Vampire Survivors Castlevania DLC

WE ARE SO BACK

Can you believe it guys? Joachim content in the year of our lord 2024. I feel like I've been blessed by a minor deity. I'm definitely late to make this page, but better late than never. I cannot even begin to describe how ecstatic I was when I learned he was in the game. Below will be some facts and actual information about his inclusion in the game, and then further down will be my unhinged screaming about how happy I am he's real and acknowledged in this game!!

On October 31st of 2024, Vampire Survivors developed and published by Poncle released a DLC entirely centered around the Castlevania games. The titular Ode To Castlevania DLC boasts an impressive roster of characters, weapons, a new stage, and 91 music tracks to add to quite the heavy roster. But, seeing as you're here, you're probably only interested in Joachim Armster.

Joachim is one of the secret characters in the DLC. His unlock is pretty vague in its writing, but straightforward enough in practice. The game hint tells you "Rewrite the fate of the damnsel in distress." and what this really means is that you need to fight Joachim Armster as Sara Trantoul in the Crystal Cave right room. If you'd rather use cheat codes, his is "cantholdthemall." His starting weapon is the Rune Sword.

His passive bonuses are crazy. He starts with +1 Armor, +20% Movement, +100% Greed, is immune to health drain, AND can choose a per-level bonus of either Might, Area, Speed, Duration, Recovery, Growth, Luck, Greed, Curse, or Move Speed. He's a great character if you want to tank everything.

OH MY GOD. OH MY GOD JOACHIM ARMSTER IS REAL IN THE YEAR 2024. OH MY FUCKING GOD. I was really hesitant when the DLC came out because they were boasting an impressive roster, but I wasn't really expecting much for Me you know? Much as I love Lament of Innocence, I wouldn't describe it as a popular Castlevania title. Imagine my fucking surprise when I learned that not only is Leon Belmont playable, but so is Walter, Sara, Joachim, and fucking Rinaldo. Sometimes I'm living in a good timeline.

To be more serious about things, this was genuinely a really nice surprise. I appreciate that he's given a sword that just flies around. Part of me wishes that he was given a sword to upgrade so that eventually you'd get all 5 or whatever flying around, but that would probably be crazy busted, so I'm not too upset. His sprite looks absolutely darling. A couple choices have really intrigued me though. I find it interesting that Sara is the one to defeat him to unlock him... I would have honestly expected Walter or something. It's always interesting to see when the parallels between Sara and Joachim get drawn, and I may have to write a proper disertation about that sometime. The only other thing that has had me confused is... the track he's given? Why Baljhet Mountains. Like I won't say it doesn't fit, but I am... baffled. It's a Curse of Darkness track... but I'm just not sure how it connects to Joachim. If I come up with something, expect an update.