Loot River Review – Pieces Sailing Into Place

Loot River, described as an amalgamation of Soulslikes with Tetris is a unique combination that delivers this captivating mix in style. Each moment is filled with smooth action and slick puzzle-solving. Players should expect to continually die in Loot River’s darkly atmospheric levels, with each death setting you back to square one. It’s hard not to play another run due to the addictive gameplay and stunning pixel art.

I begin on a raft; a pitiful mattress and discarded junk are scattered around me. It is obvious that I am at the Sunken Village. I see rotting wood decks and murky waters floating above it. The tone and cryptic story scream Dark Souls, especially when I find a note: “This is no kingdom; it’s a tomb.”

Getting from place to place, no matter the level, requires me to shift around multi-shaped platforms with the right joystick while controlling my character with the left. I have to constantly switch between shapes in order to navigate narrow corridors or platform-choked areas. After a while, I felt that it was a bit cumbersome. However, after getting used to the controls it became instinctual. It also gives me a feeling of achievement outside of combat. The flowing pixelated waves following in my wake also give the world a wonderfully dynamic feel.

Each level of the block-sliding, procedurally generated labyrinth is unique. Tiered platforms or traps that set fire to my raft add deeper, and sometimes urgent, layers to the traversal’s problem-solving design. Enemies with unimaginable abilities catch me off guard, such as the insidious monsters who lock down a platform until they are killed.

This unique movement pattern lends itself to combat. I often charge up an attack, pull up next to an enemy’s raft, and unleash a crushing blow before gliding away untouched or using a magic spell to go temporarily invisible. Parrying, however, is my preferred strategy. My opponents can launch a devastating counterattack if I timing is right. This makes me temporarily invulnerable. It’s incredible how powerful landing that perfect attack feels.

Loot River’s heart-pounding combat and traversal-by-puzzle design are built on a roguelike foundation. I battle my opponent through unique and creative areas, until he defeats me. After that, the game starts over from the beginning with all my hard-earned upgrades gone. Progression doesn’t work like a Souls game, and ditching that expectation early on helped me better enjoy the experience.

It is tempting to equate Knowledge, an in-game currency sometimes dropped by defeated opponents, to Souls from the game’s inspiration. But while I could spend the resource to permanently unlock better gear from specific vendors, I couldn’t use it to upgrade my stats. Each run is different. Every stat goes back to the starting level after defeating enemies. Also, just because I unlocked a new weapon or armor option with my Knowledge didn’t mean I always had access to it. There are some ways to influence what kinds of gear I’d have at the beginning of a run, but getting hard-hitting weapons or stat-boosting accessories mostly came down to what loot monsters dropped or what I could find in chests. It can be a brutal and frustrating cycle, but it is also so satisfying to find a game-changing item early on or perfectly tailor my stats to that run’s needs. Even with this system’s hurdles, I always got sucked back into the fray.

It’s not all doom and struggle, however. I was able to clear a level without succumbing, or at least to the inevitable death of my mission. This brought me to the Sanctuary, a peaceful hub. You will find chirping birds and a healing monument. There are also helpful NPCs. I even had the opportunity to visit pettable chickens between missions for luck. My quest, undying state, and ability to shift the world under my feet are all linked to the relic in this peaceful zone’s center. Although the story is a bit ambiguous it’s still very thought-provoking. The characters bound to this miraculous and ominous object ask me to consider the price of its power, even as I happily take advantage of it to continue the looping gameplay.  

It took me a little over six hours to get my first victory screen, but that wasn’t the end of the game. It is a rewarding experience that allows you to unlock everything and uncover secrets while also constructing the story. While it is annoying to be beaten by a boss after you have nearly made it to the end of the previous game, this is a great experience that’s hard to forget. Loot River reimagines some of its inspirations’ best elements, offering players a chance to sail cleverly through each environment, grow powerful enough to slice up once-impossible threats, and unravel a story that smartly weaves into its gameplay.