A twin-stick shooter and an action roguelike are two genres that go together like peanut butter and jelly. In a roguelike, skill and precision are the keys to success, and the twin-stick style provides exactly that. So how else can we make this unique genre stand out if the framework itself is solid? Maybe some magic like Lone Ruin?
Review Takeaways
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Twin-stick control makes it easy
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A decent variety of spells with distinct effects
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Potential for discovering item and weapon synergies
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Presentation is light, with no real story
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Short, not much replayability
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Score: 6/10
Besides a brief cutscene at the beginning, Lone Ruin doesn’t seem to have much of a story. From what I can tell, you’re a spellcaster who travels to a ruined city by magical corruption. After you receive the beginning spell from a character with dialogue, the game becomes entirely silent. You won’t find an evolving story here as you will in Hades; Lone Ruin is a game about the gameplay first and foremost.
As far as I could tell, the only differences between difficulties were the amount of health you start with and how much damage enemies do. After only a few attempts, I completed a run on normal difficulty. I don’t feel a particular urge to go back and play. There are detailed leaderboards if you’re the kind of person who likes to speedrun and opt for perfection, and if you’re bored and want to occupy yourself for 30 minutes, it’s not a bad game. Unfortunately, you won’t find a commitment beyond that here.
Nintendo Switch and PC users can play Lone Ruin.
