It’s not often that I branch out and try different video game genres, but Voltaire: The Vegan Vampire presented enough intrigue to pique my interest. The vibes are spooky; the tags are promising. Yet, I can’t be the only one curious to see what a action rogue-like, tower defence game about plant-rearing vampires is like.
The Plot To Success
Originally released on PC in 2023, Voltaire: The Vegan Vampire is now getting a console release. You play as the titular Vegan Vampire, who has moved to a new location to farm food for his new diet. With help from his uncles Frank and Stein, Voltaire is instructed via post on how to rebuild each plot and grow food to eat. However, each evening, waves of monsters attack the farm and undo all of your hard work.
This is the set-up and overall plot of Voltaire: The Vegan Vampire, with quests and dialogue delivered in a pop-up box at the bottom of the screen. You’re left to defend your home and crops from waves of enemies each night. Then, on the seventh day, a boss will spawn for you to tackle. These boss battles are tough and really draw you away from base, and it’s game over if your house is destroyed.
This is where the tower defence mechanics come into play. By planting flowers such as snapping vines alongside your veg, you can protect your crops from invading forces. Each decision also costs stamina, so you need to make every move count.
Bite Back
Voltaire is not defenceless either. At first, you’re able to use only basic close-range and ranged attacks, but upgrades unlock some incredible perks. These unlocks cost a pretty penny but can really help your run.
Controlling Voltaire with a thumb-stick while holding the face buttons to attack feels fluid and intuitive. I think you’re supposed to aim with the ranged attack, but I ended up playing more like Vampire Survivors. There was no thought, just holding down the attack button and whirling around the map.
The Stage Is Set
Resources are scattered around the map. These range from seeds, water, materials and other resources that respawn each in-game day. Drawing resources also uses up stamina, which is recovered by eating, so you’ll want to utilise everything you can during the daytime set-up period.
You can also craft items and build things such as defence towers and water wells. These cost a lot at first, but you can get upgrades to lower the cost.
At the start of each new week, a portal appears, and you are given the option to go to a new location. These areas are wildly different and present unique challenges, such as faster hunger depletion. The landscape changes are enough to keep the gameplay from becoming too stagnant, but you do have to wait a full week and pay to move to a new location if you make any mistakes.
A Little Batty
Voltaire: The Vegan Vampire promises whimsy from the title alone, but does a great job of carrying this over to the main game and dialogue. The paper-doll art-style is cute and creepy, giving Tim Burton meets Don’t Stare Together. Even the sound design gives an appropriately cute yet spooky atmosphere that hails back to my Ruby Gloom era.
It’s not without its faults, however. The day periods began to drag after a while, and I found that I could only play a few days before becoming fatigued. For this reason, I feel that Voltaire would be better suited for handheld gamers on Switch or Steam Deck. I also found the press-and-hold-to-accept/activate mechanics slow. I realise that they are likely designed to stop players from making too many mistakes, but I found them frustrating.
A New Dawn Arises
I don’t think that I am the target audience for Voltaire: The Vegan Vampire, but I did enjoy my time with it. The core gameplay loop and repetitive quests in a confined stage aren’t something I enjoy, but the tower-defence mechanics are really interesting. Players looking for a light-hearted rogue-like experience will find a great challenge here, and there’s a mode that removes boss battles for those who are not.
Platforms: PS5, Xbox X/S, Nintendo Switch, PC
Publishers: indie.io
Developers: Digitality Games
Played On: PlayStation 5
Key Provided By: PressEngine
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