Backpack Hero

by Aethyna Jul 24, 2023 | 1 Votes | 70 Played | 0 Reviews

10 rate

Genres:

Strategy

Graphics:

Labels:

Deck Building , Fantasy Setting , Roguelike/roguelite , Collectathon

Platforms:

Publishers:

Different Tales Backpack Hero is a unique inventory management-based roguelike where how you arrange your inventory of loot determines how far in the dungeon you can go. The game features several character classes, each offering a different turn-based experience, along with a diverse loot table, and an insane variety of game modes. Play Now Similar Games

People Also Played

Summary Plotline Gameplay Graphics/ Sound Conclusion

Summary

Backpack Hero is a unique inventory management-based roguelike where how you arrange your inventory of loot determines how far in the dungeon you can go, or whether or not you can reach the coveted prize hidden deep within. The game features several character classes, each offering a refreshingly different turn-based experience, along with a diverse loot table, and an insane variety of game modes.

Plotline

Backpack Hero doesn’t dwell much on its background or story, opting to immediately immerse the player into its one-of-a-kind gameplay via the tutorial right from the get-go. However, there is some lore that you can pick up when, for instance, you’ve successfully completed a standard or tutorial run (no spoilers here!), or in the description of each character class.

Gameplay

Backpack Hero has a unique roguelike gameplay based entirely on inventory management. Due to how different the gameplay is, the game immediately pulls you into its tutorial run right from the start just so you can learn the game... or at least how to play Purse, the “default” character class. Once the basics are covered, you’re left to, hopefully, complete the entire tutorial run on your own.

There are many different character classes in this game, including a magic-oriented character, Tote; a pets-oriented character, Pochette; an automated combat-oriented robot, CR-8; as well as what I like to dub “the monk from Age of Empires”, Satchel. Unlike some games, each character here is meticulously designed to provide a uniquely different gameplay experience due to their distinct play styles. They also each come with several different skins - all readily available right from the start, by the way - that are purely cosmetic in nature.

For instance, you don’t use your action points like you would if you played Purse when you’re playing as CR-8. Instead, the gameplay revolves around arranging and connecting your inventory in a way to form a sort of circuitry - a command loop if you will – that you can then run repeatedly, ad infinitum, until the enemies are all dead... or if you’re dead, whichever comes first.

Of course, there are several things that you can use to help in case you need to modify CR-8’s circuitry in the middle of a fight, including switches that you can flip to change the charge’s direction, or even the option to edit your inventory during combat, which you typically won’t be able to do if you played any of the other characters.

Once you’ve chosen your character, you’ll then need to choose a game mode before you can get to the fun dungeon-crawling part. For an early access title, Backpack Hero has an impressive selection of game modes, some of which are pretty creative, that allow players of different skill ranges to enjoy the game fully, whether you want to have a “Strong Start” or you want to enjoy the thrill of having just one health point (Glass Cannon mode). You do you! There are also all the usual game difficulties, from Standard right up to multiple levels of Hardcore. So, even if you think you’ve mastered the game, there’s always a new challenge waiting for you to beat it!

Now, Backpack Hero is a roguelike in the sense that you’ll be crawling the dungeon from room to room, either to grab some treasures, encounter random events, including gambling-style events where you can spend coins in hopes of getting something better; engage the services of the forge, the healer, or even the merchant; or to defeat whatever enemies that dwell within, in an attempt to upgrade your character’s arsenal and also make it to the staircase where you’ll get to proceed to the next level or to a new zone.

The turn-based combat is a huge part of the gameplay here. You’ll typically get 3 action points to work with every turn, and you can decide to use them to attack, defend (stack up shields), or a bit of both. The enemies in this game will show you what they intend to do on their turn so you can properly strategize how much defense you’ll need and whether or not it is wise to spend all your points into attacks. Since Shields in this game only last a turn and will dissipate in the next, sometimes, it’s probably wise to sit back and wait for an enemy Shield to be gone before spending your points on attacks.

There are also various consumables that you can use in this game that usually cost no action points to use. They offer a wide range of benefits, including adding more action points, inflicting damage on your enemies (either damage-over-time or instant damage), or giving your character a nice little boost, like a health restore, or adding a nice amount of Shields. Some items, like weapons, cost nothing to use in this game as well, but these commonly come with restrictions, so you can’t just spam them on your enemies.

Once you’ve won the fight, you’ll then be given some loot to choose 3 items from. Depending on your strategy and your inventory space, you’ll then need to decide which items to discard and which to take. Sometimes, especially if you already have a good build going, you might not want to add anything else to your inventory. You can simply ignore the selection of loot in front of you and just move on.

