Looped

It's like a romantic cartoon with a few interactive elements, about 15 minutes plus whatever time it takes you to find the hidden items and the true ending, took me about 40 minutes in total, mostly because I tried a few theories that were wrong at first. I am a bit disappointed that finding all the items unlocked the old puzzles, they were not very interesting in the first place, I wish there was another animation or something, not very rewarding in that regard.

I played a couple of similar games on steam over the years, and I see this frequent complaint that something like this should not be worth $4-5, but you know, it's really up to you, I got a couple of laughs out of it, I thought the animation was hilarious, and I am happy to support traditional animation. Would I prefer if the game was a little more on the adventure game side with this art style? Yea probably. The game is presented as a looping experience, although you don't really need to loop it to unlock the true ending, so that confused me a little, I figured I had to like replay the events and maybe do something different several times, but not really.

Puzzles were pretty basic and not difficult, although a little confusing due to the lack of hotspots or pointer indication, still most of them took me about 30 to 60 seconds at most. The only slightly annoying part was the true ending puzzle, if you fail it, you will have to watch a few cutscenes again, and it's timed as well, not actually difficult, but it might take you a couple tries to get it.

Pros:

(+) I thought the story and the characters were very funny, I got a couple of good laughs out of it, as well as just several cute and heartwarming moments.

(+) The animation was very enjoyable.

Feedback:

- it might be a good idea to add achievements, unless you read the store description you may not even realize the game has that secret ending, perhaps one for every chapter, 1 for proper ending, and 1 for collecting all items

- the game is not difficult, but generally I would prefer to always have hover indication for interactive spots, that way you not just clicking around on anything that looks interesting

- I wish the reward for finding all of the items was better, something completely new. Not sure if I unlocked the clue doing them, but still, why old generic puzzles, not a way to reward the player

Overall Thoughts: 7/10

It's a small experience with a few adorable moments, there is not a lot else to say. Do you want to pay about $5 for a cute animation with a few small optional things, that is really up to you. Not many games make me laugh these days, so at least based on that I give it positive review. Hopefully something a little more gameplay heavy next time.


Niche, obscure and underrated games: http://store.steampowered.com/curator/31294838-Hidden-Gem-Discovery/

What if the love of your life just appeared through a portal whilst you were watching TV?

Love! The greatest natural high you can get. It can lift you up, and bring you down. Some of us have trouble finding love and others find it easily. Not often do we find love whilst sitting on the sofa and watching your favourite drama and a portal opens up and spews out your soul mate. I don't remember anyone ever saying that when you ask "how did you meet?"

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3280693492

For these dog people that is how it happened, and we watch as their love blossoms and grows into something beautiful through the medium of interactive art. Pressing things on the screen advances the story, and if you are stuck, usually something flashes to point you in the right direction. There are a few easy puzzles like joining pieces of paper together and clicking things, and a few medium difficulty puzzles like building a machine or shooting ducks at the fair. Nothing is too difficult though, and you may have to experiment and persevere a little, but generally it is quite easy to find a way to continue the story.

The story is quite short at about an hour, but it is full of humour and is very charming to watch. I loved the artwork and the animation. It just made me smile throughout, and there are some really nice tunes playing that compliment the wacky and abstract visuals and story.

There are eight very short episodes which go through the evolution of their relationship. In each episode there is an Easter Egg that you can find but this is not dependent on continuing the tale, it's just for a bit of fun. If you do find them all you will be able to repeat the puzzles without playing the episodes.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3280693556

After the final chapter, I was left wondering if there was something I was missing or had not done, as the ending was a little perplexing, and again, I was thinking to myself have I done this right or am I missing something? The game started again with the same story, which I repeated once more, yet the same outcome. Is this the loop, and can I stop it, or is this meant to be?

So, I reached out to the developer and there is a way to stop the loop and see the ending, and if you do not stop the loop it will just continually restart with the same story. The final chapter is the hardest puzzle of all, and I don't want to spoil it, but there is something you can do to stop the loop so just pay attention to some of the things you do within the game building up to that climatic moment.

I also found out that Looped is based on a short film which is currently doing the rounds at International Film Festivals, and the characters were first introduced in this film, so do take a look, as it is very entertaining too.

🍳Conclusion🍳

Looped is a really fun and imaginative short interactive story that has an uplifting feel and shines through with its positive messages of love. Adapted from a short film, the production values are impressive with great visuals and sound, and I hope there are more projects in the future.

The finale can be a little confusing so just be aware that there is a puzzle at the end that you need to solve to see the true ending and break the loop.

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The short story in this game is told trough very good animation and it has its funny moments where you will get some laughs out of it.

The mini games and puzzles are not that hard to solve but i think that is what makes this interactive story so fun to play through becuse the focus are more one the hartwarming story about finding love then on the minigames and puzzles.
Wich in my own opionion is what an interactive game should be.

I recommend to give this game a chanse and experiance the animation, music and story for yourselfs.