Ovis Loop Early Access Impressions
A bionic sheep must defend its kind in a world controlled by wolves in Ovis Loop.
Ovis Loop. LIFUEL
Ovis Loop from Korean indie dev LIFUEL launched today into Early Access. I had a chance to play it ahead of release, and it’s a great action roguelite even at this early stage. Its gameplay reminds me of one of my favorite sidescrolling roguelites, Skul: The Hero Slayer.
You play as Omega, a bionic sheep with a massive sword, investigating your past and rescuing other sheep, who evil Dr. Wolf and his pack are using to harvest a blue substance they use as a drug and for cybernetic experiments. The tone is dark, fitting for a story about oppression and genocide in the post-apocalypse.
Ovis Loop. LIFUEL
The sidescrolling combat is fluid and dynamic, like in Skul or other great examples of the genre, like Dead Cells. You can attack, jump, and roll; besides the basic attack combo, you also have access to up to four special abilities that can be modified and upgraded. The various enemies come in two types, standard and elite, which require different approaches. Elite enemies have significantly more life and are difficult to stagger.
The ability modification allows for your fighting style to evolve over the course of a run. Modifications come in two flavors—active and passive. Active mods are the most fun, doing things like giving you a follow-up attack for the same ability that you can use before the cooldown timer kicks in. You earn the abilities, upgrades, and special relics after each combat stage, or through shops and random events.
Ovis Loop. LIFUEL
Each of the game’s levels is structured as a randomized map with branching paths all leading to the boss. Nodes on the map represent combat stages, shops, and random events. The map reveals what end-of-combat rewards will be for each stage so that you can plan your route according to your needs at that moment. The random events are usually encounters with some narrative, where you are given choices that can lead to different outcomes and rewards.
In the game’s meta-progression, you can unlock nodes on a skill tree, starting relics that can provide crucial bonuses, and new weapons. Several different kinds of currency are used for these permanent upgrades, which can be a little confusing at times, but it’s a very effective way for the devs to control the pace of upgrading certain things.
Ovis Loop. LIFUEL
The pixel art in Ovis Loop is fantastic. I loved the character, NPC, and enemy designs, particularly the large bosses. Animation, lighting, and particle effects give life to the art and greatly enhance the feel of the gameplay. Some of the art is genuinely shocking, even at the game’s resolution—seeing the sheep mounted to extraction machines that make it look like they’re crucified is an unforgettable image. I’m excited to see the game expand over its Early Access progress to see what new biomes and enemies the devs come up with. The game’s UIs are thoughtfully designed and equal in quality to the gameplay art.
Ovis Loop is a game I’ll be watching closely and frequently return to. It’s part of a saturated genre, but the game’s quality will make it stand out from its competition, and I’m confident that it’ll be regarded as one of the best among its peers.
Ovis Loop is available now in Steam Early Access.
Played on: Steam Deck