The variety of loot in this game is pretty impressive for an early-access title. Not only are there items that only work if they are placed at the topmost row, but there are even items that will automatically float to the top row or drop to the bottom when placed. So, you’ll definitely want to make sure you read the tooltips properly before taking on an item. There are items that can boost weapons, shields, or armor nearby, while there are others that need to be connected to a network of manastones so that they will work. Some items even have alternate forms, and you can switch between the two forms as needed.

Note that you can increase your inventory space, ala Tetris style, every time you level up. Although you can add the new inventory space like a Tetris block to your existing bag space, there is a maximum length and height limit, so you can’t just, say, keep adding new spaces upwards. If you’re lucky, you may even get an additional bag to add to your main bag. The extra bag can serve as a storage bag for any excess items you may have, but the items stored can’t be used during combat, and their passive effects won’t apply.

Enemies, including bosses, in this game aren’t meek trees that you can just hack away at without abandon – some of them have abilities up their sleeves too! Some will hurl curses at you, which will then hamper your loot collecting/upgrading process, since they will turn a random piece of loot you’ll get at the end of every battle into the cursed object. Cursed objects aren’t as good as normal or even higher quality items since they usually come with downsides, like if a cursed object increases your weapon damage by 200%, there will be a hefty cost to go along with it – the weapons, when used, will be destroyed.

Aside from those who can summon enemy minions, some will throw obstacles at you, such as ice blocks that will freeze (essentially disable) any items they cover completely. Thankfully though, you’ll get to choose where to place that obstacle in your inventory so you can choose a spot that will do the least amount of harm, or you could simply decide not to take on the obstacle and take a pretty heavy health damage instead. The latter is definitely the worse option here, but sometimes, it really couldn’t be helped! Everything you’ve encountered, be it a new loot item or a new enemy, is tracked in the Atlas for you to refer to, perfect for any collectathon fan.

Different zones/dungeons also offer different enemies and challenges due to being set in different biomes, so you might need to change up your strategy once you enter a new area. There seem to be around 4-5 unique zones for now, and although it’s sufficient, it’s uncertain if the developers plan on adding more.

In contrast to some roguelikes, you can freely backtrack in this game as long as you don’t proceed to the next level, so you could, for instance, battle a few more enemies first to gather coins, before heading back to the forge you’ve passed earlier to buy some weapon upgrades. You could loot chests to get some extra items before heading to the merchant some ways back to sell them to him. You could also save healing shrines for later, especially if you already have full health when you found the room.

You’ll be able to see the entire dungeon map right from the start, except for areas blocked by a room full of enemies. By clearing the room of said creatures, you should then be able to push back the fog of war and reveal the map further or even in its entirety!

Overall, Backpack Hero is a roguelike that truly offers something unique and fresh to the genre. There might be some glitches here and there, like not having certain items work the way they should, as pointed out in the tooltips, but if players work together, and diligently report these issues to the developers, they usually stomp out the bugs pretty quickly.

Graphics/ Sound

If you love pixel art, you’ll really enjoy the visuals in this game. The design looks great, and you can feel the love that went into every tiny detail. Of course, the characters are super adorable in their own way too. In terms of sound, Backpack Hero features a selection of soundtracks that match well with its dungeon-crawling theme. During combat, the music changes to something more upbeat, properly reflecting all the action going on on-screen.

Conclusion

Despite still being an Early Access title, Backpack Hero is, without a doubt, one of the more unique roguelikes that I’ve had the honor of reviewing in years! Being an avid fan of both Diablo-style inventory management and roguelikes/lites in general (though, I do have a penchant for turn-based and deckbuilding ones), this game just manages to satisfy my need to horde ever-better loot while giving me a dungeon-crawling challenge that’s based entirely around how my inventory is arranged and placed.

Aside from the refreshingly distinctive and addictive gameplay, the variety of characters and game modes are also highlights of the game, offering players hours of fun while trying out new combos of the two, and taking on new challenges. So, if you’re a huge fan of roguelikes and love the idea of having to almost constantly manage your inventory, you’ll want to check out Backpack Hero! There’s even a perfectly serviceable demo you can play for free, just in case!

New Game Added: Backpack Hero

by Aethyna Jul 24, 2023

Backpack Hero is a unique inventory management-based roguelike where how you arrange your inventory of loot determines how far in the dungeon you can go. The game features several character classes, each offering a different turn-based experience, along with a diverse loot table, and an insane variety of game modes.