Lootbound

trying to bot game reviews. trying to get free advertisement from streamers. neat idea but shallow. and in light of the dev doing some really scummy actions; i cannot give this a positive review.

in light of recent events concerning interactions with the steam community i cannot recommend this game.

The game is fun for about an hour. After that, it's the same single map over and over again, I was actually a bit shocked by that. It's the same map as the one in the demo. After you beat it once, you've beat it completely.

Game difficulty is absurd, RNG being the reason. The primary way you get loot, upgrades, skills is via the dice roll system. If you go the safe or middle route you're underpowered for the run and will lose. If you go the risky route and roll poorly you get nothing and lose the run...

The devs have been caught handing out Steam gift cards in exchange for positive reviews, so now you can't trust the ratings for this game. It's scummy and I refuse to support it.

So... Lootbound is a hard one to rate. I kinda like the game! But that's despite its flaws, not because it lacks them. If i could give neutral, I would. I can't, and negative reviews are more frequently read, so here we are. I'll happily revise the review once some of the downsides get addressed tho! For context: i enjoy theorycrafting, won the game on every difficulty, maxed some characters, and lost maybe one run in total. The game is beatable and fun. Even before the early balancing patches, i couldn't understand the "it takes 20 runs of grinding to have a chance at the final boss" complaints. Just not true. Difficulty isn't the issue. The issue is how arbitrary and not thought-through many systems feel. Let's dig into it! [b]Characters:[/b] There are 4 characters. You play one and find 2 companions. So really, you choose the one you don't want in your party. Currently, half the roster feels lackluster or close to worthless. Paladin is great! Tanky, hits hard, good support. Great main, since your main dying is the only thing that ends a run. Witch is also great for debuffs and damage scaling against elites and the final boss. Bard, though... exists? His basic attacks hit like a wet noodle, his gear doesn't fix that, and he's basically an ability-oriented support in a game where 95% of combat is basic attacks because of mana. Warrior is a decent bruiser in theory (so a worse Paladin), but his items and the builds the game pushes on him are awful. If i could refuse Bard and Warrior and ban their loot pools, i would. [b]Attributes:[/b] Crit: +20% damage instead of the usual 2x, starting from ~5% chance, with few good ways to improve either. You can invest in it through meta-progression, but it still feels terrible. It's like crit was nerfed preemptively because someone was afraid it might be too good. Now it's a dead stat instead. Initiative: determines turn order. Great, if free. Building it through items means sacrificing a real stat for maybe being attacked one fewer time. Most enemies are slow; the fast ones get huge buffs players can't realistically match. Dead stat that drags down every item carrying it. Thorns: cool in theory, but requires getting hit. It's okay while you have armor, then falls apart as a damage strategy against elites and the final boss. Why invest in a stat that genuinely can't be used to win the game? Mana: say you have 80 mana, while abilities cost 3-17 (usually ~9), and you recover only 10% of your pool per won encounter. One 17-mana ability can take multiple fights to recover. Are they just THAT strong? No. Usually a heal, buff, debuff, or one twice as stronger hit (which sounds stronger than it is). Useful, yes. Worth making abilities once-every-few-fights resources? Not really. Combat becomes a slugfest of basic attacks with the occasional ability sprinkled in. Certain (good) map nodes also consume big chunks of mana, making it feel scarce even entirely without using abilities lol. Flat buffs/debuffs: fine for normal encounters. Problematic for longer fights, like the final boss. Within a few turns, it can stack more thorns, buffs or debuffs than your squishier characters can hope to survive. This puts the fight on a timer. You either win quickly, or lose. You choose how the boss functions, but that just means some options are "impossible picks", negating the idea behind building your own boss. I think i only lost once to the final boss, but the dread of losing because of badly designed mechanics is always there. [b]Potions & Bonfires:[/b] Potions help counter a bit of early-game bad item luck. After that? Basically a dead mechanic. You get too few to use casually, and they're not strong enough to actively seek out potion nodes. Quite the opposite, you avoid them. The 2-potion limit also prevents interesting stockpiling strategies. At most, you'll want some third-stage buff/debuff ones for the final boss. Similar story for bonfires. Other than revives, they're essentially a dead node. Why not give us options to make them relevant regardless of the situation? Instead of fully restoring one character, restore some HP for all? Or all their mana, but nothing else? Make them useful! Even a good bonfire is a node you'll actively avoid to maximize runs.. but if you stumble upon one, make it do [b]something[/b]. [b]Items:[/b] The inventory puzzle is genuinely cool and unique. Items have shapes and auras, and fitting them together can be fun. The issue is that items with awkward shapes, conditions, or negatives would need [b]AMAZING[/b] effects to be worthwhile.. and most just don't. Hammers tend to have great shapes, effects and auras, with few bad conditions. Swords, in comparison, are often huge, bent, and have lackluster effects, focusing on crit and initiative. Urgh. Some entire item categories are just insta-sells. Then there are items that rotate after every combat and only provide their aura from 2/4 sides. Half the effect/uptime, on average! So they must be really strong, yes? Nope. Worse even, considering the above. Most of them are already inconveniently large at a full 3x3, even without the added drawback. And then there are items that literally just disappear after 5 combats. Why? The opportunity cost of taking something temporary over something that'll benefit me for the rest of the game [b]must mean[/b] they're borderline broken, right? Nope. For comparison: the hammer 'Thunder of Worldtree Awakening' has a great compact shape, decent stats, an amazing aura, and buffs itself permanently by +20 damage every encounter. No drawbacks. That's a game-winning item if you get it early, and it feels amazing! So why is there armor with an awkward shape, mediocre stats, a mid aura at best... and the temporary modifier? Who or what determines which items get these drawbacks? A dice roll maybe? The drawbacks are in no way correlated to item power and make no sense whatsoever. I've genuinely picked such items as a "meh, better than nothing" choices without reading their full effect.. because who expects a meh-item to rotate or vanish? It's dumb. Insta-sells, the whole bunch. I only take these for the money. They may as well not exist other than to dilute the pool. If there are items with drawbacks, make them good. You could remove all drawback conditions without major balancing concerns. The items are that unexceptional. [b]Meta Progression:[/b] The town looked exciting in the demo, but most buildings are basically "read some lore", "look at items you've found" (without stats, so just a list of images lol), or "see monster weaknesses" (unlocking after you've defeated the monster ~50 times). Underwhelming. Pointless. Self-defeating. Actual progression is mostly character stat upgrades, plus new dice, potions and items. And you can't even see the shapes for the latter!? Who tries to sell me on a literal puzzle piece without showing its shape?! That's make-or-break information, don't you think? Also, devs: do you hate the Witch? Why is [b]every single unlockable[/b] for her a temporary item? Is this a mistake, or did she forget to bring a birthday present at some point? And unlockables should be good, no? I've used one for the "look at this garbage, hilarious" example above.. Consider adding meta-progression, like: * 3-6x reroll item rewards * ~3x take both rewards * disable purchased unlocks * ban/configure/exchange which items & potions can appear [b]TL;DR:[/b] Lootbound has some of the most arbitrary balancing/design choices I've seen in a while. Too many systems feel like they weren't thought through, don't interact, or sabotage other systems. Which is especially frustrating, since the game can be fun and has so, so much potential! Most of the above is easy to fix too. I'll revise my review, if the devs address some of it. That said, somehow i've got the nagging feeling that my positive examples from above will get nerfed instead - we'll see^^

