Hello fellow gamers,

Guess what? I just scored a sweet freebie: a Steam key for V Rising. It’s like one of those action RPGs—think Diablo, Path Of Exile, and hey, even Valheim—it’s got that survival vibe with building stuff and crafting goodies.

Now, let me level with you—I’m not always into the whole point-and-click RPG thing. Too much of that and my wrist starts crying for mercy. But you know what they say, never knock it till you try it. So, I figured, why not give V Rising a shot?

From what I’ve heard, it’s got all these cool elements mashed together. You can slay monsters, build up your base, craft gear—sounds like a recipe for some serious gaming fun, right?

I’m all about games that mix it up. I mean, who doesn’t want a bit of everything? You get your action fix with the monster battles, your strategy kicks in when you’re plotting your fortress, and then there’s the crafting part where you get to create some epic gear. It’s like being a one-stop-shop for all things gaming.

Plus, the whole survival angle? That’s a game-changer. It’s not just about bashing bad guys; it’s about surviving in a world that wants to eat you for breakfast. I dig that kind of challenge—it keeps you on your toes, you know?

So, yeah, even though I might not be the biggest fan of clicking my way through an RPG marathon, I’m willing to give V Rising a whirl. Who knows, maybe it’ll surprise me. Maybe it’ll be the game that makes me rethink my whole gaming playbook.

And hey, getting a free Steam key? That’s like finding money in your pocket you forgot about. It’s a win-win situation. Worst case, I play for a bit, have some laughs, and move on. Best case, I find my new gaming obsession.

Anyway, if you have any comments, questions or reactions then please post them in the comments section below. Also, please consider following, liking and sharing to your friends.

Thank you for reading.

V Rising was quite the smash-hit when it dropped onto Steam last year. The adventure of being a vampire lord was pretty enticing in the...

The post How to install mods in V Rising appeared first on ISK Mogul Adventures. Written by .

V Rising was finally released in full this week, and so many players have jumped into the open-world survival game, it's breached 100,000 concurrent players for the first time since it released as an early access two years ago.

Developer Stunlock Studios marked the milestone on social media with a "Thank you!" and a simple graphic that confirmed there were "100,000 vampires in-game".

So far, the 1.0 edition is sitting on a "very positive" Steam rating, with almost 4000 recent reviews bolstering the early access release's similarly positive score.

Read more

When Minecraft smashed down like a meteor all those years ago, the idea of chopping down trees in games - to make wood to make shelter - felt excitingly new. Before then, games weren't particularly concerned with the mundanities of survival, presumably in the name of what they thought was fun. Games were for extraordinary adventures, not ordinary ones. But Minecraft changed that. It made a feature of finding food and keeping yourself fed, and not thirsty, and it introduced us to a gameplay loop revolving around it. Make a shelter to survive the night, make a set of equipment, and then when you've got a stable footing in the world, you can find myriad ways to upgrade every part of that.

To say that the idea caught on would be an enormous understatement. Minecraft was an era-defining moment. It propelled the whole gaming movement on YouTube, and YouTube with it, and helped launch the careers of so many gaming influencers there. It showed that there was a massive, captive audience for this kind of open-ended, multiplayer, crafting survival thing, and a stampede of other game-making companies rushed to follow it. Years later, there are many really successful games in this area: Ark, Rust, Terraria, Valheim, Palworld, Grounded, The Forest, Enshrouded, Don't Starve, to name a few. The genre has become so influential it's spread to brands like Fallout, and elements of it can be found in huge games like Fortnite. The concept is now so familiar it's understood implicitly wherever it's used. We know the loop, we know what to do. But why have I never questioned it?

This rushed to mind while playing V Rising, which just fully launched in version 1.0. You might remember it having a moment a couple of years ago in early access. Time has passed but even now, it's got a really compelling pitch. You are a newly arisen vampire who must build a castle and make your Castlevania-inspired mark on an unsuspecting world. A world in which you'll worry about the daytime rather than nighttime and where you'll suck blood to absorb powers and wield powerful magic. A land filled with bosses to beat and where a PvP endgame awaits, based around territorial dominance, should you want it - there are private servers and PvE servers if you don't. V Rising has bulked out in early access and is a full package now. The problem is, it locks its really good stuff away.

