REVIEW : Loop Hero (PC)
Announced during the pre-show of the last Game Awards, Loop Hero is aimed directly at fans of the rogue-lite and the big pixel. Combining some deck building elements and a good dose of automation, the latest game published by Devolver has something to delight the undecided in search of an experience to launch between two parts of a larger title. That’s great because it looks like that’s exactly what it was designed for.
An amnesiac hero, a world to rebuild, monsters to slay… The beginnings of this Loop Hero could not be more classic. This is far from problematic because the originality of rogue-lite lies above all in its concept. To rebuild his universe, the knight embodied by the player must collect multiple resources to build a camp and expand it over the runs. He can then spend them in the building of his choice to improve his abilities or unlock the content. So he can increase his number of healing potions, improve his starting equipment, etc.
Concretely, how does a Loop Hero run take place? First, a randomly generated loop is drawn on a checkerboard. On this road stand a few blobs which will be easy to get rid of. Once defeated, these monsters leave behind cards from a selection made before the game begins. These cards are to be placed on the checkerboard and are of various types. Thus, placing a Mountain card increases the hero’s maximum health points while placing a vampire mansion will cause a bloodsucker to appear on the path. It is, therefore, necessary to take into account the terrain and the adjacent squares to constitute an optimal playing area. Decreasing the number of enemies spawns with a lantern or instantly executing them once a certain HP threshold is reached are examples of tiles that can be laid out. The player therefore completely controls the challenge facing him. It is tempting to place as many opponents as possible on the field, as each defeated enemy can offer resources or equipment, but it can be risky. An overly strong group of opponents can end a run very quickly. Our hero, therefore, turns in circles on this course, day after day. Each time the sun rises, a new enemy is generated by the corresponding card. It is rather satisfying to see your avatar get rid of his opponents without lifting a finger, because yes the fights are automatic.
The outcome of the clashes is based on the statistics of our avatar. After having slain monsters, he recovers various equipment filling his inventory. If the latter no longer has empty spaces, the oldest objects are instantly converted into resources. The player can therefore equip themselves with weapons, shields, rings, tomes of magic, etc. A great classic for anyone who has ever heard of a Heroic Fantasy work. All this equipment directly impacts the character’s statistics and allows him to gain attack speed, damage or resistance. This base is simple, but the pixel art animations, the different classes and the increasing number of enemies manage to make the clashes fun to follow. Also, the digital audio effects have a very pleasant retro texture.
RECOMMENDED SHORT SESSIONS
The rogue-lite component wants the trials to become more and more successful. However, if the player fears death in the next encounter, he can return to his camp keeping 60% of his loot with him. If he is killed, this rate will be reduced to 30%. More experienced and better equipped, the player progresses with each run. By taking long enough, he will be able to face the chapter boss who will ask him to have composed his build with intelligence. By moving on to the next chapter, the difficulty goes up a notch and to reach the next boss, the hero can choose a class among those he has unlocked. The thief can therefore inflict critical hits while the necromancer fights by skeleton interposed. We regret that the whole does not always seem very well balanced as the latter seems much more efficient than his colleagues. It is also a pity that these classes take some time to become available. It took us 8 hours to unlock the necromancer and in the meantime, several runs seemed too redundant.
This repetitiveness is due to the fact that improving the camp and unlocking content seemed too slow for us. So a few grind sessions are necessary to make the parties more involved, which is not always exciting because of the uninspiring beginnings of the game. However, this grievance largely eases in shorter sessions than those performed for this test. We recommend Loop Hero much more easily for games of around 30 minutes rather than for a grind of several hours. It can therefore be a great lunch break companion or a great experience to keep out of the corner of your eye during a dragging video conference.
