What is your favorite loot-based game dissimilar to PoE and why?

Please share!

"dissimilar" = not a quasi-isometric ARPG.
"loot-based" = an emphasis on iterative gameplay mechanics, and RNG-based drops which provide permanent upgrades to your avatar(s).

I'll go first:

1. Makai Senki Disgaea (1&2 only)
2. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
3. Borderlands
(Honorable mention: Terraria.)

Why? Because all three provide really fun gameplay without the loot, so the loot drops (and leveling) just feel like an additional reward for doing what you already love.

It's also notable that all three were pioneers of a sort in the extent to which they brought RNG loot to their respective genres of TRPG, platformer, and FPS. Perhaps there are others in other genres that I don't know about?

Because that's what I'd love to see: A sidescrolling sci-fi shooter that lets you replay levels for additional exp and the chance at some sort of armor or weapon upgrade, and a boss (we'll call him Baal-borg) which guarantees tons of drops at the best ilvl.

Or a combat racing game where your opponents occasionally drop items which are not just good for that one race but which are upgrades equippable in future races. Play it safe and run for the finish for the gold which will let you buy more in the item shop, or try and destroy as many enemies as possible in hopes of a rare drop. In true ARPG fashion, drops can be equippable in different kinds of vehicles, and not necessarily the one you are currently using. Rock n' Roll Racing on steroids.

An on-rails lightgun game which is too difficult for most to finish the first time through, but enemies will occasionally drop an armor or weapon upgrade which you can equip during future play sessions. Give optional branching paths which are extra difficult but extra rewarding, but gate them with some sort of high-HP/low-damage monster which is skipped if not killed in time, so that beginners don't accidentally get in over their heads.

Or even a sports game where every time you manage to hit a home run you clock a spectator in the gut and s/he projectile-vomits some sort of power-up onto the field (a cap, or glove, or bat, or whatever, with attached bonuses) that you can use to upgrade one player on your team. And put gold spectators throughout which are guaranteed to hurl an extra-rare item if you are lucky enough to hit one.

Unfortunately, none of the above exist (to my knowledge), but if you guys know of any interesting loot-based games, please share them! I love this mechanic.

Hellgate. Such a great idea so poorly supported. Without Hellgate we wouldn't have Borderlands.

Dragon's Crown. Imagine D3 as a side-scrolling beat-em-up, with Frazetta-inspired aesthetics, fairly deep item system, endless dungeons and a great soundtrack from a classic Final Fantasy composer. WHAT'S NOT TO LOVE?!

And of course Warframe.

"

gibbousmoon wrote:

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

I have still yet to play this, surprisingly... I keep meaning to, but always get involved with something else, like...

"

And of course Warframe.

I’m a recent convert, but this was the first one I thought of. I have played many enjoyable games, but I haven’t been captivated with one this much since PoE (and more recently Doom, but the topic is loot-based).

Another one is Elder Scrolls Online. I absolutely love the setting of Tamriel, but sandbox driven character progression has never been able to hold my attention for long. I like confined systems with boundaries to be explored and broken, not systems that are wide open right out of the box. ESO provides not-quite-but-nearly as good of a single player experience as any of the traditional Elder Scrolls titles, but with more MMO-esque class constraints—which, I think, ZeniMax did a fantastic job of designing to the open-ended feeling typical of the franchise, without actually being open (and consequently broken).

But since you asked for 'favourite', I'm going to pick one. Dragon's Crown. I can't wait for the Ps4 remaster.

Morrowind or Super Metroid if Morrowind is too similar. I'm not sure Super Metroid qualifies as loot based, though to me the only loot that qualifies is stuff you will use.

Too many games now are Loot+Junk based.

"

DalaiLama wrote:

Morrowind or Super Metroid if Morrowind is too similar. I'm not sure Super Metroid qualifies as loot based, though to me the only loot that qualifies is stuff you will use.

Too many games now are Loot+Junk based.

Spoiler

I'd much rather see far fewer drops and have almost all drops be useful stuff for their level reqs. It doesn't mean they would be improvements over current gear. Something in PoE with +115% phys damage shouldn't have a +2 to 5 physical mod for instance.

The distinction isn't between "good loot" and "junk loot." Rather, it is between "deterministic loot" and "RNG loot."

