In a genre that is saturated at this point, Dragon Loop stands out as a must-play metroidvania, but it has some shortcomings and needs fine-tuning before it can be considered one of the top post-2020 games in the genre.
As the name might imply, this is one of the few games to mix time travel into the metroidvania genre. While the mechanic is clearer compared to Ultros (which was at times too vague and obtuse), the time mechanic still has a steep learning curve, and the opening hours can feel stressful. However, after playing this blind and nearly 100% over about 30 hours, looping dozens of times, it’s not a big deal, as no real-time constraints exist. It’s another example where the psychological pressure of time mechanics is often worse than the actual mechanic.
Dragon Loop is broken into five days before automatically looping back to the first day. New paths open or close depending on when or how you arrive at a specific location. However, it’s not as easy as just forging ahead at different times, as a majority of the paths are closed off behind the many movement upgrades available. In fact, the game pushes the player to rush ahead for the first 10 hours rather than worry about side paths. Rest assured, though; eventually navigation becomes more intuitive, and moving between areas is more seamless than it first appears. At some point, players can freely move backwards and forwards in time to the many nodes on the map.
With so many metroidvanias offering the standard dash, double jump, and ground pound (which this game admittedly has, too), it’s refreshing to see so many unique ways to get around, but writing any more than that would spoil the fun! Just be ready; they are a blast to utilise, though sometimes the button configurations are vexing. The main culprit is accidentally triggering an uppercut when all you wanted was a normal attack against a boss, as precious moments are wasted going ever higher.
Once the movements are mastered, Dragon Loop is a joy to explore, jam-packed with secrets, but never too cryptic, striking a great balance. One of the neatest things to come across is all the huts with mini-games, around 20, with fantastic rewards each time, usually artifacts. These games serve as breaks from exploration, and most are easy enough to win on a first try, or second or third at most. Other valuable finds are beads, ichor, and souls.
Artifacts can be unlocked by spending souls. The amount of soul that can be carried is limited at first, but can be expanded by finding items around the map. Six artifacts can be equipped and range in usefulness, but the HP and attack bonuses are the most beneficial. Annoyingly, for most players, one slot is likely to be reserved for an artifact that shows enemy and boss HP, as that isn’t shown naturally, which is a minor but noticeable flaw, so effectively there are only five slots. By the endgame, on a personal level, one other slot had to be used for extra healing, and for the last boss rush, where you need to fight six bosses in a row – yes, six – two of those slots were for healing, so it’s not as flexible as would have been ideal.
Beads are used to increase HP, attack, and the SP meter, among other stats. Some of the cheapest stats require just two beads per level, while some of the best need eight or nine. With some of the hardest bosses, it can often be worthwhile to sacrifice some HP for attack power to dispose of them more quickly.
Souls are also used to purchase shields at checkpoints between days, which effectively increase your HP by protecting it for a few hits, and last either for an entire day or until a game over. Therefore, if there is an especially tough boss, constantly spending souls might not be the best idea. There is more of an incentive to “get good” and learn boss patterns before it’s worthwhile to buy souls, especially since the best artifacts cost hundreds of souls to unlock and are better reserved for those.
Ichor functions as a second currency, also limited at first until more items are found to increase carrying capacity. There are 215 by the end of the game and are used to level up spirits. There is a wide variety, 24 in total, but the sword is the most useful. The SP meter, mentioned above, determines how long spirits can stay out before a cooldown period, and most, if not all, must be beaten as sub-bosses before you get them as spirits.
The hub of Dragon Loop is the soul realm, where most of the above can be accomplished. However, annoyingly, sometimes that’s the only place to, for example, unlock an artifact or level up a spirit. These options should be available every day, like the artifact and bead loadout are. It’s small, but it’s an example of a great system being hindered by this unnecessary friction, making things inconvenient for no real reason.
As innovative as the movement upgrades are, there are a few annoyances, mostly found in the boss fights. Fast-moving bosses, by themselves, aren’t necessarily a problem. They can be intimidating, but, like in Hollow Knight, they can also be overcome through persistence and learning attack patterns. The biggest issue, and one that Dragon Loop shares with Team Cherry’s adventure game, is the obnoxiously long delay between pressing the healing button and actually receiving a desperately needed heal.
In the middle of a chaotic boss fight, those extra seconds can feel like an eternity. Rather than making healing so vulnerable, it would have been better to make it instantaneous, even if it meant bosses hit harder or have more health as a possibly fair trade-off. Too many times, a game over comes while waiting for a heal to activate, which is especially frustrating with a boss on the ropes.
However, unlike most games in the genre, which make it very obvious why you received damage, Dragon Loop often gets lost in the flash. Few games will leave players wondering what has hit them as many times as this. In top-tier games in the genre, it is always clear exactly what needs to be dodged, even if pulling it off is difficult. Here, it’s more likely to be left confused rather than challenged – but it has to be said, attacks can be telegraphed clearly while still being extremely difficult to avoid. The combination of visual effects, flashing lights, and awkward hit boxes often makes it difficult to tell whether a genuine mistake was made. It is worth saying, though, that beating the game, including the six boss rush at the end for the true ending, is very satisfying. Just be aware: boss fights are plentiful in Dragon Loop.
Aside from these issues, this is a gorgeous game with hand-drawn animation, but beyond being beautiful, it has character too. The artists deserve a ton of applause; this could go toe-to-toe with some of the best indie retro-style games ever made. Unlike a lot of games that skew too much towards muted colours or a limited palette, each area is bursting with many different styles, from snow-capped mountains to repressive sewers and beyond, with some of the best moments being in the short transitions between areas. The detail in every enemy, background, and (despite being busy at times) even attacks is impressive. The sound design, though nothing groundbreaking, helps Dragon Loop give off a mystical feeling, and some of the sound effects, especially when unlocking an artifact, have an appealing, almost addictive quality.
There is also a fox coin trading system for those inclined to do some trading, but it’s completely optional. Regardless, it features one of the neatest NPCs in the game!