Read more

Now that V Rising 1.0 has arrived, it’s time to take on the world’s most famous vampire in the survival game. With plenty of new features like an extra region to explore, more weapons to use against the undead, and new difficulty options, it’s no surprise that we’re seeing the popularity of V Rising increase after Steam Early Access. In fact, the game’s doing so well that it’s on track to demolish its previous max concurrent player count.

V Rising was finally released in full this week, and so many players have jumped into the open-world survival game, it's breached 100,000 concurrent players for the first time since it released as an early access two years ago.

Developer Stunlock Studios marked the milestone on social media with a "Thank you!" and a simple graphic that confirmed there were "100,000 vampires in-game".

So far, the 1.0 edition is sitting on a "very positive" Steam rating, with almost 4000 recent reviews bolstering the early access release's similarly positive score.

Read more

When Minecraft smashed down like a meteor all those years ago, the idea of chopping down trees in games - to make wood to make shelter - felt excitingly new. Before then, games weren't particularly concerned with the mundanities of survival, presumably in the name of what they thought was fun. Games were for extraordinary adventures, not ordinary ones. But Minecraft changed that. It made a feature of finding food and keeping yourself fed, and not thirsty, and it introduced us to a gameplay loop revolving around it. Make a shelter to survive the night, make a set of equipment, and then when you've got a stable footing in the world, you can find myriad ways to upgrade every part of that.

To say that the idea caught on would be an enormous understatement. Minecraft was an era-defining moment. It propelled the whole gaming movement on YouTube, and YouTube with it, and helped launch the careers of so many gaming influencers there. It showed that there was a massive, captive audience for this kind of open-ended, multiplayer, crafting survival thing, and a stampede of other game-making companies rushed to follow it. Years later, there are many really successful games in this area: Ark, Rust, Terraria, Valheim, Palworld, Grounded, The Forest, Enshrouded, Don't Starve, to name a few. The genre has become so influential it's spread to brands like Fallout, and elements of it can be found in huge games like Fortnite. The concept is now so familiar it's understood implicitly wherever it's used. We know the loop, we know what to do. But why have I never questioned it?

This rushed to mind while playing V Rising, which just fully launched in version 1.0. You might remember it having a moment a couple of years ago in early access. Time has passed but even now, it's got a really compelling pitch. You are a newly arisen vampire who must build a castle and make your Castlevania-inspired mark on an unsuspecting world. A world in which you'll worry about the daytime rather than nighttime and where you'll suck blood to absorb powers and wield powerful magic. A land filled with bosses to beat and where a PvP endgame awaits, based around territorial dominance, should you want it - there are private servers and PvE servers if you don't. V Rising has bulked out in early access and is a full package now. The problem is, it locks its really good stuff away.

Read more

V Rising was finally released in full this week, and so many players have jumped into the open-world survival game, it's breached 100,000 concurrent players for the first time since it released as an early access two years ago.

Developer Stunlock Studios marked the milestone on social media with a "Thank you!" and a simple graphic that confirmed there were "100,000 vampires in-game".

So far, the 1.0 edition is sitting on a "very positive" Steam rating, with almost 4000 recent reviews bolstering the early access release's similarly positive score.

Read more

When Minecraft smashed down like a meteor all those years ago, the idea of chopping down trees in games - to make wood to make shelter - felt excitingly new. Before then, games weren't particularly concerned with the mundanities of survival, presumably in the name of what they thought was fun. Games were for extraordinary adventures, not ordinary ones. But Minecraft changed that. It made a feature of finding food and keeping yourself fed, and not thirsty, and it introduced us to a gameplay loop revolving around it. Make a shelter to survive the night, make a set of equipment, and then when you've got a stable footing in the world, you can find myriad ways to upgrade every part of that.

To say that the idea caught on would be an enormous understatement. Minecraft was an era-defining moment. It propelled the whole gaming movement on YouTube, and YouTube with it, and helped launch the careers of so many gaming influencers there. It showed that there was a massive, captive audience for this kind of open-ended, multiplayer, crafting survival thing, and a stampede of other game-making companies rushed to follow it. Years later, there are many really successful games in this area: Ark, Rust, Terraria, Valheim, Palworld, Grounded, The Forest, Enshrouded, Don't Starve, to name a few. The genre has become so influential it's spread to brands like Fallout, and elements of it can be found in huge games like Fortnite. The concept is now so familiar it's understood implicitly wherever it's used. We know the loop, we know what to do. But why have I never questioned it?

