Introduction
Basic information
Full Name: V Rising
Release Date: May 8, 2024
Released on: PC (Steam)
Cross Play: Not yet, though the developers have stated they’re exploring it for future updates.
Initial thoughts
We first noticed V Rising in a Humble Bundle promotion. After a bit of research, we discovered that it was an online-only experience, something that initially made us hesitant, as not every online-only survival game handles private sessions well. Still, curiosity won out, and we reached out to the developer for more information. To our surprise and appreciation, they generously provided us with a review key and a few cosmetic packs to get started.
While we would have loved more time to sink our fangs deeper into this world before publishing this review. The developer requested a review by a certain date, so we’ve based our impressions on everything up through the end of Act 1.
From the start, the game impressed us with its atmosphere and its sense of control. Hosting our own private server was remarkably straightforward: no subscription fees, no renting from third-party hosts, and no annoying tethers preventing players from exploring separately. It immediately felt freeing to split up, explore different corners of the map, and then regroup to build our shared vampire castle. The experience felt polished, stable, and highly rewarding, even in its early acts.
Story and setting
Plot overview
Vampires are back, and they’re hungry. After centuries of slumber, your undead lord awakens into a world overrun by humans. You rise from your coffin weak and disoriented, forced to rebuild your strength, reclaim your castle, and reassert the dominance of the vampire race.
World building and immersion
Unlike traditional RPGs with scripted character arcs, V Rising tells its story through progression. Your vampire’s growth comes from what you conquer: feeding on stronger foes, unlocking new powers, and claiming territory. There’s an evolving sense of empowerment that comes not from dialogue, but from dominance.
Character development
There’s a thrill to every sunrise, literally. When sunlight breaks, you scramble for shadows, planning routes between trees or ruins to avoid burning alive. It’s both terrifying and exhilarating, perfectly capturing the tension of being a predator that must also survive.
Emotional impact
The gothic world of V Rising is richly detailed. Forests, villages, graveyards, and boss lairs are all brimming with atmosphere. The art direction captures the classic vampire aesthetic, elegant yet sinister. The world feels handcrafted, alive with secrets and challenges waiting around every corner.
Rating for story and setting
I have visited multiple aspects of the story, and after some thought and objective thinking, I rated the story and setting with an 8.5.
Gameplay and mechanics
Core gameplay mechanics
V Rising blends several genres flawlessly. It’s a survival-crafting game at its core, but layered with action combat, castle management, and progression systems reminiscent of Diablo and Valheim. Players gather resources, build their vampire castle, hunt humans for blood types that grant temporary buffs, and fight world bosses (called V Blood carriers) to unlock new abilities and blueprints.
The combat is fast, fluid, and responsive. Every ability feels weighty, and each new power you unlock meaningfully changes how you approach fights. That said, we did notice one minor gripe: the dash cooldown is a bit long, and as far as we can tell, there’s no sprint button. It’s a small issue but noticeable during long treks or close calls.
Difficulty and balance
The game is challenging but fair. Bosses are tough, requiring strategy and quick reflexes, but success always feels earned. The balance between solo and co-op is well handled, especially in private servers where difficulty scaling can be customized.
Pacing of the game
The pacing is addictive. Early survival gives way to castle building, then territory control, and finally to high-stakes boss fights. Progression feels organic; you’re always working toward something meaningful, whether that’s crafting a new set of armor or unlocking another vampire ability.
Innovation and uniqueness
V Rising stands out as one of the most unique takes on the survival genre in years. The vampire theme isn’t just a skin, it’s built into every mechanic, from feeding on blood to fearing sunlight.
Controls and user interface
Controls are tight and responsive, especially in combat. The interface is clean and informative, though it can feel a bit dense at first with crafting menus and inventory management.
Microtransactions
There are some, but they appear to be purely cosmetic. From what we’ve seen, they don’t impact gameplay at all, and everything important can be earned in-game.
Rating
After combing through many of the mechanics, the pacing, and other factors of this game, I rated the gameplay and mechanics with a 9.5.