Super Metroid is a really fun game (I played it completely), but all of its loot is predetermined, which is a different kind of design paradigm and doesn't scratch the same itch that the games I talked about do.

"

But since you asked for 'favourite', I'm going to pick one. Dragon's Crown. I can't wait for the Ps4 remaster.

The Vita version has been sitting on my shelf unopened for the past year or two. Perhaps I'll give it a try. It looks like a game that would be a lot more fun with a buddy (couch co-op), however, so I guess I'll buy the PS3 version and play that instead if I like it.

I assume you've also played Princess Crown, Odin Sphere, and/or Muramasa? Any thoughts on how they compare?

Oh, and it's funny you should mention Hellgate. I was recently looking into giving it a try with one of the unofficial patches which unlock previously MP-only features in the single-player game.

The GF recently blasted through Odin Sphere Leifras...thingy. Was a great watch, but not really my style. Odin Sphere is a more straight-forward platformer with RPG elements whereas Dragon's Crown is a direct descendant of the mighty Dungeons and Dragons: Shadow Over Mystara, which George Kamitani also worked on when he was with Capcom. It also taps even older Capcom beat-em-ups like The King of Dragons and Knights of the Round. It's probably the greatest fantasy brawler ever made; the deep item system is almost a bonus when you consider just how shallow most 'slick' side-scrolling beat-em-ups tend to be. To this day I feel blessed Dragon's Crown was actually made in the current gaming environment, with such great (if controversially voluptuous) art, an adherence to classic fantasy tropes, a seriously epic Hitoshi Sakimoto soundtrack and lots of tongue-in-cheek humour.

Dragon's Crown is definitely much more fun with friends but I find the 'grind' palatable because it's still action-orientated. I had it on my vita when I was stuck in hospital for a few weeks last year. Probably the most I've played any single game in years...And I think I only really focused on the Fighter and the Wizard. You can do different builds of each class too, although the gear you find tends to dictate that.

re Hellgate: nononono. We DO have Borderlands and Destiny and Warframe now. Hellgate is...a fond memory of a relationship that was really little more than a childish crush on someone later proven very problematic. Let's leave it at that!

Borderlands was fun when it came to characters and just playing the game, loot and monster progression felt like garbage to me and ended up using cheats with a cheat engine script. I liked skyrim/fallout though, they both had interesting tree options and good interaction with crafting and useful stuff you find.

7 Days to Die: because I find it to be a unique game. It's kind of like minecraft in the sense that its a first person open world game, but that's about as far as the similarity goes. You're placed in a random spot on a randomly generated map (unless you play the Navezgane map, it's a special map that isn't randomly generated) in the middle of a zombie apocalypse that's a result of the 3rd world war. It's got a fairly unique ailment system, where the climate can drastically affect you if you're not geared for it.

You're constantly on the move hunting animals (or farming veggies if you're opposed to eating meat in a game :P) or scavenging houses, ruins, abandoned vehicles and even fairly large towns in the search for food and materials to craft better equipment or weapons. The crafting system is pretty neat, and also frustrating at times. You need to find and read manuals in order to unlock certain crafting recipes. (And much like PoE you'll want to bookmark the wiki, this isn't a game that holds your hand either)

Finding a safe-ish place to start a base can be fun. Once you've got enough materials and knowledge you can start upgrading your base with traps (auto-machine gun/shotgun turrets, spike traps, rotating blade traps, etc...). Oh and speaking of the zombies, the game gets it's name from the fact that every 7th night you're greeted by a massive horde that can make quick work of poorly set-up shelters.

I'm afraid my sad excuse for a game description really doesn't do it justice, check it out if you get a chance. It's on both PC (it's on Steam) and console (PS4 & Xbox One), played both and thoroughly enjoyed them. It's also got a multiplayer online mode that can either be cooperative or competitive. You're free to work together or raid other players bases (beware of the traps I mentioned earlier!). It's been around for around 4 years and it just keeps getting better and naturally the PC version is ahead of the console versions feature-wise. :)

Dev description/gameplay preview

Looks great, Shovelcut. I'll check it out. Thanks!

@鬼
I'll probably ignore your advice to stay away from Hellgate, though I may regret it. I'm too curious to do otherwise.