This rushed to mind while playing V Rising, which just fully launched in version 1.0. You might remember it having a moment a couple of years ago in early access. Time has passed but even now, it's got a really compelling pitch. You are a newly arisen vampire who must build a castle and make your Castlevania-inspired mark on an unsuspecting world. A world in which you'll worry about the daytime rather than nighttime and where you'll suck blood to absorb powers and wield powerful magic. A land filled with bosses to beat and where a PvP endgame awaits, based around territorial dominance, should you want it - there are private servers and PvE servers if you don't. V Rising has bulked out in early access and is a full package now. The problem is, it locks its really good stuff away.

Read more

Vampire centric action role playing game V Rising has now fully launched on Steam after two years in Early Access, and it's off to a very hot start.

V Rising enjoyed a 24 hour peak of 78,164 concurrent players on its May 8, 2024 launch date, according to player tracking website …

What are the best V Rising base locations? When talking about V Rising base locations or castle locations, we mean the flat, elevated plains that can be used for building. You can claim one of these spots by placing a castle heart, as explained in our V Rising beginner’s guide. Although there are many castle locations in V Rising, it’s difficult to determine which one is the best, especially as a new player.

Generally speaking, the best base locations in this multiplayer game are spacious, close to other regions, close to important resources, close to points of interest such as merchant camps, and (especially when playing on a PvP server), easy to defend. Although a base location with multiple exits is often preferred on PvE servers, as this will save you some walking time, players on PvP servers typically prefer base locations with a single entrance point and a large, secondary plateau, as this is easier to protect against raiders.

In this list of V Rising base locations, we’ll show you some of the best locations to build your castle in V Rising version 1.0.

You won't be surprised to know that after two years in early access, V Rising's 1.0 launch hasn't seen Stunlock Studios drastically change the V for "Vampire" to V for "Venetian Blinds" or "Vienna Sausage". From a top-down view, you still play as a newly awakened vampire on PVE, PVP, or private servers, and you're still tasked with becoming the most powerful bloodsucker around. It has, however, streamlined some things and added in an endgame zone. All of this combines to form a survival game that was great back then and is even better now, with thrilling MOBA-esque fights and little in the way of faff.

Read more

The recent 1.0 launch of V Rising brought a ton of new content including some new boss encounters, items, and more. One of the new encounters is Simon Belmont, a mysterious new vampire hunter on a mission to eradicate Monster and Vampire alike. Here's the location where you can find Simon Belmont as well as how to defeat him, and the rewards for doing so.

Simon Belmont location

You can find the Simon Belmont the Vampire Hunter boss roaming between the northwestern area of Farbane Woods and the southern area of Silverlight Hills. Simon Belmont spawns either in a canyon in Silverlight Hills, or at a crossroads in Farbane Woods, and then will continuously patrol back and forth along the main road between those two locations.

Your best bet for tracking him down is to head to his spawn point in Farbane Woods as indicated by the red circle in the map above, and then follow the road north all the way to the canyon in Silverlight Hills. Just stick to the main road as indicated by the red line in the map, and you will come across Simon Belmont eventually in one of those two zones.

How to kill Simon Belmont

It's recommended you're at least Gear Level 84 to take on Simon Belmont, which can only be achieved with the new high-level gear added in V Rising 1.0. Even at Level 84 it will be a challenging encounter, so if you want to have an easier time, you can go even higher before taking on the encounter.

Simon Belmont will be the toughest boss you encounter yet, so you want to make sure you're prepared to do so. Do not encounter him during the day, as dodging his attacks while also avoiding sunlight will be near impossible. Once it's nighttime, head to the location above and start the encounter with Simon Belmont the Vampire Hunter.

Belmont will consistently throw AOE fire damage abilities at you, so be sure to keep moving out of the attacks. It's best to fight Simon Belmont at a range, overall, using skills like Chaos Valley and the Phantom Aegis. Make sure of your Dash and use a versatile mobility weapon like Dual Axes.

Eventually, Simon will shoot beams in four directions and spin around, healing him in the process. You can't really do anything about this, so take this opportunity to heal yourself as well as buff up by drinking flasks and getting prepared for the rest of the encounter.

Defeating Simon Belmont will earn you his V Blood as well as the power new Sanguine Whip weapon.

The post V Rising: Simon Belmont boss location and strategy appeared first on Destructoid.

Vampire crafting survival game V Rising is better played with other people. I don’t say that lightly. I prefer playing games alone, and even I recognize it’s better with at least one other person. So, that means you have to set up a server.

