Vampire Savior

※This is a repost of an article originally published on Octorber 26, 2023.

　I couldn't think of anything to write, and I'm too sleep-deprived to think straight, so here's a genuinely pointless memory.

　Back in high school, I was obsessed with the PlayStation 2 port of Vampire Savior. While the rest of the world was going crazy over Street Fighter IV, I fell in love with Vampire Savior's fluid sprite animation and its wonderfully dark atmosphere, and spent countless hours playing against my friends.

　I mainly used Rikuo—the fish-man character—and practiced his infamous Bubble Loop. You'd throw out an unblockable bubble, poison the opponent once they got caught, land a combo, knock them down, then throw another bubble so they'd get trapped again the moment they stood up... an absolutely obnoxious loop. Of course, there are plenty of ways to counter it, but if you aren't ready for it, it's genuinely irritating, and getting caught two or three times in a row isn't uncommon.

　After putting one of my friends through the Bubble Loop a few times, he got unusually fired up and said, "Keep doing it until I can counter it perfectly." I actually mained Bulleta (B.B. Hood), so the Bubble Loop was just something I pulled out for fun... But after repeating the exact same sequence dozens of times, I started feeling strangely like a boss in Mega Man. I was attacking with the same handful of patterns over and over, yet they were effective enough that my opponent couldn't quite beat me. I was getting bored myself, but there wasn't much else I could do besides randomly cycling through those few options.

　It made me realize that this must be what it feels like to be the boss in a side-scrolling action game. For once, I wasn't the player figuring out the boss—I was the boss being figured out. Even if the boss has the statistical advantage, it's clearly far more fun to be the protagonist: learning the patterns, mastering the fight, moving freely, and finally bringing the boss down. Around that same time, I was also addicted to What Did I Do to Deserve This, My Lord!? on the PSP. It got me thinking, "Maybe someone should make a game where you're the boss, repeatedly trying to defeat the player-controlled hero." Then I realized the idea probably wouldn't have much room to grow. It would be amusing as a one-off gimmick, but not much beyond that.

　That's the whole story. It's such a thoroughly inconsequential memory that I figured I should write it down at least once. Good night.