Holocure is the simple fusion of Vtubers and Vampire Survivors sorts of games, both of which appeared almost overnight to become staples in the gaming and streaming spheres. Created primarily by animator Kay Yu, who also worked on other official Hololive projects, the game is a love letter to the streamers and the unending tide of memes, anecdotes, and “lore” spawned by their communities. But as numerous and often baffling as the references are, at the heart of Holocure is a genuinely well-made game that captures exactly what makes the Survivors-like minigenre so compelling.
Like its contemporaries, the gameplay mainly consists of maneuvering your character around the stage while using your weapons to clear the swarms of enemies, then collecting the experience they drop. Leveling up allows you to pick an item or weapon, some of which combine into “collabs” that change how they work dramatically and free up a slot. Stickers can drop from enemies, applying effects to the main weapon ranging from beneficial (like damage over time) to comical (like playing an off-key trombone effect with every attack). One even provides a significant damage boost to the main weapon for every open weapon slot, opening up the option for a main weapon-only playstyle.
Screenshot by Siliconera
The stages themselves are bright and colorful affairs with stage-specific bosses and telegraphed danger zones appearing at regular timed intervals. While most non-boss enemies do little more than walk towards the player, the tempo of the levels, charming chiptune soundtrack, and sheer variety of enemy designs keep it from becoming rote or tedious. Especially when every run is consistently earning you more coins, which can be put towards new characters, items or upgrades.
The upgrade store has your typical suite of health, movement, and damage up, but also has options to unlock or disable specific mechanics to affect the difficulty. Increasing enemy density, restricting the number of weapons you can carry, or locking you to a single health point are all present for those wanting a challenge. But the real draw is the gacha system, which is how you unlock new characters. Sectioned into banners of 3 to 5, with a generous pity currency on each, pulling for a specific character is far less painful than actual, microtransaction-fed gacha systems. Once you get a new character, trying them out will net you even more coins towards new ones.
There are currently 38 characters, each based on the various streamers belonging to the Hololive Vtuber agency. All of them have their own signature weapons, special abilities, and three unique skills. As well as referencing or representing the streamer’s personality, they all encourage particular playstyles or item synergies. One character might have a simple kit based around a gun and some damage buffs, while another might scale their damage from the area size stat or or summon damaging spikes whenever they heal. It’s not just colorful, but adds an impressive degree of variety to the mechanics and encourages finding synergies with other items and weapons.
Screenshot by Siliconera
Then there’s the Holohouse mode added with Update 0.6, which lets players access an alternate map with cooking, farming, and fishing minigames. As well as allowing you to cook food that offers buffs while playing the main game, this area also acts as a timesink for additional coins earned as you buy furniture to customize your room. Various characters can join and leave your little area, dropping fish for you or just milling about. It’s a cute addition and a nice distraction from the main game, while still allowing you to earn coins towards upgrades or characters if you wish.
When reviewing Idol Showdown, another Hololive fangame, I wondered if the sheer density of references would make the game less accessible or even obnoxious to the unfamiliar, and that worry still applies to Holocure. But then, Vampire Survivors itself was a hodgepodge of bootleg Castlevania vibes, jokes intentionally half or mistranslated, and references to anime popular with a certain generation of Italian children, so perhaps it’s a moot point. Just don’t ask what ‘AsaCoco’ is or why it’s shaped like… that.
When Holocure first launched with only 10 characters and one level, it was a promising project to keep an eye on. Now, several updates later, its an easy recommendation even to non-fans because the foundation was solid and the style charming. Beyond the jokes and references, Holocure stands on its own as a great example of the genre, scratching the itches for unlock-hunting and build-crafting that these games do so well. And with regular updates and a passionate fanbase, it could be something really special by the time it reaches 1.0.
Holocure is immediately available for free on PC via Steam and Itch.io.