I played the demo. I really liked the demo. I did not expect the "full" game to just be the demo but more grinding. I thought there would be more to this game. The equipment and skills have been nerfed since the demo. I thought there would be more mechanics and more events such as reflecting the configuration of equipment or events that knock off blocks It's incredibly repetitive - and this is speaking as someone who put lots of time into the demo. It's exactly the same with a thin skin of non-relevant lore. I'm sick of the RNG asking me to choose between honestly garbage 9 block equipment that boosts relevant equipment that drop via RNG The bosses are again repetitive and needlessly overpowered. How inappropriately balanced this game was when I maxed out the stats and it felt no different that starting fresh with a new save. I don't get the overpowered feel even in the first area from stat boosts. Leveling up the dice, equipment, and characters do not make a meaningful difference Each playthrough I've done is horrendously repetitive. Due to the RNG I am unable to test out any different builds. It's whatever is thrown Yes maybe a dodge build versus a vampire build versus a corruption build - however it's not up to any skill level The demo had an "attack all enemies" moveset which is now removed in the base game Seriously. How is this a "full game?" I'm multiple hours in and it is just a repetitive grind with nothing new. Is the level difficulty just a series of tankier enemies - literally the same three areas and the same set of enemies every time Is hopelessly fighting the RNG the point? There's not even an option to have some basic starting equipment Also the buffs in rooms are meaningless at the higher levels. What is +60 acid going to do when I'm up against an Elite and I'm the bard? Risks are not rewarded and playing it safe is not consistent with victory

I honestly forgot to say this so I’m editing the review now, actual shame on this community manager, Bard specifically you should suffer the brunt of this fallout and this games tarnished name are on you and anyone who shared this idea, for what they did, and shame on everyone still actively involved with this game after finding out. You happily took 15 dollars from every person buying your game and then were so set on your review scores that instead of giving us something worth our money and time that would make us want to positively review your game, you decided to cheat the system and put your heads in the ground afterwards by cleaning up the discord so anyone who goes to check can’t see it anymore, unfortunately the receipts were already posted on the large discussion thread detailing the disgusting business practices this company partook in, so you can’t scrub the evidence permanently. https://steamcommunity.com/groups/Sentinels_of_the_Store/announcements/detail/688641156126343745 Scummy practices for positive reviews being caught deserve negative reviews in kind, game is mid, loop falls off in entertainment way faster than its peers. Art direction was the only thing going for it, but with integrity as low as this, who genuinely cares.