Why You Should Play HoloCure: Save The Fans!

You’ve probably heard of Hololive before. Whether you love VTubers or hate them, you can’t deny how popular the entire agency is, from the talents that stream daily to the CEO, who many declared as the “best girl”, so it was inevitable that some would start making fan games based on them. But who knew how big some of them would get? So let’s talk about the one that is leaving many streamers addicted to it, including those part of the agency that it was made for.

Primarily based on Vampire Survivors, HoloCure: Save The Fans! (shortened to HoloCure) is a roguelite where the fans have gone crazy, and it's up to the various idols (er, well, entertainers… or comedians) of the Hololive VTuber agency to save them. Developed by a team of fans, most notably the chief of development Kay Yu, whose work you may have seen in River City Girls, HoloCure was initially available on itch.io on the 24th of June 2022 before being moved to Steam on the 16th of August 2023.

In HoloCure, the goal of each stage (outside of Endless Mode) is simple: survive for around 20 minutes and then beat the boss in the end. You’ll need to level up and get stronger by obtaining weapons and items in order to survive the waves. With certain items, you can “collab” and gain unique and powerful weapon fusions that make surviving a little easier. It all sounds pretty familiar, right? Well, there are some unique additions that separate it from Vampire Survivors. Each character has their own special attack that can help clear the screen, and the maps feature unique bosses that can turn the game into more of a traditional bullet hell. It’s all so much fun, but you might need a wiki because there are a lot of hidden mechanics that rely on stuff that does not feature in the game… mostly memes.

You might not get most of the in-jokes, references, and memes associated with Hololive, and some weapons and items — such as the Cutting Board — rely on that knowledge, but it isn’t all that necessary. I mean, why question why a zombie can cast ninjutsu, or why a dog girl really likes taking fingers, or the very existence of Spider-chama? It’s a lot funnier if you get it, but you don’t need to even be a casual Hololive fan to even get into this game. Heck, I even know people who have gotten into Hololive because of the game. Vampire Survivors was already addicting, so it’s no surprise people fall into the rabbit hole, too.

I admit, though, there are some annoying bits to the game, but I do kind of get it. Yeah, needing to rely on gacha to unlock characters is a little bothersome, but with some grinding (I thoroughly encourage using Reine, IRyS, and Risu to get a lot of coins fast), you can unlock everything. Plus, I’m pretty sure it was made to feed into many of the talents' gacha addictions. There are also some really tough achievements and unlocks, such as getting 500 max HP or unlocking Candy Kingdom Sweets by surviving a run without character skills and taking no damage at all. Only the most dedicated of completionists will have the time and determination to do such a thing… or Kaela Kovalskia.

Oh, I almost forgot one of the new additions with the Steam release: HoloHouse. That’s right, it also has farming, fishing, cooking, house decoration (with intentionally unsatisfying alignments, curse you), and even a casino in the works. You could literally lose hours not playing the main game and just fish to your heart’s content. Seriously, there’s so much content here, and there’s still a ton to be added. Hololive has over 80 active and retired talents, each with their own unique personalities and references to draw inspiration from, and they will debut new members in the future. I eagerly await when a certain dragon is dropped.

And, to remind everyone, this is completely free. It’s a fan game passion project, and the main developer makes money elsewhere, so anything added to the game, like new characters and maps, are just in free updates. There is literally no reason not to get it and feel like you’ve more than got your money’s worth, and HoloCure isn’t even fully complete yet! It’s in version 0.6, and it already feels like a complete game.

Hololive is only getting bigger and hopefully will remain the powerhouse it is in years to come, and with it will be fans who are willing to put in the work to show their love in various ways, through fan art and clips to fan games and fan films. So, I thank both talents and fans alike for making life that little bit more fun. I’m looking forward to the continued development of HoloCure, and you should too.