I've been playing this on and off during breaks at work for months and I think I've come to the conclusion that I don't really get it. I mean, I get it; you run loops and try to maximize your gains so you can improve you base camp and character and advance to further loops. Repeat and loop, hence the name. What I don't get is where the fun or addictiveness comes in, because I never really felt myself sunk into any of this nor drawn in by the mysterious nature of both the mechanics and the world. I think I'll just cut my losses and call it quits here. Cool artstyle, though.

(Reseña sacada de mi cuenta de Steam: APolChrome)

Loop Hero es increíble. No entiendo como ha llegado a engancharme tanto, aun frustrándome a veces. Es un rogue-lite muy distinto a lo habitual, por lo que da para hablar mucho y muy bien del juego. Tras 23 horas de juego, creo que ya puedo formar una opinión del juego extensa. Empecemos.

Loop Hero nos propone runs en las que el personaje se mueve y combate solo mientras va por un mapa dando vueltas, ¿qué haces tú? te estarás preguntando. Nosotros nos encargaremos de ir llenando el mapa con cartas que nos dan los enemigos. Estas van desde lugares donde salen enemigos (que se ponen en el propio mapa) hasta cartas que se ponen en las afueras que generan efectos en el propio mapa. La variedad del juego es descomunal. Cada run es completamente distinta a la anterior y las posibilidades son infinitas. Pero con lo que te he dicho, sería tan fácil como no poner cartas. Pues NO. Porque el juego te obliga a ponerlas. En cada run (hay 4 tipos de expedición) hay un boss, y para llegar a él, tienes que poner cartas. Los bosses se pueden hacer un poco difíciles, pero vencerlos da una satisfacción que pocos bosses me han dado.

El campamento me parece muy interesante. Básicamente, es el hub principal que lo camuflan con lore y en el que consigues todo lo que necesitas para las runs. Los edificios que hay son muchísimos y algunos requieren de un grindeo muy loco, pero alcanzable sin sacrificar tu vida. Además, los NPCs que hay por ahí son bastante carismáticos y los diálogos se sienten muy únicos. Con algunos edificios se desbloquean las distintas clases que son 3: guerrero (la primera de todas), pícaro y nigromante. Esto añade un componente de estrategia, porque (sumado a las cartas doradas, que dan distintos efectos a la run), puedes crear tus propias tácticas para cada tipo de expedición en concreto, porque hay veces en las que te viene mejor una clase que otra o una carta dorada que otra.

Audiovisualmente, está bastante bien. El juego, aun siendo pixel art, es bastante bonito sobre todo en el diseño de personajes y enemigos y cuenta con una paleta de colores oscura en la mayoría. Sí que la OST no me ha terminado de llegar, pero está lejos de ser mala.

Narrativamente, es bueno, sobre todo en cómo consigues información. Puedes conseguir información construyendo edificios o (la mejor) derrotando jefes, que te darán información sobre el bucle al que está sometido el mundo.

Resumiendo, Loop Hero ha sido una gran sorpresa y me ha encantado. A poco que te guste el género de los rogue-lites, deberías jugarlo y ver la premisa tan curiosa y buena que ofrece. Recomendadísimo

Once in a while, I will come across a game that exists beyond the standard gameplay genres already defined. They have the potential to be incredible experiences that hold me for hours, the only thing that could pull me away being some important task (like eating).
Loop Hero met that potential, in the beginning. Its genre is impossible to define. It’s a card/deck builder, but also an idle game, but actually not an idle game since constant attention is required. Gameplay wise, it's truly unique. The story aspect was also given attention. I was genuinely intrigued by the storyline and where it was going.
I never did satiate that curiosity, as I quit midway. Loop Hero suffers from being too long in the worst way possible – grinding. As such, it's hard for me to think of who would enjoy the entire game. Not to say that it's bad, but who would want to sit through all that grinding? Maybe that’s you, only you can say.

𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲
You play as the Hero (probably) trying to restore and save the world after the Lich decided to pretty much annihilate all of it, including all memories. This can be achieved by simply walking in circles. As I said, it is a fairly interesting story, with a unique setting. Saving the world is nothing new, but restoring it from almost nothing, that I haven’t seen before. There is a variety of characters, some of which you recruit, others you fight.
Overall, it gives meaning to your actions and it ties into the gameplay quite well. The game would be worse without it.

𝐌𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲
Now that I think about it, I can throw rouge-lite and RTS into the list of genres this game almost is.
You have your character, the Hero, however you don’t control him. They simply walk endlessly in circles on a road, stopping every cycle at a camp to heal. Why? Because on this road monsters spawn. That’s a good thing since that’s when the actual gameplay begins. When the Hero slays a monster, you get a card or equipment.
The equipment is pretty straightforward. If it's better than what your character already has, then you switch it. There is some strategy when it comes to special abilities some weapons and armour have. The cards are where the real strategy is. They can be a wide range of things – meadows, mountains, vampire mansions, spider nests, and so on. These buildings and terrain can be placed either next to the road, or somewhere in the oblivion. Each one serves a different function, like the mountain gives more HP or the vampire mansion that spawns vampires on the road.
All of this creates a fascinating game of balance. You have to put more monsters on the road so that you can get more loot. Loot, which will prepare you for when the enemies become more powerful. However, too many monsters will mean your character loses more health than they can gain back.
The grind comes from the other aspect of Loop Hero, the camp. There, everything you’ve put down is converted into materials, used to upgrade the camp. These upgrades give you more cards and progress the story. Unfortunately, the amount needed at one point becomes too much. It ends up requiring multiple runs, that turn out practically identical, to make any meaningful progress.
In conclusion, I wish this game was shorter.

𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐬/𝐀𝐫𝐭𝐬𝐭𝐲𝐥𝐞
Loop Hero employs a simplistic 2D pixel artstyle. I think it works well enough to convey what has to be conveyed. The character portraits especially have given quite a lot of detail.
The sound effects have to be given praise – they fit very well into the pixel artstyle of the rest of the game.

𝐀𝐭𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞/𝐈𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧
Even as simplistic as the presentation is, there is still some atmosphere.
The feel it gives off reminds me of those old consoles, like GBA. Something you would find on there.

𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤
I heard the ost being described as what you would hear in Castlevania. While I haven’t played any of them, I can definitely imagine it, given the retro and almost 8-bit nature of the music. That is to say, it fits with the theme of the game and I think even on its own it's damn good.
My favourite part is “Entropic Rhapsody”.

𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬
Did you know, most of the titles of the various songs in the ost are references to JoJo's Bizarre Adventure.

Loop Hero is a roguelike that combines various mechanics from card games and city builders. It involves strategically placing cards obtained from auto-battles around a loop to enhance your hero or terrain. I found myself frequently returning to the game because the moment-to-moment gameplay loop is so unique and captivating, which hooked me into finishing it compared to other games in that genre despite the heavy grinding or RNG that shows no mercy. The stellar presentation when it comes to the pixel art or audio is the cherry on top that makes the overall package extra special.

My experience was further enhanced by the exceptional mobile port developed by Playdigious, which seamlessly integrates the touch screen and offers good portability features like auto-save during a run that prevents you from restart your current run if you have to put down your device at any second. It really gives me the impression that Loop Hero was initially created for mobile and later ported to other platforms, rather than the other way around. It feels right at home and easily the definitive version to play, whether it's on iOS or Android.

However, I can recommend any version to experience this game unless you aren't really into roguelikes that heavily rely on stats and RNG. Loop Hero is definitely an acquired taste that I can see not clicking for everyone due to how unique and demanding it is in certain elements.