V Rising Reviews
It starts with a bump, but played the right way, V Rising offers riches few other crafting survival games can match.
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 options 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 even better version of one of the best Early Access survival games.
While its time-consuming crafting aspects can take the bite out of the vampire fantasy, V Rising really does rise to the occasion with its excellent boss design and respectable ARPG combat.
A peculiar but well-conceived concept that brings together multiple disparate gameplay elements, to create a highly customisable, but occasionally somewhat shallow, vampire sim.
On the surface, V Rising appears to be just another survival game, slathered with a different coat of paint. In many ways, it’s hard to argue otherwise. However, it manages to layer complex systems inspired by the popular mythology of the vampire to distinguish it from the sea of survival games. While V Rising hasn't completely satiated my thirst in its current form, I’m hopeful that it will somewhere down the line.
Thanks to its fantastic combination of action RPG, survival and vampirism, if you sink your teeth into V Rising you will be completely hooked (to the taste of blood) and you will not see the light of day again for a long, long time.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
V Rising is a delicious duo of survival-crafting and action-RPG fun that puts the best of both worlds together without making either side fall flat.
V Rising offers something distinct, and pretty cookie cutter at the same time. It’s a survival game, but with a novel genre blend meant to attract a different kind of audience. There’s a lot of these, but V Rising brings the action-RPG and gothic styles to the table in a way that feels unique. So that’s fun, but the survival and crafting part is about as boilerplate as it gets. Therefore, if you’re the type of person that shrivels up and shrieks at survival game systems like a vampire considering the concept of brunch, V Rising won’t change your mind. But if you can hang with the concept and also enjoy some Diablo-like combat, having those two things together in one game is pretty rad.
One of the best adventure survival ARPGs out there and one of the best vampire games ever: do you need anything else?
Review in Italian | Read full review
The PS5 version of V Rising is just as playable and compelling as the PC version, and you absolutely should play one or the other if possible.
If you're into the survival crafting genre, action RPGs, or vampires in general, V Rising is an absolute blast, alone or with others.
V Rising could be the next big survival game. Whether you want to play alone, with, or against other players, this has you covered. Once you get the hang of the combat you’ll begin to feel more and more powerful, crafting a towering castle that will terrify any delivery driver to their very core. I’m confident this will do well, and Early Access will continue to add new touches, tweaks and content between now and the eventual full release. If you’ve ever dreamed of owning your own castle, only descending into the neighbouring villages to rip people open and finish them in one swallow like a Froob, V Rising may be the game you’ve been waiting for.
Even more streamlined than before, and still easily one of the best survival games out there.
A streamlined survival game that iterates rather than innovates, but still stakes its claim as a good time solo and a great time with friends in tow.
V Rising may not be your cup of tea, but it offers an intriguing combination of building mechanics and gameplay systems that truly reach their high potential when playing with other players. Without others, though, be prepared for a long, solitary grind to reach a portion of that potential.
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.
While I’ve mostly left survival crafting sims behind, V Rising feels different. The vampire hook is part of it, but the game’s design is a big factor. Building and murdering all tie together in one big progression tree. Moving from one path to the other feels perfectly smooth and seamless. Plus, both activities are pretty fun. I don’t love the traversal at times, and the game sometimes feels too big for a single player. But the core gameplay loop is a delight. Sure, a game boiled down to ‘build’ and ‘murder’ is a simple one. But there’s elegance in simplicity. V Rising is an excellent survival crafting RPG that I highly recommend.
When development on Battlerite stopped, I got sad. When I played the full version of V Rising, I was a little less sad because V Rising was a very fun survival game that reminded me of Battlerite. And building a huge vampire castle is pretty fun, too.
Review in Italian | Read full review
V Rising may not have the deepest survival game mechanics around, but that is hardly a problem. The experience crafted by Stunlock Studios manages to masterfully weave together mechanics from very different genres to provide an experience like any other on the market. While solo players may find the experience becoming a little stale over time, everyone else will find plenty of reasons to remain in this world, whether it's to perfect their characters or build the most haunting vampire castle ever seen.