Graphics and art style
Quality of graphics and art direction
Visually, V Rising is stunning. It mixes gothic fantasy with realistic lighting and atmospheric detail. The world looks both eerie and beautiful, full of soft moonlight, misty forests, and hauntingly detailed ruins. The camera angle (an isometric top-down view) gives everything a painterly quality while keeping combat readable.
Technical performances
On our private server setup, performance was excellent. Even with both of us exploring different zones simultaneously, there were no frame drops or stutters. The game loads quickly, and optimization seems well-polished. However, you do need a strong computer to run a private server. I needed to shut down everything else on my computer.
Environment and design uniqueness
The environments feel handcrafted and purposeful. Each biome, from lush woods to haunted graveyards, has its own identity and rhythm. The contrast between light and shadow adds visual drama that perfectly fits the vampire fantasy.
Rating
It took me some time to give the graphics and art style an objective rating. There are many things to consider, but ultimately, I rated this section with a 9.0.
Sound and music
Music score and how it contributed to the game
The soundtrack is phenomenal. Orchestral themes rise and fall with tension, perfectly amplifying the gothic tone. The castle building music is calm and atmospheric, while boss battles explode with dark intensity.
Sound effects quality
Excellent attention to detail. The crackle of torches, the hiss of sunlight, the echoing roar of bosses. Every sound reinforces immersion.
Voice Acting
There’s minimal voice acting, but the occasional narrative lines and boss taunts are well delivered and also work as a tell in battle. The atmosphere doesn’t rely on chatter, and it works perfectly for the tone.
Rating
After a lot of consideration, I rated the sound and music section with a 8.5
Replayability
Game Length and content volume
Enormous. Even in Act 1, there’s plenty to do, build, craft, conquer, and explore. The later acts promise even more layers of depth and power progression. We will share this with you, of course!
Extra Content
Regular updates and expansions keep the game fresh. The addition of cosmetic packs doesn’t interfere with gameplay, and the developers continue to expand on new features.
Replay value
Very high. With customizable server settings, multiple playstyles, and evolving systems, every new session feels different. Playing with my wife drastically changes how you approach the world compared to solo play, and the sandbox freedom encourages creativity.
Rating
After thoughtful consideration, I decided to rate the replayability and game length of V Rising with a 9.
Suggestions and comparisons
Suggestions and feedback
Add a sprint or faster travel option for exploration.
Consider improving the dash cooldown or offering upgrade paths for it.
Include small tooltips or tutorial hints for certain advanced crafting systems.
Comparisons
V Rising feels like Valheim meets Diablo with a distinctly vampiric twist. It offers the progression depth of an RPG, the freedom of a survival sandbox, and the dark elegance of gothic fantasy. Among survival games, it stands tall as one of the most polished and distinctive entries in years.
Personal experiences and anecdotes
As of writing this review, we’ve just cleared Act 1. We’re absolutely hooked. We were initially afraid V Rising would have an annoying tether like ARK, limiting exploration distance between players, but thankfully, there’s none of that. The freedom to split up, explore, and regroup later feels incredible.
We also feared we might need to rent a dedicated server, but hosting a private world directly on my PC worked flawlessly. It was easy to set up, stable throughout long sessions, and gave us complete control over our experience. Building our castle together, defending it from monsters, and experimenting with room designs was immensely satisfying. The sense of cooperation and progression kept us engaged for hours on end.
We loved how the game allows teamwork without restrictions, gathering materials separately, crafting different equipment, and then returning to admire our shared gothic fortress. Even simple moments, like seeing our characters working under the blood-red moon, felt memorable.
Rating
Taking in all the personal experiences with V Rising, I give it a personal rating of 9.2.
Last words
Pros
- Deep and satisfying progression system.
- Excellent base-building mechanics.
- Stunning gothic visuals.
- Smooth performance, even in private servers.
- Great combat flow and class variety.
- Rich atmosphere and world design.
- Immersive vampire mechanics (blood types, sunlight danger).
