Groundhog Day meets demon possession in this unique coming-of-age JRPG - Loop8 Quick Review

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PLAY IT OR SKIP IT?

Play it if you’re a fan of story-driven games, but don’t expect a traditional JRPG. Loop8: Summer of Gods does have some combat, but it’s primarily a social simulation game. I spent the bulk of my time making friends and building up my stats via activities like studying, exercising, and playing video games. At first, the stat building didn’t seem important, but eventually, I found myself facing off against ultra-tough monsters. I was defeated pretty quickly, but thankfully, Loop8 takes place in a time loop, so I could build my stats back up and try again. Loop8 doesn’t pull off everything it tries to do, and some players might be put off by its slow pace and unusual gameplay, but overall, I found it to be an intriguing experience.

TIME PLAYED

I played around eight hours of Loop8, which wasn’t enough time for me to save the world. During my playthrough, I had the chance to meet and befriend a variety of characters, like the cheerful robot girl Machina and the prim-and-proper transfer student Ichika. My favorite was definitely Saru, a happy-go-lucky dude that feels like he’s destined to become everyone’s best friend. Even though most characters forgot about me between time loops, I was able to regain my progress with ease whenever a new loop started.

WHAT’S AWESOME

• Fascinating setting and story. Loop8 takes place in an alternate universe where Earth has been ravaged by spirits called Kegai. Most humans have fled to space, but Ashihara, a small rural town, has mostly remained untouched. You play as Nini, a transfer student that’s spent most of his life in space. Nini arrives when the world is on the brink of ending, which isn’t ideal, but thankfully, he has some superpowers that could potentially turn the tides. I loved getting to know the people in this mostly abandoned town, and before long, I was determined to do everything I could to protect them. Since the Kegai have the ability to possess humans, this sometimes meant I had to go head-to-head with characters I’d gotten close to.

• Unique social-based combat. Relationships are at the heart of Loop8, and they even play an important role in battles. The game is built around the Karel System, an emotion-driven artificial intelligence that affects every aspect of gameplay, including the amount of damage you take from enemies and the power of your attacks. Characters relate to each other in three ways: Friendship, Affection, and Hatred. If you’re friendly with a character, they’ll go above and beyond to keep you safe during battle, but if you’re cruel to someone who gets possessed by a Kegai, the power of the emotions could wind up wiping your entire party. It’s an unusual system that I haven’t seen anywhere else.

• There’s much more to the game than meets the eye. At first, starting a new loop felt like going back to square run, but I soon learned that I wasn’t actually starting over from scratch. Characters have unconscious memories from previous loops, and those memories shape your interactions. If I spent lots of time getting to know a character in one run, we’d immediately become best friends in the next one. If I put tons of energy into workouts, I could quickly regain the strength that I lost. It’s a fun progression system that makes Loop8 feel a little like a roguelite.

WHAT SUCKS

• Sluggish pacing. It takes a long time for Loop8 to get going, and even after I made it through the intro, things moved pretty slowly. Since this is a time loop game, there are a lot of recurring events, and there were times when the leisurely pace and repetition felt overwhelming. At its best, playing Loop8 felt relaxing, but at its worst, it can be pretty boring. I suspect a lot of players will wind up bouncing off the game in the first few hours, which is a shame.

• Nonstop loading screens. Not only is Loop8 a slow-moving game, but the action is constantly interrupted by loading screens. Loading usually doesn’t take more than a few seconds, but when you’re seeing at least one loading screen a minute, it can get pretty exhausting. The endless loading is easily the worst element of the game, and it makes all of the other smaller issues harder to deal with.

• Unclear instructions. Loop8 isn’t great at telling the player what they should do, even during tutorials. Some of the most frustrating moments in my playthrough involved being given instructions I didn’t know how to follow. At one point, I was told to request a blessing at a small shrine, but I wasn’t shown what the shrine looked like. I wound up checking different locations on the map until I finally found the right one. Every time, the game reminded me that I needed to ask for a blessing at a small shrine, which made me even more annoyed. Loop8 is already difficult to get into, and the lack of direction might leave players feeling like they should give up and play something else.

💬 Are you ready to step into the time loop of Loop8, or would you rather keep time ticking forward? Let us know in the comments!