We really need to sit down and vote on a term for the sub-genre that Vampire Survivors has - perhaps not created, but certainly refined and catapulted into the mainstream as one of the best games of the past few years. I'm a fan of auto-bullet hell myself, but there's a compelling case to give it the Metroidvania treatment and just rob the game's title. Whatever it is, this kind of game is extremely hard to put down and white-hot right now, and clearly the folks behind the Nicolas Cage movie Renfield noticed the trend. After all, they've commissioned a Vampire Survivors clone based on the film, and I'm both pleased and surprised to report that it's actually pretty good.
Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood is an auto-bullet hell game – I'm just rolling with that label now – where you mow down screens of dudes using weapons and abilities unlocked by collecting XP dropped by said dudes. Every level up is a little drafting decision between three random options. I might wonder if I want to upgrade my bat laser, increase my critical hit chance, or add a rat cannon to my automatic arsenal. You also earn gold which you can spend on permanent upgrades to bring into future runs, including unlockable weapons and characters.