When I say “set up a server” I mean setting up someone’s client to act as a host. You can certainly rent a dedicated server or, I suppose, just have a dedicated server running, but those things cost money. A dedicated server has the benefit of running constantly, allowing others to log in and out whenever they feel like without relying on the host to be available. These settings still apply when you rent or host a dedicated server, but I just wanted to stress that there is a difference.

However, if everyone’s all right with playing at the same time as the host, you can just create a private game. When you create a private game, the world you’re hosting is only available when you’re online and logged into the game. It’s also reliant on your computer’s hardware, which is something to take into consideration. A lot of players building a bunch of castles everywhere is going to be extremely taxing on your performance, so if you’re running an older rig, maybe aim low.

To make a long story short, just pick the “Normal” preset for the default recommended settings.

There are three presets for private games: Relaxed, Normal, or Brutal. Relaxed is good if you don’t want you or your players to lose. If you just want to experience powerful dominion over the game’s world, that’s what you want. Normal will present some challenge and is what I recommend as the default experience. Brutal will make the world much more dangerous, so maybe only choose that once you and your friends have more experience under your belts.

Otherwise, you can tweak all the settings yourself by going to “Advanced game settings” under those options. In fact, I’d invariably suggest you go to advanced game settings anytime you set up a server, as it gives a lot more options.

As a note, you can change server settings after setup, but it requires that you edit a config file using a text editor. Unless you're confident with doing so, you may want to consider your options carefully before launching.

General server settings

The most obvious options you need to consider when setting up a new server are player count, clan size, and global chat.

Before this however, consider the LAN option. LAN (local area network) is useful if everyone you’re playing with is in the same house under the same network (or using a virtual LAN). If you’re not accepting anyone from the internet, and everyone is connected to the same router or wireless hotspot, then you can use this to reduce latency.

Likewise, if you’re playing alone, you can just check off solo and have the world to yourself.

The player count and clan size are going to depend on your group, though you will want to consider your hardware when choosing player count. The more players, the harder it will be on your performance. You may not even want clans if you know everyone in your group, but if you’re allowing outsiders from the internet, then you’ll maybe want them to be able to create their own clans.

Finally, Global Chat enables everyone on your server to talk to one another. If this is disabled, you can only speak to players in your vicinity or in your clan.

World settings

World settings in V Rising affect the environment you play in. These include things like how long the days and nights last and what drops happen.

You mostly need to consider what kind of pace you want your game to move at. I’d generally recommend leaving the “Day Time Length” – the overall length of the day – to medium or higher, as shorter days feel far too brief to me when it comes to allowing exploration. 

“Day Length,” on the other hand, dictates the percentage of the day that the sun is up. If you shorten this, nights will dominate, and you’ll have more time to move about the world freely. For the sake of immersion, I usually leave this on default. If you prefer to be all-powerful, then a shorter day is more in line with your goals.

PvP or PvE

One thing to consider when setting up your server is whether you want players to be able to harm each other. PvP (or player versus player) will allow others on your server to create clans and wage war against anyone else who logs in. PvE (player versus enemy) only allows players to attack NPCs in the environment.

Obviously, which you choose will be based on your group’s dynamic and if you’re allowing strangers.

You can turn PvP on and off completely in the third tab of the advanced game options. However, you can also tweak it to only happen on certain days of the (in-game) week. You can also choose if players can be looted once defeating, and if castles can be attacked. If you leave Castle Raids off, then players at least have a safe haven.

Progression

Most of the other advanced server options in V Rising relate to how quickly you can accomplish things or how powerful you start off as or become.

This means you can tweak yields from resource nodes and make it so that you get more when you collect. This also goes for blood yield, which is a separate option. Alternatively, you can set it so that building and crafting use fewer resources. Either way, this means you can get through the game faster. You can also change inventory stack sizes so each player can carry more.

Likewise, you can change how much health a player has, how much damage they do, and how quickly durability is lost in armor and weapons. This directly affects difficulty.

There are also options for castles, including how big they can be and how much territory they get for each tier. While this also affects progression, you may want to also consider the power of your hardware. If you just max out the floors and territory so player can create the grandest castles possible, you may find performance drops significantly once everything is built.

Finally, you can change the starting level, equipment, and resources. If you don’t want to start a new game from scratch, you can turn these up to skip all the early phases of progression. Otherwise, leave them at default so that you have to build your way up as normal.

