Primarily, players will go out on expeditions, represented by a 8-bit map of a small sprite walking in circles along a randomized path. Playing Loop Hero can be can be a disorienting experience at first. Loop Hero’s retro fidelity creates a colorful collage as the game map slowly gets filled in. While it’s uncertain that the game’s writing ultimately coalesces into a coherent theme, it’s a lot more interesting for trying. Even the monsters the Hero runs into have something to say, often irony-laden musings about how it would be nice to not be in conflict, but forces compel them to. The dialogue is fittingly strange and esoteric, but surprisingly poignant and even humorous, if bluntly so. The writing is sparse but economical, with characters rarely having more to say than the first time they appear but managing to leave an impression in that time. Yet Loop Hero gets a lot of mileage out of its premise and limited character interactions. If this sounds like a convenient hook to hang a run-based game on, that’s because it is. Though their knowledge of the old world is limited, they seem to remember at least parts of the world despite its changing nature. The player, known simply as the Hero, is one of the few resistant to some of these effects. The surviving population exists in a state of fear and seemingly magic-induced amnesia, unable to organize or defend themselves given their dwindling numbers and lapses in memory. A mage known as the Lich has destroyed the old world and the new one that has taken its place is a chaotic nightmare where even the very land itself has become ever-shifting and shrouded in darkness. The game begins the way it continues: enigmatic. It’s an eye-catching affair with compelling underlying systems, but the actual act of playing can’t quite carry its ambitions. Loop Hero doesn’t break these conventions, but it does offer a nice twist that helps it to stand out from much of its competition. Audiences now have certain expectations, an understanding of form and structure these games are supposed to follow. The novelty of the rogue-lite has long since worn off. It’s a fascinating balancing act that’s difficult to describe in words but once in hand is initially addictive.
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