A fun, friendly, and winnable roguelite.
As much as I really enjoy roguelite games, there are so many releases and early access going on all the time that it’s hard to keep up with one of them. I always start with one, end up putting it down for other games, and then usually go back with little idea what I was doing, or find a currency or system that I need to get involved with. You may be overwhelmed by the number of So I was pleasantly surprised when I jumped on Little Noah: Scion of Paradise. It had a simple approach to gameplay mechanics and unique combat that kept you playing until the end.
You are thrown into the fray as Noah Little. She’s an up-and-coming alchemist searching for her father, and has crash-landed her airship on these mysterious ruins in the sky. Early on, we meet a talking cat who has lost her memory and is being attacked by monsters. After saving him, he reluctantly joins your quest, regaining his memory and trying to solve what’s going on in these ruins and why these monsters are here, and by trying to figure out what’s going on in the story. Frankly, this story didn’t really engage me.In the end, it’s a somewhat typical good vs. develop into a story.
With all these monsters running amok, it’s good that Alchemist Noah can turn them into familiars to fight them on his journey. Starting a run gives him three familiars that act as weapons or attacks. These familiars can be all sorts of creatures, such as ogre with a club, a small green dragon, chibi-style anime characters, such as a red-haired woman with a mace, or a ninja who shoots wind blades on the battlefield. . Each of these little guys is placed into a series or series of attacks that you unleash with the attack button. So if the ogre is first in line, it makes a big swipe at the club. If the ninjas are next in line, their attack will be the next attack, followed by the attack after the familiar.
Some familiars do not have traditional attacks. For example, you have the familiar of a small robot that shoots icicles from its body in all directions, and another familiar can appear in the air and attack from above, so the order in which you make these attacks can really make a difference. Luckily, you can change the order of your familiar’s attacks in the menu at any time during the run. In addition to the 5-hit combo, you can also slot familiars into special skill slots, depending on the familiar. This allows for more powerful versions of basic attacks or entirely new moves, depending on the familiar. The skill does multiple overhand swings and fires lava stones with each swing, making it a much more devastating attack.
Collected familiars are rated with a star rating from 1 to 3, with 3 stars representing the best and most powerful familiars you can have on your team. A similar rarity scale is equipment that can be acquired while running, mostly offering passive buffs. There is no transaction or gacha system. I believe this is because his Cygames, a prominent developer of mobile games known for Granblue and Dragalia Lost, developed Little Noah.
Being a roguelite, it has a lot of systems for upgrading items and abilities. You can collect incense and give it to familiars to increase their stats. But other than that, there is only one currency associated with all other unlocks and upgrades. This is the mana you get at the end of each pass or fail run. All items earned in that run will be converted into this currency which is used to purchase additional equipment items that can be found in the run. New familiars are also unlocked with mana. This is also a way to permanently increase stats such as health, various damage resistances, and attack damage. I really liked how simple everything was because it allowed me to focus.
Finished Little Noah: Scion of Paradise in about 10 hours. It was really exhilarating to finish the match in this style in such a short period of time. Simple gameplay of running, finding cool familiars, and figuring out the best order to place them I really appreciate his loop. I knew how good or bad a particular run was, so I didn’t get stuck in the system. Gone, I’ll still come out of one with some currency to work on the next upgrade I want. Now that I’m done with Little Noah, there are some optional modes such as the Daily Challenge mode I wish I had, but I still had a good time and would recommend it to anyone curious.
