Vampire Survivors wasn’t the first to attempt the ‘bullet heaven’ style of high-speed roguelike survival games, but it certainly became the most prominent. One of its strongest contenders, however, is Holocure Save the Fans, a free Steam game created by Kay ‘KayAnimate’ Yu as a fan project based on the Hololive vtuber agency. An extremely well put-together project that adapts the roguelike format to the universe of anime-avatar YouTube streamers, it’s already racked up an incredible 99% Steam user rating from almost 32,000 reviews. Now, as a huge update lands, players are flooding back to play it en masse.
If you aren’t already familiar with Holocure, the general mechanics are similar to Vampire Survivors – collect a variety of weapons that attack nearby enemies in various flashy ways, dodge the incoming hordes as you clear them out, and upgrade your loadout with additional pickups to help you continue to survive as long as possible. It’s so good that as a free Steam game it’s well worth taking a look at even if you aren’t familiar with the world of Hololive.
Holocure update 0.7 has just launched, and it’s a big one. It introduces nine characters from the third and fourth generations of the Japanese-speaking branch of Hololive, bringing the total to an impressive 47 playable choices, as well as a redesign for one of the founding Hololive members, AZKi. There’s also a new beach-themed stage along with a hard mode variant of the fourth level, new weapons and items to discover, and a casino area filled with minigames.
If you are already in the Hololive rabbit hole, then you’ll be pleased by the new additions to the roster. Pekora will likely be a favorite – the blue-haired bunny has been a regular feature among the most-watched YouTube Gaming streamers on many occasions. But there are plenty more to choose from, with pirate captain Houshou Marine and the now-retired but hugely influential Kiryu Coco among the other highlights.
The response has been rapid and impressive, spurred on by some of the game’s featured streamers already jumping in to check out the new update. The Steam player count, which has hovered around 1,000 simultaneous users throughout 2024, has leapt up to a staggering 24,405 concurrent players, and it’s still rising. Time will tell if it’s able to top the launch high it achieved of 46,155 active users, but with the weekend ahead anything could happen.
Holocure Save the Fans update 0.7 is out now. You can play the game for free on Steam. With no entry price, if you’re looking to scratch that Vampire Survivors itch, this is certainly one to consider downloading and checking out.
Alternatively, we’ve rounded up the best roguelikes for all your run-based needs. Or take the plunge into the best anime games, if you dare.
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