This post is a April 2026 transcription of this video. The text has been edited for readability while preserving my original sentiment.

I wasn’t going to talk about Vampire Survivors Ode to Castlevania because I thought it was just another Vampire Survivors expansion where you get to play the cast of Castlevania, but I was severely underestimating how hype this truly is!!

If you’re unfamiliar with Vampire Survivors, It is a bullet heaven game. You are the cause of death and destruction amongst every single enemy in the game. You have 30 minutes to survive a gauntlet of enemies being thrown at you.

The newest expansion is called Ode to Castlevania and it features a huge selection of Castlevania characters each with their own unique weapon! It is absolutely insane how much content is in this expansion pack and it’s only $3.99!

It also includes a large map that is a weird mesh of a bunch of different Castlevania environments. It’s super fun & the mix of unlocking character via the map & certain challenges is so cool as well. They also found a way to make seven different whips feel different and that isn’t even half of the unique weapons. Each weapons have their own evolutions. It’s absolutely awesome. Also each of the characters that you unlock get their own custom music too, which is just so fantastic. So much love and care went into celebrating Castlevania. And there’s even a bunch of boss monsters that you get fight!

I played Vampire Survivors when it first came out so I was not familiar with fighting boss monsters mid-game & they were all different Castlevania bosses. If you’re fan of Vampire Survivors, many of us have joked that, “the developers stole sprites” from Castlevania, but now they have the real deal Castlavania sprites!!

It’s very fun & if you are at all a fan of Castlevania & enjoy Vampire Survivors. Please stop reading now until you have gotten to the very top of the map with Richter.

The moments I will describe are unforgettable is truly a special moment for Castlevania fans that are worth experiencing.

THE FINALE

I wasn’t going to talk about Vampire Survivors. I was just enjoying this game all on my own. I was having a great time. I was having so much fun. And then I finally, after so many hours, unlocked Richter the final character of the expansion.

However, there was still a locked door on the map so I knew there had to have been one last boss to unlock the final door. So as I try searched the map down & up. And typically, when you get to the very top of the map, you will find Dracula’s room.

However, it is fully on a seemingly infinite amount of enemies spawning from every direction. It’s terrifying, but that’s it. No boss. No items. Nothing.

But what I do know from my love of Castlevania is that Richter needs to be there. That is where in Symphony of the Night, Richter is sitting on the throne. In Rondo of Blood, Richter is fighting Dracula in that room. I was like, I need to be there with Richter. And as I entered Dracula’s room. All the monsters on the map fade away. I lose control of Richter, but Richter continues moving further into the room until we meet Dracula who has been absent this entire expansion…also this is our first vampire in Vampire Survivors.

And just when it couldn’t get any better. I heard that iconic line.

“Die monster, You don’t belong in this world”

Richter

I’m freaking out, they are doing it! They’re playing the original audio from Rondo of Blood & then we are going to fight Dracula!! So I jump out of my chair & wanted to repeat Dracula’s line he says it, “What is a man-“

But then Dracula says something different.

I’m stunned. Did they get the original voice actors? They sound so perfect…but in fact. Richter is being voiced by SungWon Cho & Dracula is being voiced by Neil Newbon

And Dracula keeps talking, they gave him this goofy writing that fits so perfectly to the point where Dracula is like “I do belong in this world” & shouts excitedly that he is joining Vampire Survivors.

This is one of the coolest thing! I was cheering. I was so happy when this happened. It was one of the most exciting moments in this game.

However, the developers didn’t stop there. The room around us dissolves. And Death shows up. And he’s like, what is this He is annoyed that Dracula decided to join our crew. So we begin fighting Death, but it is not a Death I have seen before. He is chasing me down the castle through a bunch of scythes, but overtime he begins to weaken me. Taking away my items.

He kills me once…twice, but each time, an invisible hand revives me until….the third time, the hand blocks the scythe. The game itself glitches.

I’m in an empty void. I have no items. No healthbar. No XP. Death is still following me.

I begin to start collecting crests? They are meant to represent the director of this game giving me my abilities back. To gain experience. To have health. To upgrade weapons. It was this moment of triumph as we are now fighting back against death.

Death is not going to tear us away. And in this incredible moment as we are fighting through death, a character appears & they just start fighting with me and I start looking around. All the Castlevania characters that I spent 5 – 10 hours to unlock Richter. Have all shown up to help fight against Death.

The characters that you spent so much time not only evolving their weapons and unlocking them. They’re showing up. The characters that you adored in every Castlevania game are showing up in fighting against death.

And before I continue, the best music track, I hear is playing in the background building this hype!

So as I’m getting chills listening to the music, seeing all the Castlevania characters & now EVERY character in Vampire Survivors show up fighting against Death.

My jaw is on the floor. This game is fantastic. This game is addicting. Seeing all of this, the incredible visuals throughout this. The feeling of a finale to this expansion. The humor that they wrote in the story. All of these aspects of making you feel this triumphant as you’re defeating this final boss.

I cannot wait to see what else these developers can do in their next game. Because Ode to Castlevania is one of the most outstanding, incredible, and truly unforgettable finales. To not only the amazingness that is Castlevania, but also the incredible life that Vampire Survivors has had and continues to have.

And this isn’t even over because once you defeat Death. You see the credits. You see people walking along the bottom of the screen. Characters you recognize. Some characters…you don’t??

When did you show up in the game?

The credits continue to roll and you get this amazing visual of the credit sequence. And then we enter this tunnel. This huge, cool visual of this warping tunnel. Music starts to get more & more hype. And then we see Castlevania characters we have never seen in Vampire Survivors using insane abilities and the pinnacle of the song. They bring you to the starting screen. The game automatically presses start & NO JOKE. They unlock 10 more characters, keep in mind, that none of these characters were teased before this moment.

Then as the music explodes & ends…Dracula becomes playable. That’s what I had to talk about Vampire Survivors. It is just absolutely incredible what this freaking game did to not only share the love of Castlevania, but to what I feel is a pretty perfect finale for Vampire Survivors in general. We had a conclusion. We fought against Death with every Vampire Survivors character. It was absolutely incredible. And to have this hype moment where you unlock a bunch of more characters with the music hitting such amazing highs. I’m truly grateful for Vampire Survivors for being absolutely incredible.

And I feel like I was being a little bit disrespectful to the developer Poncle. I didn’t know your game. Thank you so much to Poncle and the team. This is an incredible, incredible game. I didn’t even get to mention that when you unlocked all the new characters, the map opens up even more. It got bigger.

I haven’t even done all the things there is. So to Poncle, I’m so excited. Whether you continue having collabs for Vampire Survivors or whether you are going to make your next game, I am tremendously excited to see what the hell you’re cooking. Because the ending to Ode to Castlevania is one of the highlights of this year. Not just from a Castlevania fan, but just a fan of having awesome, dope, unique things in Vampire Survivors. I played this game for over 50 hours just because I love the repetition of upgrading your weapons, destroying all these enemies, visiting new locations. But to actually have cinematics, a story, an ending, I did not expect any of that. So to Poncle and the rest of the development team there, thank you for making Castlevania truly incredible.