V Rising is an MMO survival crafting game where players become vampire lords over a forlorn land, but one of the game's standout features from the start has been its castle building. While exploration and combat are major components of the game, players will quickly realize that their castle is intricately tied to everything else. Unlike other games, V Rising's castles are living organisms that decay and grow with the player and become such an interesting feature that everything else ultimately becomes part of its system.
Players become immortal vampire lords in V Rising, tasked with nothing more than completely taking over the land. As the player cannot initially travel in the daytime, the castle becomes the priority for any new player and becomes upgraded as the player continues their conquest. To help with this, players need to collect resources and materials to build up their castle with ever more intricate crafting stations and fixtures. What's more is that in a unique twist, the castle is living and must be fed with blood to maintain its integrity.
As so much of the gameplay is dedicated toward building their castle, the building mechanic needed to be on point. Luckily, V Rising's castle building is vast and satisfying, allowing for intricate customization while rewarding thoughtful planning. With such a thorough building system, it is a small wonder that V Rising has exploded in popularity. The castle's role as a living thing serves to drive player action throughout the experience, as it quickly becomes the player's best friend.
Player Progression In V Rising Is Tied To Its Castle Building
V Rising actively encourages its castle-building mechanic by tying everything together. Players get new abilities and options by slaying bosses, which yield both upgrades and crafting recipes. Some of these recipes are upgrades for the player's castle. What's more, these upgrades are intimately tied with the quests the game gives. For example, an early quest forces players to upgrade their castle heart. This requires players to kill a boss to get a formula for a specific crafting station to make the materials for the upgrade. This progression system forces players to create these crafting stations to get even better rewards. Not only does this serve as a loose tutorial for the game itself but also heavily entwines the player to their castle's progression. If the castle suffers, the player will suffer and vice versa. This interplay is key to how V Rising's open-world survival combat will work.
Luckily for V Rising, castle building is consistently engaging and rewarding. The crafting stations work automatically, only requiring raw materials and time to make better reagents for the player to use elsewhere. If the player so chooses, they do not have to engage much with those stations and focus instead on castle customization. On that front, there is plenty to keep players occupied. There are many different floor, wall, and window options, other decorations to choose from, and more to unlock. The only thing to be desired is some amount of verticality, as the current build only allows for flat building. However, for players with more practical sensibilities, thoughtful planning goes a long way. Each crafting station gets bonuses when placed in an isolated room with matching flooring, encouraging players to lay out their stations into a neat little factory.
All in all, there is much to be loved about the castle building in V Rising. The current build is equally rewarding to players whose focus is exploration and those whose styles lean more toward aesthetics and building. All these factors allow players of all styles to build their perfect V Rising base to conduct their wars of conquest. While not perfect, V Rising's castles are indeed a stand-out feature and offer a unique twist on the crafting survival that is very refreshing.