Having seen and played so many games that have thrown their lot into the auto-fire action game space, most clearly trying to compete with Vampire Survivors, it’s been hard not to feel a bit sorry for the rest of the pack. While a few have gotten much closer to capturing the same mix of intensity and fun that Survivors feels like it exudes almost effortlessly, most haven’t even scratched the surface. Who knew that when I loaded up Keeper’s Toll that I’d find something a bit different though, a title that may have some general similarities but then also more clearly has its own ideas as well.

What really sets this title apart is tied to its class system, offering up a handful of core types who each feel more distinctive than you’ll typically find in games of this type. While the difference in play isn’t quite as dramatic as this statement could imply, on a general level this made the game feel more like a mix of Vampire Survivors and Diablo to me. While each character in Vampire Survivors has their own starting weapon and an attribute or two in their favor, pretty much everything else you’ll be working with is common to everyone. Here, you’ll be choosing your core weapon, but many of the upgrades you’ll have to choose from as you level up will also be class-specific, making runs with different classes feel much more distinctive. In addition, you’re encouraged to stick with your class since you’ll get currency from your runs that can be used specifically to give them upgrades. Perhaps this isn’t a massive distinction from the norm, but it does help the experience feel more varied if you give every class a shot.

All that said, not everything about the gameplay is necessarily ideal. Whether it’s the quality of the characters, the smoothness of some of the animations, or the performance of the game as the screen gets more crowded, in general Keeper’s Toll is more rough around the edges. It consistently remains playable, but the action can be tough to follow in spots depending on what skills you’ve chosen. I was also disappointed not to see some sort of equivalent that captured the fun and unpredictability of Vampire Survivors’ chests, which are sometimes incredible for their ability to turn around what could have been a thoroughly broken run to that point. That remains a feature pretty well nobody else has had a great answer for, and yet I’d consider it to be one of that game’s greatest assets, so that’s a shame.

So what you end up with is a pretty worthy competitor to the general spirit of Vampire Survivors that has taken its own course, and works, but just feels like it could use some further work and optimizing. The essence of fun is there, now just a few more pieces need to get into place for it to go to the next level. If you’re more inclined to enjoy titles with more of an RPG-like focus on honoring distinct styles of class-based play though, you may find this preferable to the more generalist approach of Vampire Survivors and some others.