

It’s refreshing to play a roguelike that isn't out to crush me. Building your deck of terrain cards alone requires some theory-crafting and you’ll live and die by wisely picking gear between battles. That’s not to suggest it doesn’t take any skill. Winning in Loop Hero feels like an inevitability, not a miracle. Loop Hero’s hands-off design makes it hard to completely screw yourself over. The high stakes created by permadeath in roguelikes have a way of freezing me in place and deleting all of the mechanical skill I usually have. I’m not proud to admit that I choke in high pressure situations. There’s also a Necromancer class that apparently starts out vulnerable and ramps up with an energy shield over time. Slaying enemies earns a “trophy” that only turns into loot after passing through the campfire once per loop. The Rogue introduces dual-wielding and critical hit chance while also remixing looting itself. I’m floored by how fundamentally Loop Hero changes from class-to-class.
Loop hero gog upgrade#
I’ve barely penetrated the camp’s expansive upgrade tree and I’ve already unlocked talents, potions, and a new playable class. But that’s alright, because I got closer than ever before and see a clear path to kill him if I have better gear next time.Īlmost everything you do also generates supplies used to expand base camp and unlock dramatic upgrades that carry into your next run. The jerk slapped my sorry ass back to base camp. With my vampirism and regen so high that no monster could scratch my hero, I was convinced that the Lich’s head would finally be mine. That’s how I felt the last time I faced the game’s first boss, The Lich.

The game isn’t afraid to make you feel overpowered. And when it’s finally just right, it’s like you’ve gotten away with a delicious crime. Like slow-cooking a huge pot of stew, Loop Hero is all about tossing in new ingredients to see how the flavor changes. Its interactions couldn’t be much more passive for a videogame (it’s a great one-handed game), but the progression of a single run is mesmerizing. Loop Hero’s biggest strength is how it layers on complexity without ever overcomplicating itself. With the basic Warrior class, I’ve had my best runs slotting in gear that boosts health regen and attack speed, but I’m eager to dig deeper into evasion and counterattacks, something the Rogue excels at. Weapons and armor can be swapped around at any time. You can’t directly control combat, but you do manage the hero’s loadout. Placing two Battlefield tiles on either side of a loop tile, for instance, spreads the effect to more tiles and spawns a unique enemy that drops high-tier loot.

Even better, a 3x3 block of rocks and mountains creates a mountain peak that grants a major health boost and starts spawning harpies on the map.ĭescriptions on tile cards often allude to the ways they can combo with other cards, but I’m constantly discovering others that Loop Hero doesn’t spell out. This isn't just decoration: Tiles can boost the hero’s stats, spawn enemies, and even accelerate time, and you’re rewarded for assembling them in certain secret patterns on the map.įor instance, the HP boost of rock tiles stack with every adjacent rock or mountain around it. The player takes on a godlike role, taking the spoils of the hero’s battles in the form of terrain cards, armor, and weapons.īetween battles, you can pause the action and spend terrain cards to beautify the black void surrounding the loop with meadows, mountains, and villages. The year is still young, but it’s my favorite game of 2021 so far.Īs the name suggests, Loop Hero is about a hero who automatically and continuously walks in a loop, slaying monsters along the path. It's also friendlier than other roguelikes, such as Spelunky 2 with its ruthless platforming, and doesn't frustrate. It takes direct control of its hero away, but still expertly strums the pleasure center of my brain with every looted corpse. Loop Hero sits at an intersection between traditional roguelike, autobattler, deckbuilder, and match-3 puzzle game. The game released for Microsoft Windows, MacOS, and Linux on March 4, 2021. The game takes place in a randomly generated world where the player changes the world by placing cards instead of directly controlling a character. Game Review Loop Hero is a 2021 endless RPG developed by Russian studio Four Quarters and published by Devolver Digital.
