Recent reviews by SpartanEvolved

A fun roguelite action game with a decent infusion of humor.

My only real complaint is that the meta progression is pretty slow, and the difficulty is fairly punishing even by genre standards.

No need to play Callisto Protocol to understand or enjoy this, besides the shared setting there isn't anything important being missed.

Definitely worth playing if you like these action games.

Even in early access, this game is incredible. If you're a fan of Hades 1, no reason to wait. Game is only going to get better!

It's a boomer shooter 40k game. Good enemy variety, good weapon variety. Maps feel a little weak and the boss fight difficulty spikes aren't really fun (save your vortex grenades, seriously) but it's a fun game with great animation and graphics. If you like old school shooters, this is a must buy.

A good solid isometric Soulslike.

It's not going to revolutionize the genre, but it's a fun game and the ancient Greek setting is pretty fresh for the genre.

Enemy variety is a little lacking, but there is a pretty good skill tree and a decent variety of weapons and skills to mix up how you play the game.

Definitely recommend if you want an isometric Soulslike. I'd give it a solid 7/10.

A pretty good boomer shooter.

It has 2 classes and some light RPG elements (kills get you experience that you can use to upgrade weapons and class specific abilities. Good variety of weapons and skills. The art style is comic booky and feels unique, and the Lovecraft style plot and enemies are good enough.

Definitely recommend if you want a solid old school shooter. There are better out there, but fans of the genre will enjoy at least one playthrough. There is a New Game Plus that lets you tweak a lot of options for subsequent runs, which is a nice addition.

Also for completionists, this game is fairly easy achievement wise- no achievements for 100% kills/secrets/items like many of this genre.

Only downsides I have are the game is fairly short- probably 5-6 hours on normal difficulty for your first run and even shorter once you know where you are going.

The skills system is interesting and can change the game up significantly, but EXP gain is super slow and you have fairly limited skill resets. Would be nice to see both increased to allow for more dynamic gameplay.

Excited for the sequel!

Just completed a final run before the remake, and honestly it holds up well. The HD pack is optional but even keeps the graphics pretty good looking!

Definitely worth a run if you haven't tried it if you like third person shooters or are a newer RE fan who hasn't tried it yet!

Basically, this game is to Nioh as Sekiro is to Dark Souls.

A lot of simplified mechanics with an emphasis on very aggressive melee based combat.

Fun game, a good Souls-like but not a top tier one like Elden Ring, Dark Souls, or Nioh.

Haven't had any performance issues, and the game isn't designed to be played with a mouse and keyboard so I'd test the demo before buying if you are concerned there.

7.5/10, recommend for Souls-like fans but casual fans will be ok to wait for Rise of the Ronin.

Phenomenal game. If you like retro style shooters, especially from the Quake era you will really enjoy this.

Fast, fluid, and challenging gameplay with a good variety of enemies with tons of secrets to find. There are also some light progression elements as you can unlock upgrades for your character and various weapons.

And I really just have to say that the katana is SO satisfying.

Definitely looking forward to putting in more time, game has come a long way since early access!

Overall I like this game for what it is, but I would recommend it with the caveat that it's probably only for more hardcore roguelike fans.

Pros
Combat is simple but works well- dodge, parry, light attack, heavy attack, and various spells. Each weapon has unique traits and movesets. There's no stamina system but I think that keeps combat short and tense.

The platform maneuvering system is unique and well implemented. It opens up some new opportunities and tactics you wouldn't normally see in a roguelike game. Occasionally it devolves into some light puzzle solving but it never really gets in the way of going through the game.

Solid but short gameplay loop. A successful run only takes around 45 minutes or so, but there are multiple paths you can take so it hits the sweet spot of not taking too long, but not getting stale from repeating the same areas endlessly.

Pixel art graphics are very well done.

Cons
Really only one thing I didn’t like about the game, but it is a big one compared to other popular games in the genre.
The meta progression is bad. Unlocking new weapons, items, and spells just adds them to the pool of items you can find as drops or in chests. But there isn’t any way to influence what drops – you are at the mercy of the RNG. I get that roguelikes often don’t let you choose your ideal gear as an intentional part of the gameplay experience, but drops/chests are fairly rare in this game and once you have an expanded pool of items it really feels like a crapshoot.
I’m fine with stats and weapons resetting upon death, but besides the modifiers there isn’t a lot of meta progression in your character. You never unlock new abilities that persist between runs. Not 100% necessary but for players looking for gradual changes as they complete more runs they won’t find it here.
Gold is pretty much worthless. Vendors carry 1 random item and are rare. I’ve never really felt like it added anything to my runs.
Suggestion to alleviate both of those- Add a merchant to the Sanctuary that sells a variety of items for gold, and allows spending gold to reroll the selection. This would give players more control over their equipment on any run while also giving gold a lot more value on individual runs.
Offering a random selection of 3-4 sets of gear from your unlocked item pool at the start of a run would also be a nice way to reward players for investing in new gear.
Knowledge shouldn’t disappear upon death. As the meta progression currency I should be allowed to bank it without investing it into unlocks ASAP. Not a huge issue, but was notable to me.

Summary- if you don’t mind a more pure RNG based roguelike experience, I think the cool art style and unique gameplay mechanics make this worth checking out. It’s not overly difficult, though it is challenging most players should be able to beat it within a dozen attempts or so.
That being said, I think that more casual players will enjoy a game like Dead Cells or Curse of the Dead Gods much more due to much stronger meta progression and control over your build/gear on each run. I think Loot River has a very solid foundation that it doesn’t capitalize on due to some interesting design choices that are to the detriment of the experience.

Fun roguelike arena shooter. Not a ton of depth, but it is really fun and well made for the price.

Definitely good to kill a few hours if you like old school shooters!