Eventually, players come face-to-face with the Lich King, a powerful creature that acts as a sort of final boss of each run. The goal is to collect gear that can make the main character stronger and resources that can be brought back to camp. At its most basic level, it's a "roguelite" where players walk around a looped path slaying enemies and collecting resources. Loop Hero combines so many different genres that it can be a little overwhelming. Here’s what to know about the latest indie hit. The new game cleverly mashes up several genres to reinvent the wheel, not unlike last year’s Hades. Loop Hero, a new game published by Devolver Digital, debuted at number two on the Steam top sellers chart, just behind Valheim. This past weekend brought another big indie hit that had gamers buzzing. Last month saw the release of Valheim, a survival game that’s been a persistent and mind-boggling success on Steam. As gamers wade through a slow year for major game releases, out-of-left-field indies are dominating sales charts. It's already been a surprising year for video game success stories. Steam Summer Sale: Horizon Zero Dawn, Halo, and this year’s best discounts The best indie games of 2021: 10 hits you shouldn’t miss This ingenious Summer Game Fest indie needs to be on your radar This $5 Steam indie might just be the game of the summer The $5 indie hit Vampire Survivors is about to get even better If you’ve been hearing the name but don’t know what the fuss is, don’t be afraid to jump in. It’s the perfect summer game to take on the go during vacation season, as it runs smoothly on my Steam Deck. Regardless of how well it’ll stick the landing for me, Dave the Diver has already become my July obsession. I’m still working through the main story so I’ve yet to see if there’s much more nuance to it, but that thread already seems to be taking a backseat to a fantasy story about merpeople. It’s a little hard to separate the two, though, considering that the core progression hook is built around Dave being able to kill and carry more fish as time goes on. An early plot thread sets some boundaries, separating Dave from what the game paints as a significantly more harmful commercial fishing industry. The only narrative piece that’s giving me pause so far is its way of hand-waving away some of the moral questions a game about killing thousands of fish presents. That may sound a little messy, but all those threads tie together neatly to paint a full picture of its world’s inner workings. What begins as the simple tale of a run-down restaurant’s comeback expands out in scope as Dave meets activists, fights pirates, and discovers the secrets of a lost underwater civilization. That design philosophy runs through its story too, which is similarly multilayered. It’s constantly introducing new systems without overcomplicating its elegant sea-to-table core. Dives can also turn up weapon blueprints that can be built and upgraded back on Dave’s boat, bracelets that give him passive boosts, research tasks that bring their own rewards, and much more. And that’s only a small portion of its rewarding hooks too. It’s a tightly wound progression loop that makes each day and night feel productive. Diving gives Dave fish that he can turn into sushi, which can be sold to upgrade his diving equipment for more fruitful runs. Those two ideas work together like a well-oiled machine. It’s a classic restaurant simulator premise, complete with a few small serving minigames and an eventual staff managing component. Players create a menu each night, serve impatient guests as quickly as possible, and try to raise the shop’s reputation to unlock more recipes and features. MintrocketĮach night, Dave then takes those materials to a sushi bar and is in charge of managing the dinner rush. Though that healthy stress is counterbalanced by almost zen underwater exploration, as lo-fi beats and colorful pixel art turn each run into a pleasant vacation. There’s a lot of good old-fashioned risk-reward there, as wiping out means dropping almost everything. That part of it plays out a bit like Steamworld Dig, where players grab as much as they can carry and return it to the surface before their oxygen runs out. During the day, he pops into the ocean to harpoon fish and harvest ingredients. The basic premise is that players take the role of Dave, a scuba diver who’s tasked with gathering supplies for a seaside sushi shop. Think Ecco the Dolphin meets Diner Dash, though even that doesn’t paint a full picture of its wealth of addictive, creative gameplay hooks. Summer Game Fest: 10 indie standouts we played and lovedĩ games you should pick up during the Steam Summer Saleĭave the Diver is a unique blend of 2D adventure, underwater RPG, and sushi shop simulator. You can get a Steam Deck for 20% off right now during Steam Summer Sale
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |