As far as I’m aware, there isn’t yet gaming vocabulary to describe the genre of game popularized (if not invented) by Vampire Survivors. The unnamed genre makes use of two pretty descriptive tags on Steam, Bullet Hell and Roguelike, but those terms don’t completely describe the particular type of game I’m talking about. These titles exploded in popularity after the breakout success of the aforementioned Vampire Survivors, and in my opinion, effectively weaponize the most fun aspects of RPG games: Collecting XP and unlocking and upgrading special abilities. Developers use the remarkably simple yet addicting, control-light gameplay of the genre and tend to try to mix things up with their own take on abilities and settings.
Spellbound Survivors is one of these games.
Not only does Spellbound Survivors wear its genre inspirations on its sleeve, locking down the core and admittedly addictive gameplay in solid fashion, but it also makes itself stand out with some strong and interesting choices. The game has certain ambitious changes that make it a blast to play, which are unfortunately paired with some less-than-spectacular performance issues and design choices.
To jump right into what Spellbound Survivors does really well, I want to praise the developers for the absolute wealth of variety they included in the game. Not only are there tons of abilities to unlock, but the game features an expansive cast of playable characters, with the main method of unlocking each one by focusing on a specific ability during a level. This is a fun way to encourage trying out different builds, and if you find an ability you like, you’re in luck. Each character begins a level with the ability required to unlock it.
Characters are so much more than a reskin and have different starting abilities. However, one of the game’s biggest standout features separating it from others in the genre is its inclusion of these powerful, character-specific ultimate abilities earned by mowing through hundreds of foes. These are all unique and satisfying to use, and developers be praised for giving you invincibility frames when they require movement. This oversight could have easily been made and would have drastically reduced my enjoyment of certain abilities, like the Ronin’s dash attack.
The variety of these abilities impressed me, as in a game like this, you could really get away with just giving everyone a big, room-clearing attack. While most of them do just that in one way or another, the uses of each ability vary drastically. The Shadow Knight, for example, has a big area of effect explosion that does massive damage, but only to the enemies very close to him. On the other hand, the Ronin has a dash that’s incredibly useful for escaping sticky situations, which then does a much smaller amount of damage in a much wider range and concludes with a powerful limited-range attack that you must position yourself to use carefully.
With so many options for characters, maps, and abilities, variety should be the spice of life in Spellbound Survivors. Unfortunately, the game’s lackluster balance can quickly funnel you toward a one or two-ability build you’ll recycle for each game.
Some abilities feel awful to use. Namely, the axe ability is too slow and direction-based, with insufficient radius to really feel worth using. The throwing daggers also require a lot of specific positioning that isn’t worth the effort. Other abilities, like lightning and laser beams, are good but rely on RNG (randomly generated) and are thus unreliable, especially when the best ability in the game is so readily available.
The barrier ability, represented by a little ruby ring, is undeniably the most overpowered in the game. It gives you a bubble of damage over time, hurting anything that steps inside, with the radius, damage, and time between the damage ticks improving with each level up. Paired with the katana’s AoE slash, I walked through the hordes of enemies without worrying about being touched.
Eventually, however, I realized this was too much work, and without any other abilities, I just stood still with the barrier up. Enemies would die in the thousands from approaching me, and my AFK farming would only be interrupted by the occasional walk in a circle to pick up huge amounts of XP. The only thing that broke this strategy was when bosses would spawn, who were so bullet spongey that I had no choice but to start walking every few seconds.
In these games, reaching a point where you feel utterly overpowered is important, but this shouldn’t happen right from the start, like at level one with the first ability you bring into the match.
Alongside these glaring balance issues was some performance trouble. Occasionally, the game would drop to a stuttering, low-frame mess for seemingly no reason. Also, on more of a nit-picky note, the game, for some reason, disabled my Steam screenshot button, making it hard to take screenshots. This stopped being a problem when I could alt-tab without worrying about dying, aka my OP barrier build.
To end this review on a positive note, I have to praise Spellbound Survivors for its soundtrack. The game uses some really sweet power rock, with a different track on each level, which gives the game a good vibe. These types of songs are hard to overstay their welcome on loop, too, so it was a pretty wise choice on the developer’s part.
The Final Word
Spellbound Survivors is a great new entry in the genre of survival action games, building effectively on familiar gameplay while incorporating ambitious and original ideas to distinguish itself from the crowd. While performance issues are present alongside some gameplay-limiting balance problems, these are issues that can easily be fixed with time and may already be solved by the time you read this review.
8
Spellbound Survivors was reviewed on the PC. Find more detailed looks at popular and upcoming titles in the Game Reviews section of our website! Spellbound Survivors is available on Steam.