Loop

Genre: Puzzle

Players: 1

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Review:

Loop, released on PC in 2022 and ported to Nintendo Switch in 2023, is a bit difficult to describe. Its closest relatives are probably 3D Exploration games like Journey, Abzu, and Sky: Children of the Light, but it’s hard to call this game a 3D Exploration game because you’re not doing much exploration, and the game’s levels are a bit too samey in appearance for exploration to be a driving motivation. I suppose the category this game fits in best is probably family-friendly character-driven Puzzle games, though it only barely qualifies as this, because the game’s “puzzles” are hardly challenging – they’re more like tasks to do than puzzles to solve. Push this stone slab here, stand on this panel here, and so on.

Anyway, this game’s story takes place without words, so it’s open to some interpretation, but it seems that you are a diminutive worshipper in a temple of sorts to participate in a cleansing ritual to clear said temple of a spreading malevolent lifeform of some kind. And in a manner similar to the game Journey, you will be taking on this challenge with a companion character, in this game controlled by an AI. Of course, this ultimately means that as lacking in challenge as the game’s “puzzles” already are, that little amount of challenge will be halved as your AI companion completes many of them for you.

While there’s not much depth to the gameplay, and no real exploring to be done, the presentation here is nevertheless quite excellent, with simple-looking humanoid 3D characters in stylized 3D environments that make great use of color and have an attractive appearance due to things like bioluminescent trees and atmospheric fog, and even the undulations of the malevolent lifeform you’re trying to destroy still have their own sort of beauty. These nice visuals are backed by an excellent atmospheric vocal soundtrack that fits the game perfectly.

So I feel like Loop is definitely aiming for the same sort of general vibe as Journey, a game many point to as one of the greatest videogames ever made. Is it on par with that game? Well… no. Even putting aside the lack of exploration or the fact that the visuals aren’t as visually stunning as Journey’s were back in the day, Loop’s puzzles seem designed to do little more than slow down the pacing – they’re not challenging enough to be satisfying to beat, they’re not interesting enough to be fascinated at seeing how they work, they’re just a thing to do between one part of the frequently samey-looking levels and the next part. And while at first it’s interesting to see your AI-controlled partner assist with these tasks, the novelty grows old quickly enough, and this partner doesn’t have the same amazing secret hiding that your partner in Journey had.

Loop is still a pleasant experience that features a beautiful aesthetic, and for $7 this is still going to be an enjoyable Puzzle game for players who aren’t looking to wrack their brains on any difficult puzzles. But it’s definitely not on the same level as its clear, direct inspiration. However, as long as you keep expectations in check, I think you’ll probably find this to be an overall pleasant experience.

tl;dr – Loop is a family-friendly character-driven Puzzle game that’s similar to 3D Exploration games like Journey and Sky: Children of the Light, but it lacks the exploration and ingenuity of those games. Furthermore, Loop’s puzzles are too simple to be engaging, but still slow down the game’s pacing. However, this game’s pleasant aesthetic still makes this an enjoyable experience, even if it can’t compare with the games that clearly inspired it.

Grade: C+

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