Yesterday the Xbox Indie Twitch Showcase revealed a ton of games, including the exciting new rogue-like, Loot River, developed by Straka.Studio. Referred to as a Dark Souls and Tetris hybrid, Loot River features procedurally generated levels and real-time combat in a twisted dark fantasy setting. Players will have to navigate block-based puzzles, all while looking for loot and fighting powerful foes. Loot River currently does not have a release date but is available to wishlist on Steam.
A New Take on Combat
The most significant difference between Loot River and other games of the genre is the combat and unique block-shifting mechanic. Throughout the many procedurally generated labyrinths of Loot River, players will have total control of the tiles that make up the dungeon’s floor. Moving like tetrominoes, these blocks can slide and move in all directions. Connecting these tiles will be crucial to progressing the game and vital to combat and puzzles. It appears that shifting tiles can even be used mid-combat to dodge attacks or move past larger groups of enemies. The fast-paced action combined with the puzzle mechanics looks to make the gameplay of Loot River an incredibly rewarding experience.
Loot River’s Art Style
The game features hand-drawn pixel art from a top-down perspective combined with fully fleshed-out cinematics and cutscenes. In the trailer, Loot River looks to have a gothic theme with large ominous set pieces. What makes the art of Loot River unique is that the game uses real-time shadow and water simulation to provide high levels of detail while still having that nostalgic pixel art feel. Enemy and boss design fit the dark fantasy theme of the game world, and the few that were revealed looked incredibly detailed and smooth in their animations.
Items and Abilities
While the focus of Loot River is on its unique mechanics, the game also has some staple features of the RPG and dungeon crawler genres. Players will have stats they can level up, such as strength, vitality, and dexterity that will power up their character and make each run feel unique. On top of that, there are a number of abilities in the game that players can unlock to try out other playstyles and further add variety to each playthrough. Like the name implies, there is also a ton of loot to be found in Loot River. Characters inventory has room for multiple weapons and armor pieces that can be paired with abilities to deliver devastating combos.
Conclusion
While there is no release date yet for Loot River, the game is confirmed to be coming to the Xbox Family of Consoles and PC. The rogue-like dungeon crawler features unique block-based puzzle mechanics as well as real-time combat and a beautiful hand-drawn pixel art style. Players can look forward to infinite unique runs full of ghastly monsters, challenging puzzles, and tons of loot once the game does come out. For those of you who just can’t get enough Loot River, you can sign up to beta test the game on their Discord.
