LONE RUIN

Nothing special compared to the alternatives, but its alright.

Man...Lone Ruin seems like a game that has some potential, but very early on I saw everything the game had to offer, which wasn't much at all...and what was here? Not very enjoyable either... So, this is a roguelike twin-stick shooter. You start each run by picking from a few spells, but nothing really cool or unique. Lightning, fireballs, an energy boomerang...pretty bland stuff. Then you select from two room options, each with their own trinkets to augment your run, or selecting a new spell. Some rooms let you select an upgrade option too, either a trinket or spell. Probably within the first hour or two, I saw everything the game had to offer and the runs just boiled down to selecting the things I knew would help me succeed. Experimentation wasn't the name of the game here. Combat sucks. I like the graphical style of the game, but it makes spotting enemies annoying. Enemies also just [b]APPEAR[/b] randomly, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but sometimes the spawns are frustrating. They also appear off-screen and will hit you with their projectiles without any real warning. There is [i]some[/i] tell (they flash a bit) but with everything looking so similar it's difficult to always tell, especially when the action does get tense. I will say that the runs can be fun when the right combination of items/spells happen. Being able to zap groups of enemies with lightning arching all over the place as a blackhole pulls them in is neat. The spell upgrades can be pretty fun, although it's all up to randomness if your run gives you a chance to get those upgrades. There is a shop on some of the floors, but it doesn't always give you [b]anything[/b] of what you need and instead has random (useless) items. [B]Recommend or Nah?[/B] I can't recommend this game simply because there isn't much to offer, and the fun wanes pretty early on. There aren't many spells or items, and they don't necessarily make things entertaining either. The game doesn't feel like there was any real energy injected into it. It feels flat, unfortunately. The things this game does fine are overshadowed by the stuff I just didn't enjoy. Frustrating combat, lackluster enemies/bosses, and everything just felt too same-y. Skip this game and find something more worthwhile in this genre. [B]Rating: ⭐✨/5 (1.5/5)[/B]