HoloCure – Save The Fans!
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''HoloCure – Save the Fans!'' is a 2022
roguelike Roguelike (or rogue-like) is a style of role-playing game traditionally characterized by a dungeon crawl through procedurally generated levels, turn-based gameplay, grid-based movement, and permanent death of the player character. Most ro ...
shoot 'em up Shoot 'em ups (also known as shmups or STGs) are a Video game genre, subgenre of action games. There is no consensus as to which design elements compose a shoot 'em up; some restrict the definition to games featuring spacecraft and certain typ ...
video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...
developed by Kay Yu. It is a
freeware Freeware is software, often proprietary, that is distributed at no monetary cost to the end user. There is no agreed-upon set of rights, license, or EULA that defines ''freeware'' unambiguously; every publisher defines its own rules for the free ...
fan game A fan game is a video game that is created by fans of a certain topic or IP. They are usually based on one, or in some cases several, video game entries or franchises. Many fan games attempt to clone or remake the original game's design, game ...
featuring
VTuber A or is an online entertainer who uses a virtual Avatar (computing), avatar generated using computer graphics. Real-time motion capture software or technology are often—but not always—used to capture movement. The digital trend originated i ...
s from
Hololive Production (; stylized in lowercase) is a virtual YouTuber agency owned by Japanese tech entertainment company Cover Corporation. In addition to acting as a multi-channel network, Hololive Production also handles licensing, merchandising, music product ...
with gameplay inspired by '' Vampire Survivors'' and ''Magic Survival''. It was originally released on itch.io in 2022 and then on
Steam Steam is water vapor, often mixed with air or an aerosol of liquid water droplets. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization. Saturated or superheated steam is inv ...
in 2023 with permission from Hololive's parent company Cover Corporation. The game receives regular updates, adding new playable characters and gameplay content.


Gameplay

In ''HoloCure'', the player controls a character who must fight off waves of increasingly powerful enemies. The game is played from the top-down perspective with the player able to move in any direction. The player character will automatically attack nearby enemies, although the player can manually choose what direction to attack in. The player collects money and experience points from defeated enemies, which can be used to level up. Each time the player levels up they can select 1 of 4 random weapons, items, or skills to upgrade their character. The same item can be selected multiple times to upgrade it. Certain weapons can be combined when fully upgraded to create a more powerful weapon called a "collab." If the player meets certain requirements, some collab items can be further combined into a "super collab." To win, the player must survive for 20 minutes and defeat the final
boss Boss may refer to: Occupations * Supervisor, often referred to as boss * Air boss, more formally, air officer, the person in charge of aircraft operations on an aircraft carrier * Crime boss, the head of a criminal organization * Fire boss, ...
of each stage. Completing a stage will unlock additional stages of increasing difficulty, as well as alternate game modes, such as endless mode where the player survives as long as possible to earn a
high score In video games, score refers to an abstract quantity associated with a player or team. Score is usually measured in the abstract unit of points, and events in the game can raise or lower the score of different parties. Most games with score ...
. Each character has a starting weapon, special move, and 3 passive skills unique to that character. Players unlock new characters through a gacha system, but unlike other gacha games, players cannot spend real money; the game is completely free. Receiving multiple copies of the same character upgrades that character's stats. There is also a "fandom" system where characters earn experience and level up based on how many copies of that character the player has, and how many stages that character has beaten. In addition to upgrading individual characters, the player can also purchase general upgrades that increase the stats of all characters. The game also has an alternate game mode called "Holo House", a farm life sim mode. In Holo House, the player can catch fish, grow crops, raise pets, and decorate their house. The Holo House also contains several minigames, such as the fishing rhythm game, the Tower of Suffering(Holocure's version of Jump King), and a bunch of gambling minigames in the Usada Casino. These activities earn the player money which they can either reinvest into their house, or spend in the main game. Characters the player has unlocked in the main game will also visit their house, and sometimes assist them with fishing and farming.


