V Rising

V Rising is easily one of the best survival and creation titles on the market, largely due to the great use of its world and setting, simplified design and excellent quality overall.

Baring an incredible set of fangs, V Rising successfully coagulates the blood of multiple genres into a massively compelling, rich and satisfying vampire survival title. Morph into a wolf as you build your gothic fortress, venture out on challenging hunts and team up with or decimate your fellow vampires in a stellar time-sink of a game. Not many vampires can rival Dracula for his throne, but V Rising just might.

V Rising possesses a surprising blend of genres that weave together to incorporate a kind of “vampire simulation” no other game has accomplished. Survival, crafting, and ARPGs may not be the most obvious harmony at first blush but the deeper players go, the more rewards will be reaped. Staring from the balcony of my castle crafted from harvesting the blood of my foes and the innocent, I could not help but give a fanged smile at this satisfying, gothic fantasy.

Thanks to its fantastic combination of action RPG, survival and vampirism, if you sink your teeth into V Rising you will be completely hooked (on the taste of blood) and you will not see sunlight again for a long, long time.

V Rising successfully blends vampire tropes with survival crafting elements and action combat to create an immersive and oddly relaxing experience. Dodging the inconvenience of the sun as you expand your castle places you in the mindset of a young vampire, the atmospheric soundtrack adding to the soothing sense of solitude as you're harvesting resources. While there's a lack of narrative hooks, there is plenty of exploring, crafting and hunting to occupy your nights, and the choice is yours as to whether you traverse the expansive open world as part of a clan or enjoy spooky decorating in peace.

Even with its slightly unintuitive interface and occasionally-tedious boss encounters, V Rising does what so many survival-sandbox and loot-based RPGs alike get horribly wrong from the word go: having the base gameplay start from a point of enjoyment. While the task to build one's self up and survive the ongoing perils remain crucial to one's progression, it's thanks to the game's reframing of key genre pillars like gear score and meters to manage that make the experience far from the slog it may initially imply. While its introduction may lead many to suspect the same mounting tedium is coming, a host of well-integrated mechanics alongside that consistent balancing of the risks one may be willing to take make V Rising -- and now, its subsequent release onto PS5 -- a noteworthy accomplishment.

V Rising masterfully combines various gameplay mechanics, creating a unique experience reminiscent of a blend between Diablo and Valheim.

Minor issues of pacing and controls aside, V Rising on PS5 is a more than worthy port. Its expressive customization options, unfolding combat mechanics, and flexible build crafting have made it a must-own for PC players, and now the same can be said for PlayStation players. If you're a fan of survival games, action-RPGs, and Gothic horror, you can't do much better than V Rising.

An action RPG with survival and base building elements, you get out of V Rising what you put into it. This is a deep and engrossing experience in which you get to develop your very own vampire lord, even going so far as to designing and building their castle. Only fiddly controls let it down a little on PS5.

I found V Rising to be quite fun and with its many gameplay elements, options, and multiplayer modes; you'll likely find a lot to love here.

V Rising has a solid foundation and few interesting ideas, but hides them in the shadows of the games that inspired it.

V Rising is flawed, and bits can drag, but in a world where great vampire games are more elusive than actual vampires, there’s a lot to like here. [Issue#43, p.101]

V Rising is a devilishly addictive action RPG — but only once you've worked through the game's fairly tedious first act. Getting your castle up and running takes time and patience, but if you can embrace the grind, you'll discover a dynamic open world that's full of interesting ideas and satisfying gameplay loops.

V Rising has finally taken its final form on PS5, and it’s a fun survival crafting experience – if, for some reason, you’re looking for another one. And if you like the idea of V Rising, but you can’t quite get into it, there are literally dozens of other survival crafting games you can try instead.