hours in the game<\/strong>. For now, expect to dump a decent chunk of time into this game — especially if you’re playing with friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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V Rising performance<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As with all new games from smaller studios, V Rising has had some hiccups in terms of performance<\/strong>. However, the relatively stable Unity engine<\/strong> keeps things moving fairly smoothly. The game also does not have platforming or jump mechanics<\/strong> outside of prompted “jumps” where your character flips down a small ledge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With an impressively small footprint of just 6 GB<\/strong>, the game delivers much more than it costs in terms of monetary price and storage. That said, some players will encounter specific glitches<\/strong>. For instance, V Blood bounties will sometimes not spawn<\/strong> where they are meant to. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The “Unstuck” feature<\/strong> available to players in the “Esc” menu <\/strong>is one solution for this. Using this feature revives players at their coffin or a discovered waypoint<\/strong> with their equipment. Sadly, you do lose the rest of your inventory<\/strong> and will have to backtrack to fetch it if you use this feature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

V Rising gameplay & functions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Loot<\/strong> features heavily in the game but it serves more of a crafting purpose<\/strong> than anything else. For instance, players get their first unique set of armor<\/strong> very early in the game<\/strong> as part of the base tutorial. You have to upgrade your armor to unlock more features for your castle.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

These integrated crafting tutorials <\/strong>may feel a bit unnecessary for seasoned players<\/strong> of RPGs, but it doesn’t hold your hand entirely. The freedom to travel wherever you want (sun damage pending) is very freeing. Pro-tip: spend any more than 3 – 5 seconds in the sun and you will rapidly begin to take tons of damage. You’ll likely be killed within mere moments, so keep to the shade of trees<\/strong> if you have to travel in the daytime hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By far, though, the biggest feature <\/strong>of the game is the V Blood system<\/strong>. Unique characters in the world are known as “V Blood” people<\/strong> from whom your vampire can attain new abilities<\/strong>. This can be as simple as learning to make leather<\/strong> to getting a fantastic new ability or animal form<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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UI and interface<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Fans of games like Diablo<\/strong> will find the overall UI setup familiar<\/strong> enough. Despite this, it can start to feel cluttered<\/strong> often. Let’s break down the basic elements <\/strong>of the UI:<\/p>\n\n\n\n