Apart from collecting
that lovely full-fat loot,
you can also pick up an
area-effect time-limited
attack. This ranges from
a Lightning Rune to a
Fire Rune. Each deals
massive damage at
close range to the player
– when you grab one of these it’s balls to the wall time! The best method for quick room clearance: just pile into as many enemies before your Rune runs out while using the right stick in a whirling death blossom of destruction!
HoL definitely draws from the Rogue-like genre, in that once you get addicted to the game, it becomes about how many dungeon levels you can clear. My current best on Vita is 17. Once you die, it’s back to level 1 with a level 1 character. As you level your character, your main attack powers-up increasing its damage and spread, so trying to manage your health is paramount to surviving deeper and deeper. Fortunately you will find health hearts as you kill monsters and open chests, and if you’re lucky, as each dungeon floor will have a shop where you can spend your haul, you might just find a health potion or a sturdy shield (among other things) for sale.
Finally for even more content, every now and then you might find an additional room on a random floor, the Quest Room, denoted by a ‘?’ above the door. Here you will find the Dungeon Master giving you a timed quest for an item. This could be rescue 10 trapped villagers, or kill 5 Cyclops, for a Titanium Shield, or an XP potion etc…
Conclusion
Overall I cannot play HoL enough. I never tire of it. It’s a perfect blend of grinding and challenge, and so much nicer to play now it’s on the Vita. From its art style to the awesome music from the legend chip tune man himself, Gavin Harrison, Heroes of Loot is one not to miss. And speaking of that music, HoL took a slightly different approach as the main dungeon-crawling accompaniment is more of a 16bit traditional affair (awesome with headphones!), but the shops and quest rooms contain those genre defining ‘chip choons’ well all love from the 8bit era.
Heroes of Loot is the Gauntlet love-letter we’ve all been waiting for. Keep watch for those secret rooms! Now where did I put my Elven tights???
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