The other week, GungHo Online Entertainment invited us to try out the final build of Grasshopper Manufacture’s upcoming game LET IT DIE.
LET IT DIE
Developer: Grasshopper Manufacture
Price: F2P
Platform: PS4
MonsterVine was invited to play a final build at a preview event
If you took a brawler, a roguelike, a little dungeon crawling and made a smoothie out of it – Let it Die is what you’d be left with. The game opens with an event causing a chunk of Tokyo to split off and drift into the ocean, as a mysterious spire, the Tower of Barbs, suddenly appears. Sprinkle a few wildly eccentric characters throughout the game, add in a mysterious treasure that’s supposedly at the top of the tower, and you’ve got the start of a typical Grasshopper game.
When the game starts you’re able to pick from a dozen different bodies to use as your Fighter, all plugged into a train Matrix style. Additionally, there are 8 Fighter types you can choose from such as the Striker, which specializes in HP and Strength, or the Collector which has a higher inventory capacity. I decided to go for the bald space marine look and upon jacking out of the train, I was quickly introduced to Uncle Death, who is your sort of guide through the game. My demo started out by having me spend a decent chunk simply learning all of the various elements in the game. In the first hour, I think I collected maybe dozens of tutorial messages because, while this game has the appearance of a simple brawler, there’s actually quite a lot under the hood.
If you’ve ever played a Grasshopper game before, you’re likely going to be very familiar with how this game plays. It’s a brawler, so you’re going to be doing a lot of punching and smashing while trying not to get smashed yourself. As you work your way through the tower you’ll defeat enemies who will drop weapons which you can equip in one of your weapon slots. You have six slots total for weapons, three per hand, so you’re always dual wielding something. In my time I saw everything from your typical pipe and bat, to more outlandish items like a fireworks gun. Knowing the pros and cons of each weapon is key because the game is constantly keeping you on your toes with its relentless enemies. Hitting an enemy has a really good feeling to it as geysers of blood and coins explode from defeated foes in typical Grasshopper game style. The dropkick move is incredibly devastating if you’re able to land the risky maneuver. Building up a meter will also allow you to perform these hilariously brutal rage moves, and if you’re lucky enough to stun an enemy, you can then perform a gore finisher which is hugely satisfying. Armor pieces will also drop from enemies and you can equip a top, middle, and bottom item. You learn quickly the need for armor since your Fighter starts out in their underwear, and without some protection you won’t last very long in the tower.
Your main goal in the game is to climb the tower and build stronger Fighters while doing it. You have a freezer where you can store Fighters that you’re not currently using and any unused Fighter can be sent on Expeditions. Doing so will send your Fighter to another player’s game where they’ll run around gathering resources to take back to your base. Your Fighter will continue to gather resources until either its timer expires or the other player manages to track down and kill your Fighter; if your Fighter manages to turn the tables on a human player then you’ll earn a special resource called SPLithium. The flow of the game is clearly to run through the tower with a character, leveling them up, while your unused ones are out there making you that money. Better Fighters allow you to reach higher and more difficult parts of the tower and to do so you’ll need better equipment. The hub area has a shop where you’ll deliver blueprints you find to create superior versions of weapons you find in the tower. There’s also a mushroom shop where you’ll buy and equip tattoos that give a variety of status effects. You’ll need to make good use of these shops since each of the tower’s randomly generated floors is host to a variety of enemy types ready to ruin your day.
Now with this being a F2P game you’re likely wondering where you’re going to have to pony up that sweet cash. Real world money can be used to purchase a premium currency called Death Metal. The developers stressed there will be no pay-to-win element anywhere in their game, with the microtransactions relegated to making your traversal through the tower easier. I saw this in two ways: in regards to your death and with the elevator. When you die you’re able to expend a rainbow colored skull as payment to an eccentric insurance agent to bring yourself back to life. Considering this was a preview event, I had 1000 skulls so I expect players in the full release to have significantly less. As you’re exploring the tower you’ll occasionally find elevators that will allow you to return to whichever floor you’ve found an elevator in, for a fee of course. This is the other paid element I found with a notice telling me about an “express pass” I could acquire that will give me access to a much nicer elevator that allows you to freely traverse floors at no cost. The express pass lasts for 30 days and also gives you an expanded inventory and a limited decal when you log in each day. Death Metal can also be used to purchase extra inventory slots or shorten the upgrade time in the shop.
Let it Die’s online features are interesting. In the game, when you die your character at that point will appear in another player’s game as an enemy NPC called a Hater. You’ll encounter these “players” in random locations who will attack both you and the regular game’s enemies. Upon defeat these Haters tend to drop better loot than the regular fodder that inhabit the tower. During the event it was particularly amusing to see the person next to me die and encounter their character in my own game a few minutes later. Additionally, besides appearing in another player’s game, your character will also roam the floor they died on in your own game. Defeating your previous character will return them to your fighter freezer but if you let them wander and defeat other players then you’re able to reap any rewards they collect.
When you progress a bit further into the tower you’ll unlock the game’s PvP mode. Here, you’ll ride the train to the towers of other players and fight against their stored characters. Your goal is to attack the machinery that houses their Killcoins and SPLithium; smashing those will net you a healthy amount of resources. Once you defeat all of that player’s characters you’ll then be able to effectively kidnap the final one and take them to your tower where you’ll keep them in your bathroom/interrogation chamber. Keep them there long enough and you’ll be able to add them to your own team of combatants while also generating SPLithium for you in the meantime. Of course, if a player attacks your base of operations and decide to wander into the bathroom they’ll be able to break that character out and vice versa when you’re attacking. Unfortunately there’s no way to directly square off against another player so you’ll only be fighting a player’s AI controlled fighters. Another element of the PVP mode is that you’re attacking these bases as part of a team. When you first start this mode you’ll be asked to select a team and successful raids will contribute to your team’s total score. You’ll receive various rewards for achieving a higher team rank so know that you’re not just going out there to beat people up for yourself, but for your team as well.
Let it Die is set to release sometime before the year is up and with it being F2P it’s worth, at least, checking out. Only time will tell if it has enough lasting power to keep players coming back.
