"Vampire Survivors" now has a second DLC, "Tides of the Foscari" (opens in new tab), which, like the first "Legacy of the Moonspell", includes characters, maps, items, and secrets from the best roguelike game of 2022 Added. The starting map, Lake Foscari, didn't catch fire right away, but it was the continuing secrets and unlocks that are the hallmark of Vampire Survivor that really won me over.

I missed Moonspell the first time around, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect when I broke the long blanks from Vampire Survivor and loaded into Foscari. If I have one complaint about the whole package, it is that this major new map needed a little more visual flair. The layout is great, with more clearly defined landmarks (including a cheeky hedge maze) than many of the stages in the base game, but while December's "Mt. Moonspell" was reminiscent of a snow-covered Japanese village, the look of "Foscari," "Mad Forest," "Il Molise," and "Green Acres" too reminiscent of vanilla levels.

[Light spoilers regarding the unlockable elements of the DLC]

I have yet to reach the second map, "Foscari Abyss," but its name has already piqued my interest. The interplay of these cascading secrets is the best part of the game, and I look forward to seeing the team continue to implement the winding little secret levels and bosses that made the main game so exciting. I think the DLC for "Vampire Survivors" will continue to surprise and delight as it continues to be released.

The new characters also take me out of the comfort zone I have grown accustomed to in Vampire Survivors. The initial unlockable character, Eleanor Usilon, is fun. She has a total of three spell attacks, one for each of the ten levels, which is powerful enough on its own, but can be elevated to a super-powerful endgame singular ability. But the real attraction for me was in the second new character: the Marufuji cut.

He has a sword that is a replica of Classico's Guts. The sword is mechanically interesting, providing a variation on the whip attack of the main game's lateral cleave, as well as the ability to fight back when damaged. Striking the sword produces a supremely satisfying, large AoE that leaves a superficial, spiderweb-like crack in the ground; Maruto is really into the fantasy of the fleshy greatsword warrior, and I had fun building him and playing him differently from the spellcasters I often use!

Creator and lead developer Luca Galante gave some detailed patch notes (open in new tab) on what players can expect from the new DLC and the team's philosophy in creating Vampire Survivors with these $2 content packs Stated: "In terms of business decisions, what we do is largely driven by player feedback and what we ourselves as players want to see. Personally, I think it's great to be able to charge a small amount of money to get more straightforward content for a game I'm really into (I used to literally dream of spending 5 euros to buy a disc with one extra Valkyrie Profile stage on it)."

"As I announced a while ago, I will only end VS in earnest when I, or you, get tired of it," Galante concluded.

I am definitely not tired of it yet. Foscari's secrets and sense of discovery is what really gets me excited about the future of Vampire Survivors. Lake Foscari is a well-designed map, and with a more impressive tileset, it could have been a chilling masterpiece. Meanwhile, the new characters have already awakened me from my Arca Ladonna (open in new tab) type stupor. I hope Ponkle continues to lean toward the strange, the obscure, and the surprising as the team builds on this winning formula.