- Customizable server settings.
- No tether limits in multiplayer.
- Easy to host and connect with friends.
- Frequent updates and developer support.
Cons
- Dash cooldown feels too long.
- No sprint or faster travel option early on.
- Some repetitive side quests
V Rising is a rare gem in the survival genre. Beautifully gothic, mechanically rich, and built around player freedom. It balances depth with accessibility, challenge with creativity. Hosting a private world and building our empire from the ground up felt endlessly rewarding. The combat is sharp, the systems are deep, and the world constantly tempts you to explore just one more area.
It’s the kind of game that makes you forget time and the kind of world you would rather not leave. For vampire fans, survival enthusiasts, and anyone who loves dark fantasy done right, V Rising deserves your attention.
I do wish I could give it a higher rating, but I first need to see some endgame mechanics in the works!
FINALÂ RATING
8.8
Please let me know what you think of V Rising in the comments!
I hope you enjoyed reading this review. I hope to see you in the next review!
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I loved how you two explored separately without tether restrictions and built your vampire castle together.
I played this game some solo and really enjoyed it, although it seems like the game really shines in co-op.
Do you want to be Dracula? Want to show how Twilight shuold have been? Well I got a game for you right here.
Oh man, with a glowing review like that, maybe I’ll try to play V-Rising again. Actually bought this the second it hit Early Access since I absolutely loved their previous game, Battlerite but have barely touched it since…
Like you guys, I’m also wary of online-only games. Thanks for writing a detailed review covering every aspect of the game. Looks like the hype is not for nothing…
no tether is good ^^
it’s also on our to-play-list for quite a while
I’ve been eyeing this game for a while, but didn’t realized it was a survival crafting game hehe, but its really cool that it takes the vampire theme to heart and build every mechanic to complement that.
and the visuals are perfect, online play only isn’t perfect, but at the end of the day it barely makes a difference
Better version of Albion Online
Inside disosaurs asked to say this, I used to play on Amiga500+ an rpg game titled “Albion” instead.
It really does seem like an interesting game!
But as mentioned, it’s long been said that movement is slow. I own this game, but that’s exactly why I can’t bring myself to play it.
I’ve played a few hack-and-slash games with slow movement before, but these days it just feels stressful, so I can’t really get motivated to play them.
I always thought this game was designed for multiplayer, but the single-player mode seems quite compelling. I’ll have to take a closer look at this game.
Great Game with Friends tbh, but can be a huge slog alone. About 8/9 seems fair for it, yea, nice review
Thank you for this review. This is a game that I have been keeping and eye on for some time and I always felt it would be a game that I would enjoy playing, and this review confirms that.
Excellent review for a game that looks to have a lot of bite 😉
I rly love this game. Good to see, that you two also had so much fun with it 😀
This game sounds like it’s a lot better than your average ARPG, I might have to check this one out!
Thanks for yet another informative review! 😀
Yes i need to try this game sometime, i already bought it long time ago. I felt it is really interesting, but like you i coded a bit that it is massive multiplayer game (and i stopped to play such in general..) but after time forgot it can be set as you said also if one like, with a private server.
Good to hear everything worked out fine both technical and for gameplay perspective. Thanks for review.
technically and from gameplays perspective*
I forgot to say, this sprint is nerfed probably because it is multiplayer game so it must have controlled pace, but they could additional options when playing on your own private server. Same with how fast fight is, if it would be quicker it could be harder to use rpg elements and it would became more like action game maybe PS – Edit button would be good 😉
Seems good to have a vampires RPG game like this
Did you feel connected with the story, though? Any memorable characters? Or was it just a side thing in the whole game? 😀
I feel like it might be one of those highly-rated games for its game play, but lacking a meaning or connection with the world and lore.
The game seems amazing! I really like the sound of the very customizable gameplay and survival mechanics! The world looks really unique as well, very cool to explore as a vampire/werewolf!
I like review and this game is awesome. Do you like ARPG games? For example Victor Vran, Grim dawn,Titan quest.