Imagine being born in space and coming down to Earth to live with your long lost first cousin. You’re having a little difficulty adjusting to life on Earth when you’re told that you have a power called Demon Sight, which allows you to loop time when you die. Without much choice, you’re forced to fight some demons, looping time over and over until you can win. Well, you don’t need to imagine because Loop8: Summer of Gods, by XSEED Games, brings that to life. With a great concept, I had pretty high hopes for this game and was actually rather excited to play it. I don’t often get to play many Japanese based games in my free time, so this was something I was looking forward to.
First, I want to touch on the cinematics. The aesthetics of this game were breathtaking. I mean when I first started it, I was introduced to an anime like opening before I could even press play. The soundtrack, the camera work, animations, cutscenes, all of it was really just incredible to say the least. I almost wish I could explore more of the world and interact with it more just to get more of it. I think the foundation of that is there. By this, I’m talking about how there’s a small cutscene as you sit down for summer review, an optional event you can attend, but there isn’t any for when you’re working out, studying, or going out for a run on the beach. Although after the 3rd time of seeing it, most people would probably skip it (myself included), but I think it’d be nice to have, and it’d add something more to the game.
However, while I really enjoyed the cinematics, I will say I had a few issues with the gameplay. Funnily enough, my issues don’t lie in the fact it’s a turn-based game – I actually quite enjoyed most aspects of that gameplay. The issue happens to be the repetitiveness of the game. After the third loop, it begins to become frustrating and tiring. The player will constantly be forced to sit through the same dialogue, the same relationship building options, and the same skill building activities. It would’ve been nice if some of the relationship levels stayed after a loop, or you didn’t have to work as hard to rebuild them. Unfortunately, that’s not the case and the fast forward button became my best friend. I will say that the blessings (skill boosts) remain, but they aren’t really helpful in rebuilding relationships to their previous status. Some personalities in the game made these loops enjoyable, like Ichika or Saru, but other personalities were a bit harder to crack. In regard to the actual combat, that was, for the most part, pretty fun. The animations, the voice acting and dialogue, and player interaction were great to experience for the first time. The idea of attacking the Kegai, the demons in the game, with different moods (affection, friendship, and hatred) was interesting. It added more strategy to the game, forcing me to think more about my next move. But that’s all I could do: think about my next move. The game allows players to have a party of three, meaning there are 2 other AIs fighting with you. This takes a lot of the strategy and planning away from the players control, and you just have to hope the AI does what you want them to do. Unfortunately, it takes away from the gameplay, and oftentimes you have to account for misplays on the AIs part, which makes combat more difficult. Additionally, because the other characters are AI-controlled, if Nini, the main character, dies, then you have to restart even if other people are alive.
Overall, I think the foundations of Loop8: Summer of Gods are really good. The developers picked a good concept and have a good story to draw from, especially when you consider how much you’re able to pick up from dialogue, but the gameplay falls flat and ends up being repetitive and unfun. That being said, I still recommend playing the game for all its good features – the story, cinematics, voice acting, characters, etc.
Rating: 7/10
Loop8: Summer of Gods will launch on June 6, 2023, on Nintendo Switch, PS4, Xbox One, and Windows PC via Steam.
For more information, visit: https://store.xseedgames.com/product/loop8-summer-of-gods/
Related: Reviews by Maryanne Fadonougbo
"I've enjoyed gaming since I was little, playing games like Pokémon, Rayman, and Naruto every day. Besides that though, I've always had a love for writing. Now I am combining the two for the best of both worlds! My ultimate goal is to do narrative design for video games."
More Stories
Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn Goes Gold, Releases 20 Minutes of Explosive Gameplay
Aspyr Reveals STAR WARS: Bounty Hunter Heading to Consoles and PC August 1
Beyond Good & Evil: 20th Anniversary Edition Review for PlayStation 5