We recently checked out an exclusive, media-only early build of LightSup! In this cartoony title, you and up to three friends get tossed into a fantasy world that’s trapped in a permanent eclipse. What’s a permanent eclipse without a legion of monsters? Glad you asked, because that’s exactly what you’ll be doing – fighting waves of them. We hope you have a buddy to tag along. This game, although playable, is not for the solo wanderer. Your whole squad has to literally huddle around a glowing structure called the Altar of Light. It’s absolutely built for sitting on the couch together and yelling at the screen. Sure, Steam Remote Play works fine, but it’s way more fun when you get in each other’s faces.
Into The Light You Go
LightSup! has this very cool light mechanic. It’s what makes the game tick. If you stay inside the glowing circle, you get a solid boost to help clear out the swarm. But the second somebody steps out into the shadows, the sanity meter drops like a rock. Once that empties out, the character gets terrified. As a result, you deal less damage, and you actually start taking damage just from standing in the dark.
After you scrape by and clear an area, the whole group has to agree on the next move. The layout and rewards shuffle every run. It’s awesome when you find stat boosts that help the whole team. Not so much when you end up burdened with a curse. In that case, the next few encounters become absolutely brutal.
Everyone shares these buffs and penalties. Nobody can just grab the best loot and ditch the team. You actually have to talk it out and decide if risking a nasty curse is worth whatever weapon or upgrade is hiding down the next path.
It sounds like we played it as a group, but that’s not the case. We only experimented solo. But we saw the potential of the co-op runs. To give just one example, one player can pray and heal while the rest can deal with the enemies. It’s a recipe for great fun. And we can’t wait to try it out with a buddy or two.
Honestly, this early hands-on session proves the game knows exactly what kind of experience it wants to be. We especially dig the graphics and the design of the maps, the characters, and the enemies. Yes, it is a bit on the cartoony side, but that’s exactly what gives this game a special flair.
However, the enemies, as cute as they are, are beyond dumb and all they care about is giving you aggressive hugs. Aside from that, the weapons lack impact. You see the weapon hitting the enemy, but it feels like you’re tickling them with a wet noodle. Sometimes, the environment is your enemy and certain trees block your view, not allowing you to properly orient yourself or see where the enemies are coming from.
Even so, the devs are doing a great job with this game and we’re sure it can only get better from what we’ve seen so far. It has great potential for loud and messy game nights.
Dev & Play Media 
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