Huntervania

It starts like many other games in the genre, with a choice of character. There are three available at the beginning, each with different values in the four main stats and a unique starting weapon. The rest of the characters are unlocked using gems earned from completing runs, but their stats are hidden. This means you never know whether you are unlocking a genuinely better character or simply wasting precious gems on someone who is barely useful. Unfortunately, the stats do not explain what they actually influence, or if they even matter. Take vitality, for example. It should presumably affect health, yet every character appears to have the same amount of hit points. Another example is dexterity, which should affect movement speed. However, the archer, who has the highest dexterity, moves just as slowly as everyone else, if not slower. Speaking of movement speed, it is painfully slow for every character. You are forced to abuse the dash mechanic, which comes with an annoying cooldown, just to keep your distance from enemies. Even that will not save you from fast projectiles, which often result in cheap deaths and prematurely end your run. A run itself does not offer many surprises compared to similar games. You move around the arena while your character’s auto attacks and targeting system handle the approaching enemies. One welcome addition is that there is no experience you need to manually collect, as it is automatically added with each kill. The downside is that leveling up takes noticeably longer. When you level up, you can choose one weapon from a random selection of three options. If none of them are useful, you can use a reroll, but you are limited to only three per run. Weapons come from other characters, meaning you can obtain a weapon even if you are not playing as the character who starts with it. This is especially useful when a character begins with a close-range weapon and you are looking for something with range. The same weapon can also be selected again to improve its effectiveness, and the game does a nice job of showing exactly what changes with green numbers, such as increased damage or reduced cooldown. Your dash and primary weapon are always visible on the screen, but if you want to check the rest of your equipment, you need to open the inventory. This is the only place where the game actually explains what the stats are supposed to do, and it also reveals why they feel so meaningless. It turns out that you only notice a difference after reaching every five points in a stat, so one extra point doesn’t do anything unless a character already starts with four points in something. The inventory also reveals that you can equip a maximum of six different weapons and upgrade each one up to ten times. None of this is explained anywhere else. Weapons orbit around your character in a circle, which creates another problem, especially with ranged weapons. If an enemy gets through that circle and stands directly next to you, ranged weapons will often ignore the threat and continue shooting enemies farther away. The stage, which is always the same, is small, so constant movement is necessary. Around the map, you will find altars that summon mini bosses when you approach them. However, you must remain inside a specific circle or the encounter will disappear, forcing you to wait several seconds before trying again. Defeating a mini boss rewards you with either a book that grants one extra point in a random stat or a choice of one upgrade from three random options. The book sounds useful on paper, but since stats feel like empty numbers, the reward rarely feels meaningful. The upgrades are much more valuable, offering things like increased health, damage, movement speed, health regeneration after kills, and other bonuses. Movement speed, in particular, quickly becomes one of the most important upgrades. After defeating a mini boss, you have to wait more than two minutes before fighting it again. Thankfully, each stage contains multiple altars, including a special one that provides a stronger perk in exchange for corruption. I am still not entirely sure what corruption actually does, but it appears to increase enemy spawn rates. Although you do not need to collect experience, enemies still drop coins that can be picked up. These are used to open chests scattered around the arena, which reward you with random gear. Once again, you have three rerolls available per run if you do not like your options, but the good news is that every item provides some kind of benefit. There are multiple chests throughout a stage, and they eventually respawn, although their cost increases each time. The only objective is to survive as long as possible. Unfortunately, you will not get very far, mainly because of the ridiculous movement speed limitation. This turns the game into a grind for gems, which are then used to purchase permanent upgrades. There are only six upgrades available, and one of them is pointless because it simply provides more rerolls, which makes movement speed the obvious priority. The problem is that grinding is exactly what it feels like. Each upgrade costs a large amount of gems while increasing movement speed by only a tiny percentage. To make matters worse, each upgrade can only be purchased five times. Finally, the biggest issue is the price. The game asks for a premium price that would be easier to justify for some of the best titles in the survivors genre, but this is not one of them. A price closer to the genre standard of $5 would make much more sense, although even that might feel high considering the lack of content and the slow, repetitive gameplay.

Niesamowite, co potrafi stworzyć jedna osoba napędzana czystą pasją! Widać, że ta gra to projekt robiony po godzinach, prosto z serca i z ogromnym zaangażowaniem. Klimat jest po prostu fantastyczny i można się w niego totalnie wczuć tytuł niesamowicie wciąga i pozwala zapomnieć o otaczającym świecie od pierwszych minut. Ogromny szacunek dla twórcy za ciężką pracę, determinację i dbałość o detale. Zdecydowanie polecam każdemu i mocno trzymam kciuki za dalszy rozwój. Dokładnie takie niezależne perełki warto wspierać!

Huntervania is a fantastic choice for fans of *Vampire Survivors*-style games. From the very first minutes, it hooks you with dynamic gameplay where each successive wave of enemies demands quick decision-making and the development of an increasingly powerful character. Despite its familiar formula, the game delivers a satisfying experience thanks to well-chosen upgrades and an enjoyable pace. A major highlight is the dark, pixel-art atmosphere, teeming with vampires, demons, and other monsters. The visuals are simple yet highly atmospheric, and the skill effects make pulling off successful combinations incredibly fun. Experimenting with different builds encourages repeated playthroughs, making it hard to put the game down. If you enjoy roguelikes featuring auto-attacks, rapid character progression, and endless hordes of enemies, Huntervania is definitely worth checking out. It is the perfect game for short sessions that frequently end with you saying, "Just one more run." I highly recommend it to any fan of the genre