Loot River Reviews
It's unfortunate that Loot River feels like an Early Access product in its current state. A scarcity of content and a thoroughly unfinished, unsatisfying feel to the combat, movement, and item discovery makes this title very hard to recommend. The best action-roguelites require rock-solid fundamentals to stand on their own, and a few game-breaking bugs combined with the limited equipment and incorrect item descriptors is cause for concern. Its scant bosses range from easily exploitable to insta-kills, and a deeply unsatisfying core gameplay loop essentially asks players to take on a series of failed runs, with repeat runs betraying how little the game's procedural generation affects these randomized maps. Loot River is a frustrating experience which clearly needed more development time, but hopefully the game finds its footing post-launch.
Loot River‘s mileage will vary, with refreshing timing-based combat it can feel like a fun distraction or a listless drift down the river.
Unless you’re someone who really enjoys roguelikes as a genre. Then this would be something you could spend a weekend on. Otherwise if you’re only a more casual fan of the style of game, then look at the one that reach a higher standard.
For all the promise that Loot River held with its amalgamation of gameplay features, they, unfortunately, don't gel together well. This is compounded by the technical issues making for an experience that is more frustrating than it is fun.
If it featured more deliberate combat and less ambiguous visuals, Loot River would have been an awesome game due to its uniqueness.
Moving blocks and traversing pixelated waters of Loot River is fun, and I hope the developers will show the game’s full potential in the future. But right now, they need to fix it and make the gameplay more diverse.
Review in Polish | Read full review
On paper, Loot River has it all and that's actually the feeling you get during the first few hours of play. Unfortunately, his excessive punitiveness forcing to start all over again from the beginning, or almost, quickly develops a feeling of weariness.
Review in French | Read full review
Perhaps the game should have stayed in the early access format as long as possible, rather than rushing to release in the Xbox Game Pass collection. Probably, after a year of patches it will be a completely different game.
Review in Russian | Read full review
Loot River proposes a mixture of appetizing and ingenious proposals, which are enjoyable for a few hours. But with the passage of time, being half gas in so many aspects ends up taking its toll on the work.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Loot River, with its unique approach, offers an attractive concept, especially for challenge and puzzle enthusiasts. However, issues related to combat and the game's price on PlayStation consoles may be factors to consider when deciding to try this labyrinthine journey on Sony consoles.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Loot River has the potential to be a spectacular roguelike experience with its interesting idea of controlling the platforms. However, the application of basic aspects of the experience wasn't done probably and the game feels like an unfinished product.
Review in Arabic | Read full review
Loot River is certainly a roguelike unafraid to explore new waters, but what it lacks is a refined loop. Constantly repeating the run, even in different dungeons, isn’t an easy concept to float. However, the game’s unique movement mechanics and visuals do a lot of work to sell the experience. If you’re looking for a roguelike that’s going to punish you, then check this one out, but try not to be too shocked when you realise there are no life jackets provided.
Loot River's amazing atmosphere and striking story are not enough to make up for one crucial element: poor gameplay. This author will be hoping for patch notes in the future to see if this game rises to its potential.
Puzzle element infused in action rogue-like genre stimulates the interest in many ways. The level design built on the core system such as manipulating Tetris-like scaffolds was also okay. However, the game gets dull pretty quick except for the puzzles because the only differentiator is just stepping stones.
Review in Korean | Read full review
Loot River is a soup of so many genres: It is soulslike, roguelike, puzzle, and platformer. Therefore, it appeals to a very small group of people, which is completely fine. Loot River is much more promising than what it appears to be on the surface: The ability to essentially create a map for yourself is a very obvious feature and yet it is rarely ever used. It is a strange mix, but it just works out in the end.
Loot River has addictive gameplay and you'll want to play it again. However, there isn't much story, which is a shame for the interesting world I found myself in.
In light of Loot River’s shortcomings, it’s still a worthwhile title to play. Flicking Tetris blocks through an astonishingly fluid river is so satisfying. And while I have issues with the combat, the weapons and spells are fun to use when they work. If Loot River gained a roadmap of good changes and content to add to the pile, it could stand toe-to-toe with some heavy-hitters leading the genre.
Loot River is not a bad game by any stretch of the imagination; it, like many new IP’s just needs some tweaking to iron out some of its technical issues and I have no doubt that with its truly unique blend of traditional roguelikes with a dash of a block puzzler, that Loot River will quickly carve out a place for it on the ever-growing roguelike mountain.
A strange mix of various different types of games. If you are looking for something unique and different you might find some solace in this little game, but beware the less than ideal graphics and enemies that are lacking in the uniqueness department.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Loot River surrounds us with its unique interpretation of dungeon crawler and roguelike. Sliding on floating platforms to explore flooded dungeons is a fresh idea, and the feature is used in creative situations, such as navigation puzzles and battle strategies. Besides that, the brutal combat and great ambiance make the experience very immersive. However, the game also has notable problems, such as truncated combat and slow content unlocking. With a little insistence, it is possible to overcome the negative points, but some changes in these aspects would considerably improve the pace of the journey. Otherwise, it's worth checking out Loot River, even if only for its inventiveness.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review