Selecting a prebuilt ruleset

If this is too much to consider, you may want to use a ruleset when you start a server in V Rising. These are buttons at the bottom of the advanced game settings screen.

V Rising comes with a number of pre-defined rulesets. Mainly, these are for PvP, as it gives a number of options for how to balance it to certain situations. However, there are also settings for starting PvE at various levels.

If you have a ruleset that you really enjoy using and don’t want to have to set it up each time you create a new server, you can save your advanced settings with the “Save New Ruleset” button at the bottom of the advanced options.

The post V Rising: Best server settings appeared first on Destructoid.

Hello and welcome back to What To Play! We've returned from a little hiatus, which you definitely noticed and have been very sad about, of course. It's finally edging towards spring here in the UK, but don't let that tempt you into going outside, there's video games to be a-playin'!

As ever, this is where we'll round up the best games from the month gone by, and the things we're most excited to play from the month ahead - plus, any other suggestions for what might complement it. Here's What To Play This May 2024.

Availability: Out now on PC, Switch, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S.

Read more

Hello, everyone. Today, we revealed three upcoming indie titles that will appeal to many different PlayStation players. These titles are for those who like to challenge the unknown, our fans who prefer more spooky things, and those looking for something in between. We hope you discover something new to play.

Darkest Dungeon II | Coming July 15

Play Video

Red Hook Studios returns with the sequel to the Darkest Dungeon series. This time, fans will be treated to a new 3D art style with full-character animations. The signature challenge of managing stress and bringing out the hidden talents of your heroes is still at the core, but this time, the journey will be a roguelike. Take a ride in a stagecoach across a bleak world in hopes of surviving long enough to find salvation.

Five Nights at Freddy’s: Help Wanted 2 | Coming June 20

The popular series was a nail-biting delight on PlayStation VR2, and we know more fans wanted to experience the survival horror, so Steel Wool Studios is bringing it to the PS5. All the games found in the VR version have been adapted to utilize the PS5 and DualSense controller to provide immersive experiences. So, anyone willing to fill out a job application can play any way they choose.

V Rising | Coming 2024

Play Video

After sleeping for centuries awake as a vampire seeking to bring back the glory days of the vampire kingdom in this title, a mix of action RPG and survival, players must battle the Church of Luminance and even the king of vampires himself: Dracula. Since his defeat many moons ago, some vampires feel he is no longer fit to rule and seek to build a new kingdom. Get your combat skills ready for this adventure from Stunlock Studios.

Thanks for joining us for this look at three exciting upcoming PlayStation indies.

V Rising is a survival game with action RPG elements and razor-sharp skill-based combat coming to PlayStation 5 later this year. Wake up as a Vampire after centuries of withering slumber, your kin having been forgotten after a catastrophic defeat at the hands of the Church of Luminance. Emerge from your crypt, explore a vast open world, hunt for blood, and build a sprawling castle on your quest to reclaim your former glory.

But what glory is there to reclaim? What is the Vampire promised?

Earlier this year when we announced V-Rising was coming to PS5, we provided a glimpse into its storyline, gameplay mechanics, and expansive open world. Today, we want to focus on one corner of the realm, the dangers that await within, and, of course, the Vampire King plotting his return from the heart of its overcast lands: Dracula.

Play Video

Legend of the Immortal King

In the world of V Rising, Dracula was both a conqueror and tyrant, ruling from his throne in the frozen realm of Mortium, untouched by sunlight at the heart of the Vampire empire. From there, he waged a great war and brought humanity to the brink of extinction. Humanity’s desperate prayers were answered in the form of a divine power that appeared suddenly, for the first time, allowing them to repel not only Dracula’s Legion of Noctum but felled the Immortal King himself.

Yet for Dracula, defeat was not death.

In the eons since, the nocturnal lord has resided in a weakened state in the Shadow Realm, strengthening himself and planning his return. That time has come. Dracula has sent out a call to arms… rousing untold legions of Vampires from their centuries-long rest. Yet, not all who awaken are content to serve. Some are more ambitious than others and would instead seek to take the throne for themselves. In V Rising, you are one such Vampire.

Enter the Ruins of Mortium

The Vampire empire’s core lies in Mortium, a cold and regal snowscape famously untouched by sunlight. This was once the heart of the powerful Vampire civilization, ruled by the legendary Dracula. But now, after ages have passed, the grand spires and fortresses of the Legion of Noctum lay in ruins, abandoned and forgotten.

