Loop8: Summer of Gods Reviews
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.
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
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.
In conclusion, Loop 8: Summer of Gods is dreadful. It pains me to say, but it’s easy to suggest against purchasing it. Plenty of bad decisions contribute to sucking the fun from this romp and relegating it to becoming a chore. I wanted to like it, given the pedigree, and when I found out it combined my most beloved genres, I was giddy. Unfortunately, the finished product is a big failure.
Loop8: Summer of Gods had the potential to be a serious outsider with an innovative approach to the JRPG genre, if only it were better executed. Instead, it's such a massive disappointment that it will make me think twice before purchasing a Marvelous game again.
As can be expected, if you’re still with me reading this review, no I cannot and do not recommend Loop8: Summer of Gods. It’s a shame because I really thought this would be a fun summer adventure and was pretty disappointed that it wasn’t. Not only that, but I know XSEED Games does some really nice physical editions. Maybe you want to pick it up if you collect XSEED’s physical releases. Still, I would suggest you wait on a good enough sale for that, because this game is not worth it. Although, if this game were to ever be made into an anime instead, one where all the repetitive nonsense is skipped over, I could see myself potentially enjoying it.
Loop8 feels like a game that wants to be more poignant and meaningful than it really is, due in part to problematic pacing issues.
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.
Loop8 is a game full of great ideas that never comes together.
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.
With its interesting premise that blends time-looping mechanics and extensive relationship-building into Persona’s familiar formula, I went into Loop8: Summer of Gods expecting a summer to remember. It’s just a shame that none of these elements come together as cohesively as they could have, making for an uneven experience. With repetitive dialogue choices that feel mostly weightless, a quirky combat system, dungeon-crawling that comes across as tacked-on, and a severe lack of variety, don’t go canceling your summer plans for this one.
In the midst of an uninteresting relationship system, a confusing plot, characters without depth, poor game optimization and battles without strategy, it is difficult to find positive points in Loop8. Its scenarios are certainly beautiful at times, the female characters also have beautiful models and a cute design, but the lack of optimization, lack of depth and quantity of dialogues and game events, extremely repetitive system, confusing and poorly elaborated plot and combats without emotions certainly doesn't make Loop8 a game I'd recommend to anyone other than those who are hardcore Gunparade March fans. It's really a shame, because I really wanted to like the game and I believe that if it had been better worked on, it would have become a good game.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 is clearly too ambitious for its own good. It had all the great ideas of what could have been a revolutionary experience pushing the boundaries of a new genre of gaming, but it ended up butchering the execution on all fronts.