A lot of Stranger Things viewers weren't happy with the hit show's series finale, and I get that. But El, Vecna, and Friends Dead By Daylight DLC is the real freakin' deal. DBD's second collaboration with Netflix's smash went live today, adding Eleven and Dustin as survivors and the big bad himself, Vecna, as the newest killer.
The First uses his psychic powers and connection to the Upside Down to pursue survivors. His Vine Attack and Undergate Attack place Worldbreaker Tokens on survivors. When they get enough tokens, all four survivors are transported to the Upside Down.
Survivors can use Grandfather Clocks to reduce the timer on the Worldbreaker curse. When you do this, there's a neat animation of you wearing headphones and listening to music, just as Max did to escape Vecna's curse the first time. A song that is "Totally Not Running Up That Hill For Copyright Reasons" plays while you're doing this.
The loop is similar to Freddy Krueger and his alarm clocks, which keep players floating back and forth between the dream world and the real world. Vecna's ranged attacks make him stronger than Freddy was at launch, however. Once Vecna players learn to lead their Vine Attack shots, their reach becomes insane. Combine this with his ability to teleport through the Upside Down, and you get some wildly fun chases. I've had several today.
Admittedly, all new killers seem OP until we figure out counters. But Vecna so far feels like a case of DBD learning from some of its past mistakes and building on them. As I mentioned, there's a lot of Freddy in Vecna's DNA but I think Vecna will land in a stronger position than Freddy did. Even after a couple of reworks, I just don't encounter very many Freddys.