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Loot Riverstarts off with a rush , zipping around on speedy platforms through gritty pixelated waterlogged dungeons , but that excitement is quickly muted . The new action - roguelite by Slovakian studio apartment Straka , with distribution help by the common people behindmighty boring - molybdenum FPSSUPERHOT , sparked prompt appeal in its initial trailers and trailer , combiningTetriswith dungeon - crawling . It ’s a tantalizing elevator pitch , but the ruined product is tetchy , round the bend , ungainly , and sorely miss in message , souring its fetching presentment and electric potential .
There ’s actually no line - glade gameplay whatsoever , soLoot River’sTetrisinspirations are concentrated on canonical movement mechanics alone . Playing as a tiny doom Souls - ian adventurer from a top - down view , histrion move through each level on disconnected floating shapes . A flick of the correct analog joystick shunts any while underfoot towards cardinal directions , so navigate through each dungeon routinely offers quick patches of spatial reasoning . That ’s the prospicient and short of it , and the resultant gameplay feel gimmicky and rarely like a to the full integrated game auto-mechanic .
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Hence , the real meat of the game lies in its armed combat , and here ’s whereLoot Rivermeaningfully falters . Patterned afterSoulsBorne games likeElden Ring , each weapon system has a alone windup animation and time parries provide for unassailable closer - style flourishes . It ’s a recognisable organization that should work all on its own , but the secret plan ’s paltry bestiary and inadequate fight feedback compromise this promise . foe attempt shifting and stutter , throwing off practiced timing and cable moves when they ’re not just getting stuck on platform boundary or glitching into unbeatable foe . Certain enemies joyously stunlock players with elemental spell - lightning in special feel all broken - and getting stuck in parry / finisher animations result to gob of unexpected harm in crowds . The stratagem roll ( a key cock in many comparable roguelites ) is particularly awful , quick and perplexing , though sure items change how it go for the better .
These eccentric of yield operate from the top - down inLoot Riverand forever interrupt submersion . Hurtboxes and hitboxes are discrepant , and the player will invariably receive surprisal damage at distance when they ’re not stuck in recession or scene . Beyond that , some items do n’t even function as name ; an unlockable mutator / modifier gene states that it reduce foeman turkey damage , the trade-off being that now enemy are n’t being suffer by bombs . A curious callout , count that enemiesalreadyaren’t damaged by bombs at all in the biz ( the bomb throwers are a fun verbatim book of facts to those in2018 ’s roguelite classicDead Cells , though ) . Enemy health bars are commonly mystifying ( the last 5 wellness points or so are usually unseeable ) and all opposition have only one to two attacks at most . The fine animation looks great in motion but does n’t wait on the gameplay or the sulky attack of the principal character ( at least sure weapons open fire - canceling ) .
Loot River ’s levels are also enormous , yet lack the good manners of a teleport map , a common utility program to offset unneeded backtracking . Miss an in the first place fork path and want to doublecheck that nothing was miss ? Be prepared for minutes - long return journey down empty river in promise that this diversion is worth it . trigger a fire trap on the way back can limit a chopine aflare , which will then need to be look out to go on . It ’s an interesting trap construct , but fervidness can often glitch and never stop over burning ; if this represents the only passage back down a exceptional hallway , the thespian will have to just eat on some wrong to move forward .
There are n’t enough good pick - ups , but stock-taking space is also limited . Two armour slots , two weapon slots , and three trinket one-armed bandit are all that ’s available on each political campaign , and a slow - to - unlock armory understand to retell token drops or , more often , item not worth nibble up at all . In any given run , the hope is to find at least one or two viable bit of equipment , andLoot Riverdoesn’t have a vast reach of unpredictable OP synergies to discover . gestate to leave levels behind cut through in useless duplicates and undesirables .
It ’s inauspicious thatLoot Riverfeels like an Early Access product in its current commonwealth . A scarcity of content and a thoroughly unfinished , unsatisfying experience to the combat , movement , and item discovery cause this championship very hard to recommend . The best action - roguelitesrequire tilt - whole fundamentals to stand on their own , and a few biz - breaking bugs combine with the limited equipment and incorrect point descriptors is drive for concern . Its scant bosses range from easily exploitable to insta - kills , and a profoundly unsatisfying marrow gameplay loop essentially take players to take on a serial of give way streak , with repetition runs betraying how little the secret plan ’s procedural generation affects these randomized maps . Loot Riveris a thwarting experience which clearly needed more developing time , but hopefully the secret plan finds its footing post - launching .
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Loot Riveris out now on PC / Steam . A digital microcomputer codification was provided toScreen Rantfor the purpose of this review .
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