DLCXbox · PC · PlayStation · Switch

Vampire Survivors: Legacy of the Moonspell

Poncle · RPG, Action, Indie

Overview

The rising sun, forever dimmed. A land of moonlight, fading blossoms, and an eternal night…a vampire’s paradise… Journey to new lands, mow down thousands of oni and yokai, and unveil the mysteries of the Moonspell Clan.

Legacy of the Moonspell is the first expansion for Vampire Survivors, and introduces a brand new stage, new characters, new monsters, and new weapons to slaughter them with. There might even be some hidden mysteries for those of an inquiring mindset, but we can neither confirm nor deny the presence of vampires…

The fall of Clan Moonspell

In eastern lands, a clan has fallen. The Moonspell, once vigilant guardians of a sorcerous valley nestled in the mountains, have been overrun by hordes of yokai and oni. Though treacherous, this hive of spectral activity may provide some clue as to the location of a vampire. If not, at least it’ll be entertaining to defeat thousands of wayward spirits in the process.

The expansion has been updated with new content:

5 extra weapons
4 extra characters
1 extra music track
Buffs to the original cast of characters

Including:

Miang Moonspell - The last disciple of the Moonspell Clan before its downfall, and possibly its finest. Self-consciously a shounen protagonist.
Menya Moonspell - One of the few surviving Moonspell elders, Menya’s mystical powers are near god-like.
Syuuto Moonspell - Banished practitioner of the new moon dark magic, Syuuto is nonetheless an enemy of evil. Poor personal hygiene may contribute to his continued exile.
Babi-Onna - Returned from the dead to seek vengeance on demons and mortals alike, she nonetheless retains her impeccable ability to charm, amuse, and dazzle.

18 new weapons between base versions and evolutions, including:

Silver Wind - An ancestral force unleashed by the staff of the Moonspell Clan, only those born under the moon can fully wield its power (or whoever finds it in a chest, we’re not sure).
Four Seasons - A set of orbs which unleash the power of the changing seasons, of death and rebirth.
Summon Night - A weapon which drips with the darkness of the new moon. Despite the clan’s superstitions, even the shadows can oppose evil.
Mirage Robe - An enchanted kimono, weaved on a loom from the silk of the earth spider, and imbued with a fragment of Babi-Onna’s vengeful spirit. Besides, it looks fabulous darling.

♫ Sword of Moonlight

Mt.Moonspell - Our biggest stage yet, a sprawling map featuring several different environments, all with their own challenges and resident monsters! This one stage includes an abandoned castle, snow covered mountain, and a yokai infested village, and more besides.

Platform achievements

We're trying once again to find a way to add achievements without affecting the completion rate for the main game, but we don't know if it will be possible. Regardless, new Steam achievements for the base game, Moonspell, and Bloodmoon will be added in patch 1.17, scheduled to release before the end of the year.

Once the achievements are published, they'll unlock automatically if you have already obtained them in game, so nothing is lost.

From the game's Steam store page.

THE GAMEQ VERDICT1,174 reviews analyzed

What players are actually saying

1. Summary

Legacy of the Moonspell is a cheap add-on that nearly every reviewer recommends. Price comes up again and again, almost always as a reason to buy: reviewers quote a $2 price, and for a lot of them that settles the question. Beyond value, players praise Mt. Moonspell, which they describe as a handcrafted map with a village, caves, a castle and a snowy mountain, each area with its own enemies. They also like the soundtrack, the Japanese folklore theme, and a few characters with real gimmicks, Babi-Onna and the transforming Moonspell elders above all.

Veterans raise most of the caveats. The new weapons divide players, the walled map gets hard to read once late-run effects fill the screen, and people who had already finished the base game report clearing everything in four to six hours with little challenge. A couple of reviewers who own later packs call this one their least favourite while still recommending it for the price. A smaller group objects to new achievements breaking a base-game 100% and to paid content arriving after a long run of free updates.

2. What keeps coming up

What players praise

Huge value for a tiny priceHigh

Nearly every review that mentions money counts it in the DLC's favour, often by comparing it to a coffee, a sandwich or a full-price game: "Best $2 I've ever spent." and "This $2 DLC gave me more fun than most $60 AAA games". Some long-time fans say they bought it to support the developer, and one bought it at release only to give the developers money, playing it much later. Even reviewers who found the content thin often land on yes because of the cost, and one who paid before a later price cut says they don't feel short-changed. The handful of negative reviews that bring up money argue the content is too slight even at this price, or that it should have been a free update.

Mt. Moonspell as a real, handcrafted mapHigh

Players welcome a stage with a layout after the base game's endlessly repeating fields. "Having an actual map to play on is a great change of pace," one writes, and another notes the stage has "locations of interest rather than an oversized flat plain or corridors with copypasted rooms". Reviewers single out enemies tied to each area, buildings to enter, a frozen lake and a castle, and one predicts "This will become the standard for DLC maps going forward". The walls and corridors that make the map feel like a place also cause the navigation complaints covered under the split themes.

The soundtrackMedium

The new tracks get short, warm praise, sometimes as a reason to buy on their own: "The soundtrack slaps soooo hard" and "Music alone is worth it." One reviewer says the Crystal Allure track alone justifies the price. On the other side, one long review flags a single weapon with a grating sound effect, and another asks for a way to lower the Night Sword's volume.

Japanese folklore settingMedium

Yokai, oni, kappa and tanuki enemies and a cherry-blossom village give the pack its own look, and players enjoy it: "A dope Edo Japan fantasy based addition to the Vampire Survivors main game".

