I finally played Megabonk, a... sigh... "Vampire-Survivors-like"[1] in glorious 3D. I played Vampire Survivors when it was newish and there was a ton of hype around it. I distinctly remember thinking how interesting the concept was, how clever the idea was, and how difficult it must be to balance a game design like that. But what I was most struck by was how utterly forgettable it was to me.[2] For the first couple of days I was playing it on my steam deck (the ideal way to play these kind of games) as often as I could. Then I didn't play it for a few days and almost didn't realize it. Repeat that loop a few times with the didn't-play part getting exponentially longer each time and before I knew it I was no longer playing Vampire Survivors. Fast forward four years and I'm hearing an awful lot about this 'Megabonk' game and how super fun and addictive it is. Eventually I gave in to my curiosity and the imagined peer pressure and looked it up. "Overwhelmingly positive reviews," eh? "Improves on the Vampire Survivors formula dramatically," hmm? "On sale for $5," is it? Well, I guess I can give it a try! I distinctly remember thinking how well the game translated to 3D, how good the execution was, and how difficult it must still be to balance game design like this. But what I was most struck by was how utterly forgettable it was to me. [2:1] For the first couple of days I was playing it on my steam deck (the ideal way to play these kind of games) as often as I could. Then I didn't play it for a few days and almost didn't realize it. Repeat that loop a few times with the didn't-play part getting exponentially longer each time and before I knew it I was no longer playing Vampire Survivors Megabonk. I can't say I dislike bullet heaven games because I enjoy them while I'm playing them. I just feel virtually no draw to keep playing them. I don't know that this is such a bad thing. Maybe it is a sign I don't have a gambler's addictive personality. Or maybe in another few years I'll spend another few dollars and try another game and maybe, just maybe, that'll be the one that sticks. If I don't forget. "Bullet heaven" is such a better genre name I cannot believe there is even a debate. The audacity to elevate a title to the likes of "Metroidvania" or "Doom clone"! ↩︎ Emphasis on the ME in that sentence. I'm not judging anyone who loves these games. ↩︎ ↩︎