Loot Hero by developer Varagtp Studios describes itself as an “RPG grind-fest”. I wasn’t even aware that was a genre. The game has been released on iOS and Android, as well as a browser-based game, and now it finds its way to the PC. The setup is simple – An evil dragon stalks the land using his magic to raise an army of monsters wreaking havoc. A single hero, you, must arise and slay this beast… And get mad loot.
The game’s premise is simple. You begin on the left-hand side of each level and must charge your way through to the other side, mowing through enemies, collecting loot to boost your stats and defeating bosses. Now, I need to point out that when I say you mow through enemies, I mean it. There is no attack button, you simply click on the direction you want to move and attack enemies by running into them. Hitting an enemy causes them damage, as well as some damage to you. The mechanic isn’t exactly spelled out, but the higher your attack and defense skills are the easier you are able to defeat enemies without being slowed down or taking damage yourself. It’s very simple. So simple that I was convinced I was missing something at first, but I wasn’t. The game is just as grindy as it promised.
You collide with enemies, killing them and taking their loot, which you use to raise your four stats: Attack, Critical, Defense and Speed. While the first three are self-explanatory, the Speed option only seems to govern how fast you run. Once you get that stat up to a certain point you start to move faster than you’re able to comprehend what’s going on, which is actually pretty cool as levels become colorful blurs as you slay everything in your path. Each level culminates with a boss fight, who you may bowl over and kill so fast you don’t realize it. After defeating the final boss on the fifth stage the game starts at the beginning, with tougher enemies who drop more loot and experience to level up with. This allows for effectively endless gameplay for players who want to grind their hero further and further.
I’m in there… Somewhere.
Loot Hero has an absolutely fantastic presentation. The graphics are exceptional works of pixel art that call up memories of 16 and 32-bit side-scrollers; the sprites, backgrounds, effects, everything looks great and feels just slightly nostalgic in a way that I really enjoyed. The game also has a stirring, exciting soundtrack that would feel right at home in any classic RPG. So with all these great productions values I couldn’t help but be a little disappointed that the game doesn’t do more. I played the game on the PC and I have to say I don’t think it’s the right device for this game. If I had it on my phone and could play a quick level or two during downtime the game’s simplistic nature would be be a great way to unwind and kill time. On the PC it feels underwhelming; a game that looks and sounds this great feels like it should have a deeper mechanic than just running into enemies and I think I would love this title if it offered just a little more to the gameplay. That said, I did spend way more time grinding than I thought I would. There is definitely a satisfying feeling as you become able to blitz levels faster than your eye can see, and to my surprise I did spend a couple of enjoyable hours playing numerous runthroughs.
Overall Loot Hero is pretty engaging for a little while. It’s simple in a way which I think will be a turn off for some, but it’s also fun and just plain nice to look at, which makes me want to see more from this developer, hopefully something with a bit more depth. Still, I had fun with it, and I can see myself going back for a little more grinding action. It can be purchased for PC for $3.99 or on a phone for $.99 and for my money having this one at my fingertips when I want to kill five minutes makes the phone the best option.
Loot Hero can be purchased here at its website.
This game was reviewed using retail code provided to us by the developer.
