Lone Ruin

Those of you who just want a straight, no-nonsense twin-stick shooter will find a lot to love about Lone Ruin, while those looking for a more ambitious project may want to look elsewhere. Tight controls, dark aesthetics, tough-but-fair gameplay, and a diverse collection of weapons and upgrades all come together to make this one a worthwhile purchase, with the caveat that it's also about as basic as a twin-stick shooter can get, which limits its staying power somewhat. We'd give Lone Ruin a light recommendation for anyone who considers themselves a twin-stick fan, though this may perhaps be one to wait for a sale.

Lone Ruin will test your patience, but let’s all be grateful the arcade action comes without the arcade cost. The “just one more try” gameplay benefits greatly from the snappy load screens and menus, even on the Nintendo Switch version, making it easier to recommend this brutally difficult and magical indie hit from Super Rare Games.

Fun spell-based roguelike twin-stick shooter on Switch

Lone Ruin is a beautiful and addictive game where you can choose your path and power-ups as you progress through these abandoned ruins fighting off numerous enemies. Unfortunately, the game is quite short, especially if you aren't interested in getting a high score on the Leaderboard.

While it’s an absolute stunner of a game presentation wise, looks aren’t everything, and I really do hope they eventually nail that sweet arcade-style gameplay loop the devs clearly wanted to pull off, perhaps by making it a bit speedier and faster paced to get a better rhythm in. Sadly, it just didn’t quite nail it here, and that hook never showed up for me.

Overall, Lone Ruin is a tough twin-stick shooter that hits the spot. The runs are quick and satisfying, with leaderboards and multiple weapons to encourage replay. It looks great and plays smoothly; just don't get too comfortable because it will all be over soon. Until you play again.

Lone Ruin takes a lot of what made Hades great, although it's level design misses a lot of marks and makes the flow of combat a little stale. If you're looking for a shot experience and you're a Hades fan, this is definitely a game you should check out.

If this review feels shorter than usual, that’s for a good reason. A talented roguelite enthusiast can see the end credits in around an hour. The initial weapon selection is refreshing, yes. I also love the color palette used throughout the game. But beyond that, this is a bog standard roguelite. Random assortments of enemies attack with increasing ferocity. The bosses require practice and experimentation to master. Your success is determined by repetition and fortuitous reward drops at the end of every stage. Honestly, the short runtime might be an upside, depending on what you’re looking for. Roguelite players may find Lone Ruin rather disappointing. On the other hand, if you’re looking for a short, arcade-style experience, maybe give this game a shot.

There could definitely be some balancing with the weapons, and bosses, as the bosses can feel like way more of a challenge than any of the enemies depending on your setup. That said though, it’s a very okay game with a lot of potential so maybe in the future with a few balance patches, it could stand on its own two feet for Hades fans waiting for the second game.

Lone Ruin is a game all about replayability that I saw little reason to replay after the credits.