Best Vampire Games

Why it's here: The one I would start with, because it commits to the fantasy rather than decorating with it. Sunlight genuinely kills, the blood meter genuinely governs what you can do next, and the castle you raise between boss hunts is yours to keep. Atmosphere is what Steam and PlayStation Store reviewers praise first, and their honest caveat is that playing alone thins all of it out; the game wants a clan. Rated Teen, on PS Plus Extra, 4.2 from 7,752 ratings. Absolutely worth it if you have people to play it with.

Why it's here: This is the one I send story readers to, and the one whose numbers deserve reading carefully. You play Dr. Jonathan Reid, a physician turned vampire in 1918 London, and every citizen you drain is a named person whose district decays without them. The complaint Steam and PlayStation Store reviewers keep returning to is the combat, clunky from the first fight to the last. Rated Mature, on PS Plus Extra, 3.93 from 20,366 ratings, the lowest rating and the biggest vote count on this page at once. Come for the cast, which is what earns the ending here.

Why it's here: Nothing else on this page is this small, and nothing else holds on this hard. You only steer. Every weapon fires on its own, so a run becomes a slow reading of the space around you while a handful of bats turns into a wall of them. Steam reviewers are fair about the limit: once you know the good builds, the runs start to rhyme. Rated Teen, on PS Plus Premium, 4.86 from 12,923 ratings, second only to the Dominus Collection here. Four can share one couch, which is the version I would pick.

Why it's here: Alucard is the reason to be here: Dracula's own son, turned against his father, moving through a castle that keeps quietly opening into rooms it never promised you. Symphony of the Night is where this whole subgenre got its name, and its music and its mood have outlived almost everything released alongside it. Requiem pairs it with Rondo of Blood, which sets the story up, and does very little else; this is a straight emulation, not a restoration. Rated Teen, not on PS Plus, 4.69 from 12,000 ratings. Come for Symphony and stay for how well it has aged.

Why it's here: Two games whose writing has aged far better than anything else about them. Raziel is executed by the master he served, comes back as a wraith, and shifts between the material and spectral worlds to reshape the map around him. The frustration Steam reviewers name most is navigation: even remastered, this expects you to hold a geography it will not draw for you. Rated Mature, not on PS Plus, 4.69 from 3,800 ratings, the same score as Castlevania Requiem on under a third of the votes. Take it for the voice work and the ending, and keep a map open.

Why it's here: Rayne is a dhampir hunting the siblings who share her cursed blood, and she is more fun to watch than the story around her deserves. The combat is all blade, gun and acrobatic finisher, and ReVamped sharpens the graphics without rebuilding what sits underneath. Steam reviewers keep landing on the camera, which turns against you in exactly the rooms where the platforming needs it most. Rated Mature, not on PS Plus, 4.49 from 536 ratings, one of the three smallest vote counts here. Come to it on its own 2004 terms and there is real pulpy pleasure waiting.

Why it's here: Four games in one box, with the highest rating on this page sitting behind them. Three DS-era Castlevanias arrive alongside a rebuilt Haunted Castle, and the rewind and save states do quiet, generous work on games that were sharpened for a handheld and a bus ride. Steam reviewers single out Order of Ecclesia, which was punishing in 2008 and has not softened since. Rated Teen, not on PS Plus, 4.9 from 1,800 ratings, the best score here on one of its smaller vote counts. Play Dawn of Sorrow first and leave Ecclesia for last.

Why it's here: The only pick that needs a headset, and the one that lives or dies on its atmosphere. Venice at night, canal light on wet stone, and vampire powers standing in where another stealth game would hand you gadgets; the mood is genuinely beautiful and it is most of what you are buying. Steam and PlayStation Store reviewers keep returning to the enemy AI, which fails to notice what it plainly should and takes the tension with it. Rated Mature, not on PS Plus, 4.16 from 649 ratings. For PS VR2 owners, and better on sale.

Why it's here: Where Kain's story actually begins, and the cheapest entry on this page if you already subscribe. A murdered nobleman is raised as a vampire and turned loose on a rotting kingdom, carried by a full voice narration that was rare for 1996. This is the PS1 original running under emulation, with save states and rewind added rather than the art redone. Rated Mature, included with PS Plus Premium, 4.72 from 2,437 ratings. Play it after Soul Reaver rather than before, because knowing where Raziel ends up is what gives Kain's beginning its weight.

Why it's here: If the older games on this page look like homework, this is where I would point you instead. A first-person shooter running on Survivors-like rules, handing you gun after gun until the view ahead is a wall of fire, asking almost nothing of you before it becomes fun. Steam reviewers are consistent that the weapon balance is uneven, with a fair number of unlocks never worth swapping to. Rated Teen, not on PS Plus, 4.6 from 384 ratings, the second-smallest vote count here. A good first purchase, and single player only, so do not plan on sharing it.

Why it's here: For anyone who would rather command vampires than become one. The campaign is the reason to be here: three clans, each with their own story and their own way of holding ground, with a card system running the battles underneath. Steam reviewers are blunt about what followed, which is that the bugs went unfixed and the content stopped arriving, and a strategy game abandoned partway is hard to forgive. Rated Mature, not on PS Plus, 4.02 from 172 ratings, by far the fewest here. Take the campaign for what it is and expect it to end there.