We’ve played as vampires before. What about a vegan one? Here are our first impressions of Voltaire: The Vegan Vampire, a review of its gameplay and story.

First off, let me explain what this game is. Voltaire: The Vegan Vampire is a farming battle sim roguelite. You play Voltaire, a vampire, who decided that he will not be like his father, Dracula. You receive a plantation, where you must plant your own vegetables and fruits. Voltaire can eat these vegetables to relieve his hunger. There are, however, some vegetables that can also defeat the enemies who will come at night.

The game is available for wishlisting on Steam. Players can even try out the available demo if they want. If you’re wondering whether it’s worth it to try this game, then read on for our first impressions of Voltaire: The Vegan Vampire.

Voltaire: The Vegan Vampire First Impressions

When I saw that this game was a roguelite, I was instantly curious about it. I like playing and reviewing roguelite games. That’s why when I got the opportunity to try this game out, I immediately took it. I’ll first review the gameplay of Voltaire: The Vegan Vampire.

Voltaire: The Vegan Vampire gameplay

Just for reference, I played this game on a controller. It’s possible to play it on the keyboard and mouse, although I haven’t tried it yet. Not only that, but it’s possible to play local split-screen by having one player play on a controller and another on a keyboard and mouse. I’ll try that out at a future time, as I wanted to see the single-player experience. When I arrived at my plantation, I had four plots of land on the four corners of the walled location. Each of these had a random number of plantable spaces, which I had to prepare for planting. The game’s in-game tutorial comes in the form of letters coming from your uncles Frank and Stein (yes it is a pun). They tell you what needs to be done, accompanied by a three-frame summary of what the player can do.

To do any of these tasks, the player has to manage their hunger meter. Doing a task uses up a certain amount of hunger, the amount varying depending on the task’s difficulty. For example, watering plants take up five hunger, while building a well uses up 25. You can reduce your hunger by eating the crops you forage and harvest. Should you max your hunger out to one hundred, you will pass out and night will arrive. I’ll get to that in a moment. I spent my first day clearing out some of the fields, planting some crops I had, and getting water. This is where my first frustration in the gameplay came from.

Without a working well, players have to get water from a water plant. However, it doesn’t give you the water immediately. You have to chase the water droplets yourself. Yes, you read that right. The water droplets have legs, and you have to chase after them. Having a dash helps, but it took a while to get used to it, as I kept overshooting my dash (it was more of a blink). It took me a while to get used to this mechanic, and thankfully I didn’t really need it after I built a well. It was just a little frustrating at first because chasing them around is not all that fun. The gathering hitbox for the water droplets is a little weird, so it really takes a while.

After planting a few crops, I was quickly introduced to the game’s night cycle. In Voltaire: The Vegan Vampire, there’s a day cycle and a night cycle. The day cycle is when you can forage and farm. During the night, however, you had to defend your farm. When I said I was quickly introduced to the night cycle, it was because I maxed out my hunger. I woke up inside the house, with enemies on the way. I had traps, and tried to use them to take down the enemies. Sadly, it wasn’t enough, and my house was no more. This was my first game over, and where the roguelite element jumps in.

Whenever you die, you get a choice: retain your loot, but lose your skills, or retain your skills but lose your loot. Players get skills whenever they level up, which improves their traps, attacks, dashes, and more. Whenever you die, you select one of the choices, and the day resets. I have to come clean with you here. I had to restart my game because I was having such a hard time defending my plants. It wasn’t until I actually did my second playthrough and actually read the tutorial that I realized my mistake. First, I needed to plant defense crops. Second, I could also attack enemies.

My second playthrough went better. I was able to get through the first week (which culminated in a boss battle), feed myself with various vegetables, build a well so I didn’t have to chase the pesky water droplets again, and more. It was a fun little gameplay loop, and it didn’t get tiring fast. The skills changed how I fought against the waves, and the waves themselves changed depending on the plants I had growing. I can imagine how much more fun this would be on co-op play, but that’s for another time. For now, let’s go through the story.

Voltaire: The Vegan Vampire Story

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Voltaire: The Vegan Vampire’s story is actually pretty simple. As mentioned above, you are Voltaire, the son of Dracula. Instead of becoming a blood-sucking monster like your father, you decided to live a vegan life. Your uncles, Frank and Stein, support you in this endeavor and are your main source of guidance throughout the game. As you progress through the game, you learn more about your uncles and what their life is like that. And that’s pretty much it.

I don’t know if it’s because I’ve only played a week and half into the game, but I feel like the story is generally lacking. Other than the intro cinematic, and the letters from your uncle, there really isn’t much in the way of world-building and the like. Then again, this is a farming sim and a roguelite game, so I guess that’s to be expected. Maybe I’ll have to play more of the game to see even more story bits, which I will definitely do at a later time.

Voltaire: The Vegan Vampire Review Summary

Overall, I feel like Voltaire: The Vegan Vampire has a very good gameplay loop, as well as a decent story. The water droplets are my primary cause of frustration in the game, but it’s not really enough for me to stop playing. The graphics are pretty cute, and the gameplay is pretty simple once you get the hang of it. It might be more fun to play with a friend, and I highly recommend that you try it out that way if you can. The demo is free, and I recommend that you try it out when you have a few hours to spare. Who knows? You might end up spending even more time playing it.

That’s all for our first impressions of Voltaire: The Vegan Vampire, and our review of its gameplay and story. Do check the game out on Steam and download the demo if you want to try it out. Otherwise, you can also check out our gaming news articles to stay updated on the latest in gaming.