What VIDEO GAME(s) have you been playing?

Gary Sax wrote: I just bought a new steam game, Loop Hero. It's a run based game with run to run progression (rogue light?). It's hard to describe. It has a very, very creative structure but it has some problems.

Basically, the loop is like an autobattling JRPG, sort of a reverse tower defense. You place the enemy monster generators and the biomes in a sort of tile placement game. Your hero goes around a path and autofights anything on it, simple JRPG style. So you set the monster generators, the biomes, and you do some simple tile placement that generates both monsters and buffs your hero. Your hero gathers equipment as they kill monsters, so that's the incentive to place monster generators. If you RNG a good item, you can jump the curve and have a good couple "loops" around the map which is good thing that lets you recover HP. It's a war of attrition. You're trying to beat a very tough boss at the end of each run, so you can definitely see the finish line even in your first couple runs.

Then, between runs, you're upgrading the village that you start in with buffs, etc. So you're obviously intended to make progress over many runs. One of my issues so far is that individual runs take a longer time than I think they should, I think it's tuned a bit wrong. In particular, the runs take a long time and the resource requirements for the rogue light persistent elements are high so it'll take multiple runs that are longer than they want to be. I also think there's a discovery element to what tile combine together to create new biomes that feels a little trial and error-ey to me in a bad way.

Anyway, the fundamental structure is still pretty fresh if any of that sounds good to you, exceptionally original combination of elements in a game. It also has great music and decent pixel art.

Can confirm that many of the issues I was having have gone away now that I have built some base buildings. There is a lot more going on than I thought; it's hard to explain but the game is basically constructing a JRPG dungeon and then specing your autobattling character through equipment to confront the dungeon you've endogenously constructed.

I still think runs are too long.

Gary, would you say you think Loop Hero is worth the money?

For the 12 bucks it's on sale for, absolutely. I've played probably 5 hours in a day, if that tells you anything. After 2 hours or so, I really opened what the actual game is: buildings, tilesets choice, populating the "path" for your little JRPG autobattle toon... the real decision-making.

I picked it up. Am still on my first run, but I like it so far. I turned on the auto-pause features, and then run the game at 2x speed. I really like that I don't have to do anything during the battles; it makes it a much more relaxed experience, and I can focus on where I want to place the various landscape elements.

I'll also say that considering how nice the graphics are, the white sprite that represents my hero running around the map looks rather janky.

Yeah, run at x2 and definitely pause the camp.

I would suggest not fighting the boss the first 4-5 times and banking resources. The game opens up a lot more with buildings, and if you suicide against the first boss Lich it's going to take a long time.

Hahahahaha... I wish I had read that before I just took on the Lich. He smoked me, and I lost a lot of stuff.

Playing a lot of Loop Hero. When you hit the 6th time around the loop, the track is so littered with monsters, the tension of "will I make it back home?" is pretty awesome. Also, being able to crank Vampirism to 50+% is pretty funny. Sometimes I end encounters with more health than I started.

Yeah, I got to the second level and it is really hard. I still haven't gotten to the boss.

Unlocked the Necromancer class in Loop Hero. They are fun, summoning skeletons to do all of their fighting. Yet, I have never managed to actually return to town with them. I get to that final loop at full health, thinking of course I’ll make it... nope.

Gary, my town is full and I can’t build anything. Is there something I’m missing or do they really want me to destroy an existing structure?

I haven't filled my town yet, so you might be farther than me? I just unlocked the necro but haven't tried them or the Rogue. Level 2 is really hard imo, I need to put together a coherent tile/equipment trajectory I think.

There may be something to be just slightly conservative with the enemy buildings and let most of them disintegrate? I find the grove dogs and blood grove buildings very hard but the blood grove flesh monster drops incredible loot.

I figured out the issue; the Rogue camp needs to be built next to the kitchen, for some fucking reason, and I had already filled all of those spots. I had to dismantle a building (you do get to reclaim some resources) and rebuild it elsewhere. Then I was able to build the rogue camp.

I have yet to beat the Lich yet, so I doubt I am farther. I assume that is what triggers level 2. I did have him to a shred of health, once.

And I do agree with your original assessment, runs take a bit too long. The 5th or 6th loop is just non-stop fighting. I think it could be cool if they would let you automatically jump to loop 3 with some random gear.

Overall I really dig this game and am glad I bought it.

Yeah, that's what triggers it.

I found it's all in the synergy between what you place down to fight, getting enough down to fight without dying so you level and gear up, and then assessing what the boss does. The Lich is a pure tank with slow hits, and he doesn't have adds.

The Rogue is a weird class. You can almost exclusively ONLY gain gear by completing an entire loop! I can't say I'm crazy about it, as it packs almost all of your decisions into that one moment, and floods you with gear all at once, often giving you 5 pairs of boots.

Just had a Warrior run that went to the 9th loop. I had the Lich down to 80 health and he killed me. Lost a TON of stuff.

I went heavy magic damage and attack speed for the lich, figuring he was slow, he was a skeleton so might be vulnerable to magic, and maxing hits between swings was my best bet. I populated the map with cemeteries and vampire mansions... and always always the chest producing battlefields. It worked but I have no idea if the strategy was what did it.

I finally played Sayonara Wild Hearts, after MB recommended it to me awhile back. Fantastic game with a fantastic soundtrack. Really redefined what a music/rhthym game can be (it really doesn't feel like one). I put the extra effort in to get gold rank on every level and collected all of the square coins. I'll definitely revisit it at some point.