Loop8: Summer of Gods Reviews
An Exercise in apathy, neither solid nor liquid. Not exactly bad, but not very good either. Just a bit 'meh,' really.
Loop8: Summer of Gods aspires to capture the human experience through a multitude of ambitious subsystems. Unfortunately, virtually none of these ideas make a meaningful impact on the game. The end result is a shallow, disjointed, and undeveloped experience. Rather than reflecting the nuances of our everyday lives, Loop8 most closely resembles the lives of aquarium fish.
A good time loop mechanic is supposed to give you enough variety so that repetition doesn't set in. Unfortunately, this is where Loop8 falls flat. You’ll be going over the same conversations and they’re just not interesting enough to make it worthwhile. It also doesn’t help that there’s only a small variety of enemies, and that the underworld is mostly just the town with a different colour palette. It's hard not to get annoyed when you realise that you’re still not strong enough to take out the next boss, and have no choice but to repeat the last few weeks.
Loop8: Summer of Gods started so promisingly. It has an extremely compelling narrative, and gorgeous visuals. I loved how the story tied into the gameplay structure. But all of the JRPG elements are way too light. The combat is pure trash, and devoid of almost any strategy. And every loop after the first few became an aggravating chore. By the end of Loop8: Summer of Gods, I was only playing for the story.
Loop8: Summer of Gods tries many ideas but doesn't execute any of them well. Most of the game involves you building your relationship with people who don't even want to help you save the world. Its combat is unrewarding and doesn't even feel like its necessary. Its only saving grace is its great art design and, on most occasions, its voice acting.
The very worst offense of it all is that normally, when a game is bad, I would have to suffer through it once and get to move on. In the case of Loop8, it forced me to experience the same exact terrible content over and over again by its very design, breeding a sense of resentment towards a game I haven’t felt in a very long time.
While Loop8's story has the potential to be incredibly interesting, it never really lands and fails to leave an emotional impact towards the end. It's all presented beautifully and has a unique mix of gameplay styles and ideas, but their repetitive and frustrating nature makes the whole experience a chore. It's like toiling away at your summer job and going through the motions until it's time to leave.
In a rural environment, in the heart of the universe, inconsequentiality, existential emptiness, lack of values, deep dissatisfaction reign... On the edge of the most absolute abyss, without any direction or anchorage that gives us security, Loop8: Summer of Gods invites us, in the old way, to face that looped piece that deals with the destruction and reconstruction of things. In this regard, slowing down its execution to get out of it, without additional iterations.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Loop8: Summer of Gods has a very interesting premise with stunning visuals and amazing music. The creativity in the game can hold back other parts of the mechanics.
Loop8 is a game full of great ideas that never comes together.
A social sim without convincing relationship building, an adventure game with messy and disjointed storytelling, and an RPG with boring combat and repetitious stat grinding all rolled into one.
The beauty of the Japanese countryside and its folklore fails to save Loop8, a game that remains imprisoned in its own vicious circle. It feels like a JRPG with dating sim and roguelike elements, but lacks souls and personality, becoming yet another forgettable Persona clone on the market. And that's a real shame, because it looked really promising.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Loop 8: Summer of Gods is an enjoyable game but it is not for everyone. If you are a fan of strong narratives, then we’d recommend picking it up. If you are a fan of traditional JRPGs then it might be better to watch some gameplay first. If you don’t like a challenge or repetitive gameplay, then we suggest avoiding it.
One final summer before the end of the world
There is a lot to like about Loop8, and there’s the sense that the creative team put a lot of work into the symbolism and theming of it. They shot for the stars. Unfortunately, it fell slightly short, and while it’s interesting and different, it never lives up to the clear potential it had. But that’s also okay. At least they tried something different. Gaming wouldn’t be worth it if people didn’t take a creative risk every once in a while.
Loop8 is an interesting premise, tied together by a string of ideas with an implementation that ends up destroying any enjoyment the player could have with the title.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Loop8: Summer of Gods has some good ideas going for it but needed a bit more work in some areas for me to be able to fully recommend it. I enjoyed the story but it takes time to get good and I had to endure a lot of repeated parts to get to it. On top of that the combat can be a bit confusing and doesn’t offer enough control over your team. There’s some good things here but just know you’ll have to deal with quite a few annoyances along the way if you decide to jump into this one.
Loop8: Summer of Gods has an interesting concept and some great characters that give a good reason to play it. My first impressions were actually quite positive and if my review was based on the first ten hours, it would probably be a 7/10 due to the great character moments and idea of growing stronger through loops. Unfortunately, the issues with gameplay and systems that came to light over the full forty-five hours it took to complete, and the method of storytelling make it difficult to outright recommend.
Playing Loop8: Summer of Gods, I debated about which rating to give. Often I know even from the start which way my verdict will go, but not so this time. At first, the town felt so barren, and I often felt like I was just clicking away. Suggesting as much as I could towards everyone I met. Eventually, I began to see how I should play the game, paying more attention to relationships and whose friendship I wanted the most. Plus, I did my best to max my stats with activities. I liked the battles; I would have loved more of them, not just on the days that the gate to the underworld was open. But what made me keep on doubting my verdict was the feeling of being an outsider. Sure, I tried to get closer to my classmates by making the right suggestions, but I would have loved more real background stories and feeling. When I suggest “Get to know better”, I really want to know the person! I am going for I Like It, as I feel Loop8: Summer of Gods has more potential. To get the A Lot added to the I Like It, I would have needed more fleshed-out characters to relate to, making forming an emotional bond less a matter of clicking away and more of really wanting to know them more!
While Loop8: Summer of Gods is a JRPG that has an interesting concept and some genuinely good features, the game is unfortunately bogged down with poor optimizations, questionable gameplay decisions, and a very painful combat system.