In the depths of Mortium, life stirs anew, inhabited by servants and fanatical cultists devoted to Dracula, along with newfound dangers. Unbound by conventions, the lord of the night has thrived in the Shadow Realm, and his imminent return brings forth creatures from distant realms. Behold the Draculin, creatures from the Shadow Realm that appear to be tainted by Dracula’s blood-soaked influence.

These creatures from another world bring with them a unique blood type from the realm of darkness, and drinking it provides unique bonuses for you to utilize. Depending on the quality of the blood type, you’ll be able to move more quickly at night, heal more easily, and have multiple advantages that allow you to secure kills more easily and more often.

You’ll also face the Vampire Generals of the Legion of Noctum, some of Dracula’s oldest and most fervent followers. Overcoming them will unlock ancient powers tied directly to your Vampire lineage, uncovering secrets that will allow you to expand on your connection to deeper Vampire magics.

Dracula Rises

The final challenge on your Vampire journey will be to fight your way into the deepest depths of Mortium, where Dracula’s forces gather at the foot of his castle. Once great and mighty, it stands as a testament to what the great king of Vampire kind once achieved and of the domination he seeks to bring on his return.

Here in Mortium the Legion of Noctum is hard at work performing dark rituals to flood the world with Draculin from the Shadow Realm so that they may gather blood, fueling the magical engine that will bring the full return of Dracula. It will be up to you to go and disrupt these invasions, shattering their dark rifts and collecting the essence of magic left in the aftermath.

You will be able to use these resources to tap into powerful Vampire powers, craft and empower weapons, and eventually even craft the key required to strike the very core of the Immortal King’s operation. After attaining knowledge and power by draining the blood of Dracula’s closest and most powerful servants, you’ll acquire all you need to infiltrate the Shadow Realm and face Dracula yourself.

This final battle will test the limits of your abilities and force you to prove that you are truly worthy of the title of apex predator of Vardoran.

The Hunt begins in 2024

Embrace your darkest desires in V Rising, whether you venture alone or alongside companions. Feel the pulse of a heartbeat under your fingertips with the DualSense controller as you drain the life out of your prey. Feel the thrum of power vibrate in your palm as you summon magic to wreak havoc on your foes, and the rush of explosive contact as great beasts crash into the earth beside you.

The hunt is on in 2024 on the PlayStation 5 with V Rising.

Source

Hello, everyone. Today, we revealed three upcoming indie titles that will appeal to many different PlayStation players. These titles are for those who like to challenge the unknown, our fans who prefer more spooky things, and those looking for something in between. We hope you discover something new to play.

Darkest Dungeon II | Coming July 15

Play Video

Red Hook Studios returns with the sequel to the Darkest Dungeon series. This time, fans will be treated to a new 3D art style with full-character animations. The signature challenge of managing stress and bringing out the hidden talents of your heroes is still at the core, but this time, the journey will be a roguelike. Take a ride in a stagecoach across a bleak world in hopes of surviving long enough to find salvation.

Five Nights at Freddy’s: Help Wanted 2 | Coming June 20

The popular series was a nail-biting delight on PlayStation VR2, and we know more fans wanted to experience the survival horror, so Steel Wool Studios is bringing it to the PS5. All the games found in the VR version have been adapted to utilize the PS5 and DualSense controller to provide immersive experiences. So, anyone willing to fill out a job application can play any way they choose.

V Rising | Coming 2024

Play Video

After sleeping for centuries awake as a vampire seeking to bring back the glory days of the vampire kingdom in this title, a mix of action RPG and survival, players must battle the Church of Luminance and even the king of vampires himself: Dracula. Since his defeat many moons ago, some vampires feel he is no longer fit to rule and seek to build a new kingdom. Get your combat skills ready for this adventure from Stunlock Studios.

Thanks for joining us for this look at three exciting upcoming PlayStation indies.

V Rising is a survival game with action RPG elements and razor-sharp skill-based combat coming to PlayStation 5 later this year. Wake up as a Vampire after centuries of withering slumber, your kin having been forgotten after a catastrophic defeat at the hands of the Church of Luminance. Emerge from your crypt, explore a vast open world, hunt for blood, and build a sprawling castle on your quest to reclaim your former glory.

But what glory is there to reclaim? What is the Vampire promised?

