Megaloot is an addictive RPG Roguelike Dungeon crawler based on inventory and resource management.
I used to have a friend back in first grade who used to get into a lot of fights. Often with me. A few times I have come home with a bloody nose courtesy of this friend and many times, I have given him a black eye.
No matter how often this would occur, it would not be long before we were sitting together exchanging lunches and talking about random nonsense like nothing had happened.
Playing Megaloot, I was for many a reason, reminded of this friend, wherever he may be today.
(MegaLoot): An Addictive concept
In a single sentence, I will call Megaloot the roguelike where you are an RPG adventurer’s accountant but since I have a review to write, I use more sentences.
The gameplay of Megaloot is something that will make you go, ‘Oh, how did I not think of that?’ but taken to a very complex level.
From the get-go, you select which character from the list you will choose. Each Character has a unique class to them and certain states that shall come into play later. (Just pick Fael, the rest are pretty much useless.)
Once the game begins, the Screen splits into two. One side shows a game screen straight from the SNES era of games and the other will have your inventory.
Underneath the inventory is the shop with 4 items for sale that you can randomise for 2 coins, and above the inventory are your states—you know, health, armour, money, Magic, etc.
There is also a tab that shows you more detailed stats but that does not have any actual use so forget about it.
The goal in this dungeon crawler is to buy items like armour, enchantments and weapons from the store and place them on your character’s body while they go through enemy after enemy in the dungeon.
You cannot change anything about your character mid-fight and if you die two times, that is a game over. The goal is to try and get a high score.
That being said, it is not that simple. There are little things that you must manage that will make this a game worth exploring further.
Like, each item has an assigned class and you are only allowed to have 4 different classes equipped at a time. (1 class comes with your character.)
If you have items from, let’s say. wood, magic, scout and speed class, then you will not be allowed to attach any item from a different class.
Since the roguelike gets harder as it progresses, managing this becomes integral and gets you hooked on the gameplay.
My end
During my time playing this game, the best I could do was reach the end of Stage 4. I did see people reach up to 30 or 40 levels so you can take that as you will.
This of course came from me trying to explore every aspect of the game over trying to reach that high but, I will say that it’s no easy game beyond.
Issues Exist
As always, this game is not without its issues and it has a few.
The problem stems from the game not explaining certain things from the get-go. Things like the difference between all the characters and certain effects of states. For example, I noticed this energy counter on every character in this RPG dungeon crawler.
It was a limit to how many times said character could attack in a round. Increasing or decreasing the size of said limit was never clear and if you ran out mid-fight then that meant instant game over. No matter how much health or armour you had on you.
The reason why I said Fael is the only good character to use, was because he was the only character that did not have this limit.
This is not some light issue, it really kills any reason to experiment with other characters.
Another problem I had with Megaloot is its UI. Very thick and often glitchy, it ends up covering over the thing you want to click, leaving you to waste some seconds or sometimes click the wrong thing. That may not sound like a lot but in a game like this, it can get very annoying.
Apart from that, I can say that I expected a bit more on the RPG gameplay side of things.
Maybe a few game-changing effects, bonuses or whatnot to spice up a level. As I see this could get a little boring after a while with the gameplay staying so strictly simple. However, this could just be me so I would make a fuss about it.
(MegaLoot)I am not addicted, you are!
So now the question arises, do I recommend the roguelike game?
Well, it isn’t all that black and white. Let’s see. I did enjoy it and it got me wanting to play more each time and I turned it on. However, a few sessions later, I feel that I have enjoyed this game to my heart’s content.
Will I ever go back to it?
I honestly don’t know. Maybe when I don’t have anything else to play.
Regardless, Megaloot is a complete dungeon crawler and has a well-functioning roguelike gameplay concept.
If you are a nutter who likes getting high scores and proving yourself to be leaderboard material. You will not get a more perfect RPG than this. Well, in the lower indie market of 2024 so far, at least.