Characters with real gimmicksMedium

Several players say the new characters do more than tweak stats. Menya and Syuuto power up into Megalo forms after a kill count, Babi-Onna attacks as she moves instead of on cooldown, and McCoy-Oni and the tanuki draw affection. "I loved the Jojo Poses on Babi-onna!" one writes. Not everyone agrees: some call the roster weak at level one, and one reviewer says "I didn't mention the characters because they're really just sub-par."

Where players are split

The new weaponsMedium

Fans of the new set name Silver Wind, Summon Night, Mirage Robe, Four Seasons and 108 Bocce, and one review says "Silver Wind and its evolution Festive Winds are fantastic." Others find most of the set weak or gimmicky, and because a run only offers so many banish slots, unwanted DLC weapons crowd the level-up choices: "a lot of the weapons are not good and you'll probably end up putting them on your banish list". One negative review puts it bluntly: "poor weapon, buying this dlc will dilute the drop pool". Plenty of reviews sit in the middle: "Weapons are hit or miss but the good ones are solid additions." A few players report that the strongest evolutions make the last minutes of a run too easy, and one notes Echo Night "only hits on the left side of the screen" at high Area.

Navigating the walled mapMedium

Learning the layout takes a while at first ("The new map is a bit confusing to navigate"), and some come round: "Once you get the layout of the map, it's enjoyable." The complaint that sticks is visibility late in a run. One reviewer writes that "with certain arcana and abilities, its almost impossible to see where you need to walk", and others mention bumping into walls they cannot see, enemies walking through walls the player cannot, and the Mad Groove arcana pulling every item to you so there is no reason to explore: "While the new map is made trivial with the Mad Groove Arcana". Another regrets "the lack of visualisation of hight or ground level on the map" and would like to plan a route from the pause map.

How much content it addsMedium

Reviewers agree it is "more of the same" and disagree on whether that is enough. Estimates of the content run from about four hours to over ten; one veteran writes "Took me around 4h to 100% (could be rushed in 2-3h)." Some who came to it after later packs rank it lowest: "Probably the weakest DLC in my opinion. It's still ridiculously cheap and 100% worth it". An early reviewer advises "if you only have the money for one dlc pack then I'll say DLC 2 > DLC 1". A smaller group says it has fewer secrets than its detailed map deserves: "The only bad thing here is the lack of secrets".

What frustrates players

New achievements break a finished 100%Medium

Completionists split on the added Steam achievements. Some enjoy the excuse to return ("I like when achievements are added and I have to strive to get them"), while several negative reviews resent buying DLC to keep a perfect record: "Spend 50 hours 100%ing a game, developer releases another 15 achievements locked behind DLC." One player singles out the two achievements for 100,000 kills with new characters that struggle to reach that count.

Too easy for players who finished the base gameLow

Veterans with a powered-up save say the stage offers little resistance. "If you find the base game easy, this is just as easy as it," one writes, and a negative review says that once you have beaten the game "you'll just... unlock everything pretty quickly and be done with it". One long review also misses the end-of-run Reaper fight: "things immediately end in Mt. Moonspell when you hit the half-hour mark". A few newer players report the opposite, struggling on the first stretch with weak starting weapons.

Paying for what used to be freeLow

A small group, mostly in launch month, felt the pack resembled a content patch with a price tag: "This dlc would have been great if it was like a free update or something". A recommending reviewer who has followed the game since early access admits "the contrast from getting free content regularly to having paid dlc does not feel great".

Launch-week install and performance problemsLow

A handful of launch-week players could not see the new stage or content, and one reports "this update is so buggy it causes white screens for multiple players", while another says it "shows me the content but doesnt show the level". One review describes enemies and chests spawning out of reach for about a week after release. Late-run slowdown comes up a few times ("might have some lag/frame drop at 25min+"), and one player says the pack made their Steam Deck run worse.

3. The player conversation

Launch week dominates the conversation, with many one-line reviews about price, affection for the developer and the running joke that there are still no vampires. The longer critiques come from base-game veterans who 100% everything: they praise the map's ambition, question the weapons, the difficulty and the replay value, and mostly still recommend the pack. Players who joined later tend to judge it against Tides of the Foscari and Ode to Castlevania, and a couple of them call it the weakest pack while still endorsing it. Sentiment held steady after launch: 95.3% of reviews written after launch week are positive (585 of 614), with small waves of new reviews whenever a newer DLC launched and again after a later price cut.

4. What the developers could do

Add a reduced-effects or terrain-outline option for walled stages: players say late-run effects hide the paths and walls this map depends on.
Rebalance the weaker Moonspell weapons and fix Echo Night's one-sided hits: players call several weapons filler they banish on sight, and one reports the evolution only hitting the left of the screen at high Area.
Give players more control over the item pool: reviewers say unwanted DLC weapons dilute level-up choices because banish slots are limited.
Offer a fresh-start way to play the DLC: one review asks to experience the pack "without any of the previous upgrades and modes", and veterans say a maxed save makes it trivial.
Make the Mad Groove arcana less dominant on exploration maps: several players say pulling every item to you removes the reason to explore Mt. Moonspell.
Add more secrets and a stronger end-of-run moment to the stage: reviewers ask for reasons to revisit the map and miss the Reaper fight that ends other stages.
Address late-run slowdown on the stage: a few players report frame drops after the 25-minute mark.