Billed as a cross between Soulslikes and Tetris, Loot River offers an intriguing mix of styles. Every moment swings between skillful puzzle solving and smooth action. Players will continuously die in the dark atmospheres of Loot River, with each death returning you to the square. However, the thrilling gameplay and rippled pixel art make it hard to resist again.
I started on a raft; a pitiful mattress and trash were scattered all around me. I know I’m in Sunken Village, a dingy-looking place with rotting wooden floors floating over murky waters, but not elsewhere. The confusing tone and story screams Dark Souls, especially when I find a note: “This is not a kingdom; it’s a grave. “
Going from place to place, regardless of level, requires me to move around multi-shaped platforms with the right joystick while controlling my character with the left. Navigating through narrow corridors and cramped arenas kept me constantly switching from one shape to another just to find my way through. I was worried this might be unwieldy, but after a few moments of adjusting with the controls, it feels instinctive and offers a sense of success beyond combat. The waves of pixels that flow after I wake up also give the world a wonderful sense of animation.
The procedurally generated, blocky sliding mazes are never the same twice, and the designers also do a great job making sure that each level offers its own unique challenge. The cascading pedestals or traps that burn my raft add deeper, and sometimes urgent, layers to the design of the passerby problem. I often let my guard down against enemies with unexpected abilities, like insidious monsters that lock down a platform until killed.
The unusual movement mechanism is conducive to combat. I usually attack, dash to the edge of the enemy’s raft, and deliver a crushing blow before gliding away from the impact or casting a spell to temporarily invisible. Besides, parrying is my must-do strategy. Catching the right moment would have subject my opponent to a devastating counterattack, leaving me momentarily unknowing. It was amazing how powerful the landing the perfect attack brought.
Loot River’s heart-pounding combat and puzzle-solving design is built on a lifelike foundation. I fight my way through the creative and different realms until the enemy is finally better than me. Then the process started again on the first level, with most of my hard-won upgrades lost. Progression doesn’t work like the Souls game, and letting go of that expectation early on has helped me enjoy the experience better.
It’s tempting to equate Knowledge, an in-game currency that is sometimes defeated by defeated opponents, with Souls from the game’s inspiration. But while I can spend resources on permanently unlocking better gear from specific vendors, I can’t use it to upgrade my stats. Level up depends entirely on the number of enemies killed in a run, and usually all stats drop back to starting level upon death. Also, just because I’ve unlocked a new weapon or armor option with my Knowledge doesn’t mean I always have access to it. There are a few ways to influence what kind of gear I’ll have when I start running, but getting a hard hit weapon or stat-boosting accessory mostly depends on what monsters loot or what I have can be found in chests. It can be a brutal and frustrating cycle, but it’s also satisfying to find an early game-changing item or perfectly adjust my stats to suit the needs of that run. Even with the obstacles of this system, I was always caught up in the battle.
However, it was not all doom and gloom. Successfully passing a level or the inevitability of an inevitable death brought me back to a quiet center called Sanctuary. The bright environment boasts chirping birds, a healing monument, helpful NPCs, and pet chickens (I visited between every quest for good luck). My quest, my undying state, and my ability to change the world at my feet are all related to the ruins at the heart of this peaceful area. While a bit ambiguous, the story is thought-provoking. The characters bound to this magical and ominous object ask me to consider the cost of its power, even as I happily use it to keep the game going on repeat.
It took me a little over six hours to get my first win, but it wasn’t the end of the game. Unlocking things, uncovering secrets, and combining legends are all part of an almost endless experience. It can be frustrating to fall victim to a level one enemy after almost getting through the final boss in the previous run, but the game is tough to take down. Loot River reimagines some of the inspiration’s best elements, giving players the chance to sail deftly through each environment, growing strong enough to cut through once-impossible threats and unravel a story that is cleverly woven into its gameplay.
