Lone Ruin Logo
Lone Ruin Icon
Lone Ruin

Developer: Cuddle Monster Games

Publisher: Super Rare Games

Shooter
Arcade
Roguelike
  • Price: $14.99
  • Release Date: Jan 12, 2023
  • Number of Players: 1
  • Last on Sale: Jan 29, 2024 [$5.09]
  • Lowest Historic Price: $5.09
  • ESRB Rating: E [Everyone]
Reviews:
  • This roguelike twin-stick shooter has its own sense of style, but its somewhat vanilla arcade-like grind detracts from its long-term viability

    As a massive fan of twin-stick arcade shooters and roguelike progression alike, the Switch has offered a pretty consistent flow of engaging titles that satisfy both cravings. That said, precisely because the platform is so flush with great titles, newcomers to the party like Lone Ruin have a tougher bar to clear in order to make a lasting impression. Make no mistake, if you’re looking for a shooter that emphasizes the arcade side of things, focused primarily on bringing more and more challenging enemies on a consistent basis to deal with, this will likely scratch your itch nicely. On the roguelike side there are certainly quite a number of options you’ll have in terms of your attacks and skills are concerned, with a bit of a learning curve to go with them as you understand which suit your style best. The issue becomes whether or not these elements together, when lacking a bigger picture or some juicy meta progression of some kind, are enough to make it stand out and in this regard it stumbles a bit. Its look is distinctive (though not always in a good way since your view in some circumstances can be obstructed) but there just seems to be a spark missing that would take the experience to the next level, leaving it as being merely decent.


    Justin Nation, Score:
    Good [7.5]
2024

Nindie Spotlight

. All rights reserved