Dialoop -Roguelite Puzzle- is a peculiar game. On the one hand, it’s a rogue-lite, another an adventure, then look again, and you’re playing an updated version of Columns. This is primarily a puzzle game where you have to match up shapes and colours in a row to score highly.
Instead of moving just the one tile, you scroll whole columns or rows at a time, which in turn can create some enormous combos as opposed to the Tetris methodical approach; chancers can hit lucky here. However, the adventure and rogue-lite aspects kick in as you’re actually up against opponents and not on a jolly, flipping tiles about at your leisure.
Bizarrely, having that foresight in Dialoop -Roguelite Puzzle- isn’t so intuitive as I’d got stuck on the tutorial. Too stubborn to skip it, I got through and found an automatic mode where the game helps, giving you a tad bit of autonomy that you figured out with your puny little brain. Once you start to get an understanding (if it seems like I’m assuming the ‘you’, it actually means me. It took me a while), it becomes clear that you have to score the required number of points on a stage to go through to the next.
The core gameplay of lining up matching colours and patterns is a tried and tested formula that multiples the rogue-like aspect in itself. However, I found that the game relies too much on modifiers. Because you have to reach a score threshold before moving on, it’s essential to predict your next move and get a minimum of two combos, or you won’t make it through. Completing a stage awards new blocks that will drop into play, with some scoring higher than others. This added management aspect is important so you don’t overwhelm yourself with too many choices, or there won’t be anything to line up.
Maths fans will get a boner for the percentages included, but someone with dyscalculia, such as myself, felt impotent at what this all meant. Then again, I’ve been reviewing games back-to-back this week, and perhaps I’m just too drained. I just felt that Dialoop -Roguelite Puzzle- had too many ideas and was a little complex unnecessarily. Which is a shame, as it looks the part, and the soundtrack is great, though the exploding blocks and inspiring music do clash.
So here’s the thing: coming back to that automatic option, I decided to give it a go. Instead of testing the water, I went balls-out and switched it to full automatic. What happened was one tile blasting after the next, tons of coins and instant progression. Dammit, I’ve just used a cheat code, haven’t I? Where is the game now if you can just spectate it and get the best scores? Aside from switching back or meeting halfway with semi-automatic, there are still perks.
Dialoop -Roguelite Puzzle- still has a story, what with it being an adventure, and there are multiple characters to unlock and discover their stories. Also, upon completing each stage, there is an area boss, and while you can beat it automatically, you still need to invest in the right modifiers to give you a chance. Alright, that’s not much of a challenge, but it was a good insight to see how the game can be played and granted a bit more confidence in experimenting with it.
Still, I’m quite on the fence with Dialoop -Roguelite Puzzle-. On the one hand, the combo style of play is quite demanding and takes some getting used to, but the carrot dangling of being able to automate it and unlock Steam achievements for essentially doing nothing feels like cheating, yet I couldn’t let it happen. If the ATM is spewing out cash, I’m not not going to pick it up. An interesting blend of ideas, but I have to remain a bit neutral on this one. It’s stumped me both with the decent but challenging gameplay, but also that the automatic option should be limited to semi-automatic and even that should have limited usage. Check out some other reviews, as that’s my honest opinion.