Earlier this year when we announced V-Rising was coming to PS5, we provided a glimpse into its storyline, gameplay mechanics, and expansive open world. Today, we want to focus on one corner of the realm, the dangers that await within, and, of course, the Vampire King plotting his return from the heart of its overcast lands: Dracula.

Play Video

Legend of the Immortal King

In the world of V Rising, Dracula was both a conqueror and tyrant, ruling from his throne in the frozen realm of Mortium, untouched by sunlight at the heart of the Vampire empire. From there, he waged a great war and brought humanity to the brink of extinction. Humanity’s desperate prayers were answered in the form of a divine power that appeared suddenly, for the first time, allowing them to repel not only Dracula’s Legion of Noctum but felled the Immortal King himself.

Yet for Dracula, defeat was not death.

In the eons since, the nocturnal lord has resided in a weakened state in the Shadow Realm, strengthening himself and planning his return. That time has come. Dracula has sent out a call to arms… rousing untold legions of Vampires from their centuries-long rest. Yet, not all who awaken are content to serve. Some are more ambitious than others and would instead seek to take the throne for themselves. In V Rising, you are one such Vampire.

Enter the Ruins of Mortium

The Vampire empire’s core lies in Mortium, a cold and regal snowscape famously untouched by sunlight. This was once the heart of the powerful Vampire civilization, ruled by the legendary Dracula. But now, after ages have passed, the grand spires and fortresses of the Legion of Noctum lay in ruins, abandoned and forgotten.

In the depths of Mortium, life stirs anew, inhabited by servants and fanatical cultists devoted to Dracula, along with newfound dangers. Unbound by conventions, the lord of the night has thrived in the Shadow Realm, and his imminent return brings forth creatures from distant realms. Behold the Draculin, creatures from the Shadow Realm that appear to be tainted by Dracula’s blood-soaked influence.

These creatures from another world bring with them a unique blood type from the realm of darkness, and drinking it provides unique bonuses for you to utilize. Depending on the quality of the blood type, you’ll be able to move more quickly at night, heal more easily, and have multiple advantages that allow you to secure kills more easily and more often.

You’ll also face the Vampire Generals of the Legion of Noctum, some of Dracula’s oldest and most fervent followers. Overcoming them will unlock ancient powers tied directly to your Vampire lineage, uncovering secrets that will allow you to expand on your connection to deeper Vampire magics.

Dracula Rises

The final challenge on your Vampire journey will be to fight your way into the deepest depths of Mortium, where Dracula’s forces gather at the foot of his castle. Once great and mighty, it stands as a testament to what the great king of Vampire kind once achieved and of the domination he seeks to bring on his return.

Here in Mortium the Legion of Noctum is hard at work performing dark rituals to flood the world with Draculin from the Shadow Realm so that they may gather blood, fueling the magical engine that will bring the full return of Dracula. It will be up to you to go and disrupt these invasions, shattering their dark rifts and collecting the essence of magic left in the aftermath.

You will be able to use these resources to tap into powerful Vampire powers, craft and empower weapons, and eventually even craft the key required to strike the very core of the Immortal King’s operation. After attaining knowledge and power by draining the blood of Dracula’s closest and most powerful servants, you’ll acquire all you need to infiltrate the Shadow Realm and face Dracula yourself.

This final battle will test the limits of your abilities and force you to prove that you are truly worthy of the title of apex predator of Vardoran.

The Hunt begins in 2024

Embrace your darkest desires in V Rising, whether you venture alone or alongside companions. Feel the pulse of a heartbeat under your fingertips with the DualSense controller as you drain the life out of your prey. Feel the thrum of power vibrate in your palm as you summon magic to wreak havoc on your foes, and the rush of explosive contact as great beasts crash into the earth beside you.

The hunt is on in 2024 on the PlayStation 5 with V Rising.

With the V Rising 1.0 update just weeks away after two full years in early access, the vampire survival game is set to introduce the most iconic blood-sucking tyrant of them all into the fold. In its latest pre-launch teaser, developer Stunlock Studios showcases the Ruins of Mortium, home to the one and only Count Dracula, and gives us a little taste of just what power his corrupted blood can offer us.

V Rising remains on track to reach 1.0 in the second quarter of this year, in what finance people call Q2 but I like to call Aprilmayjune. The latest developer blog post goes into detail on some of the new features coming for the full release and in particular its changes to PvP, higher tier weapon and armour, and vampire fashion.

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