Characters

''HoloCure'' has 47 playable characters with new characters being added in updates over time. * Airani Iofifteen * Akai Haato * Aki Rosenthal * Anya Melfissa * Amane Kanata * Ayunda Risu * AZKi * Ceres Fauna *
Gawr Gura is a retired virtual YouTuber who was affiliated with Hololive Production, Hololive English. She was a member of Hololive English – Myth (stylized as HoloMyth), alongside , Mori Calliope, , and Amelia Watson (streamer), Amelia Watson. She deb ...
* Hakos Baelz * Himemori Luna *
Hoshimachi Suisei is a Japanese singer and virtual YouTuber. She began posting videos as an independent creator in March 2018. In May 2019, she became affiliated with Hololive Production through their newly created music label, INoNaKa Music, before joining the ...
* Houshou Marine * Inugami Korone * IRyS * Kaela Kovalskia * Kiryu Coco * Kobo Kanaeru * Kureiji Ollie * Minato Aqua * Moona Hoshinova * Mori Calliope * Murasaki Shion * Nakiri Ayame * Nanashi Mumei * Natsuiro Matsuri * Nekomata Okayu * Ninomae Ina'nis * Ookami Mio * Oozora Subaru * Ouro Kronii * Pavolia Reine * Roboco-san * Sakura Miko * Shirakami Fubuki * Shiranui Flare * Shirogane Noel * Takanashi Kiara * Tokino Sora * Tokoyami Towa * Tsukumo Sana * Tsunomaki Watame * Usada Pekora * Vestia Zeta * Watson Amelia * Yozora Mel * Yuzuki Choco


Development

''HoloCure'' was developed in
GameMaker GameMaker (originally Animo, Game Maker (until 2011) and GameMaker Studio) is a series of cross-platform game engines created by Mark Overmars in 1999 and developed by YoYo Games since 2007. The latest iteration of ''GameMaker'' was released ...
. Before making ''HoloCure'', Kay Yu previously worked as the lead animator of ''
River City Girls ''River City Girls'' is a 2019 beat 'em up video game developed by WayForward and published by Arc System Works. A spin-off in the ''Kunio-kun'' franchise, the game stars Misako and Kyoko (originally appearing in ''Nintendo World Cup, Nekketsu Hi ...
'' and an animator for several TV
anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...
. The game originally launched in 2022 on itch.io and was downloaded 50,000 times on the first day. This exceeded the developer's expectations, forcing them to temporarily disable the game's online leaderboards due to the server being overloaded. In 2023 Yu received permission from Hololive's parent company Cover Corporation to release ''HoloCure'' on Steam as a non-commercial fan game. Players who previously downloaded the itch.io version were able to transfer their save files to the Steam version. Yu estimated he developed 75% of ''HoloCure'' on his own, hiring outside help for translations and additional artwork. Yu stated that he wasn't interested in monetizing ''Holocure'' and that he earned enough working as an animator to fund the game's low development costs. He went on to say, "As long as I can continue living comfortably, have time to work on this game, and people are enjoying the game, that's all that matters to me."


Release

The first public build of ''HoloCure'' was released on June 23, 2022, on itch.io. It included all 11 (at the time) English VTubers from Hololive. Its first major update was released on September 9, 2022, adding Japanese VTubers from Hololive Generation 0 and Hololive Gamers. In February 2023, another update was released adding members from Hololive generations 1 and 2 from Japan. On August 16, 2023, the game was released on Steam, along with an update adding all 9 members of Hololive Indonesia. Update 0.7 was released in November 2024, adding Japanese members from Hololive generations 3 and 4.


Reception

Austin Wood of '' Games Radar'' described ''HoloCure'' as "The best ''Vampire Survivors'' imitator" commenting that "It doesn't matter if you like Hololive or vtubers at all; this is just a genuinely great action game that can go toe-to-toe with the hit that inspired it." Wood also noted the game received "glowing" reviews from audiences, gaining 99% positive user ratings, and 45,000 concurrent players when it released on Steam. Ed Thorn from ''
Rock Paper Shotgun ''Rock Paper Shotgun'' is a British video game journalism website. It was launched in July 2007 to focus on PC game, PC games and was acquired by Gamer Network, a network of sites led by ''Eurogamer'', in May 2017. History ''Rock Paper S ...
'' discussed ''HoloCure'' saying "I am taken aback by how good it is," and compared it to ''Vampire Survivors'' noting that "''HoloCure'' is a much slower burn when it comes to fulfilling the power fantasy, and the interplay of its many menus and investment pots might be a bit much for some." On November 15, 2023, Cover unveiled their own publishing label for fangames named Holo Indie to better support fangame creators. Cover staff cited ''HoloCure'' and '' Idol Showdown'' as their direct inspiration for the establishment of the Holo Indie brand. Kay Yu told Cover that he preferred to keep HoloCure independent, but chose to publish his next game ''Holo X Break'' under Holo Indie.


Accolades


References


External links


HoloCure on itch.io

HoloCure on Steam
{{Hololive Production 2022 video games Fan games Freeware games Indie games Roguelike video games Shoot 'em ups Single-player video games Vampire Survivors–likes Windows games Windows-only games