To put it briefly, Loot Hero DX has one simple hook: charge through hordes of medieval monsters until you reach the end. That’s pretty much the gist of it overall, yet there is also a relatively easygoing feeling one can have when playing as a speedy lancer who plows over enemies like there’s no tomorrow. While easy to play and to understand, Loot Hero DX may seem incredibly barebones to some; however, once you slay the evil legendary dragon for the first time, it slowly grabs your attention further, thus delving you into some mindless and distracting fun.

Just as the name of the title implies, Loot Hero DX has you collecting loads and loads of loot as you blast through various beasties to restore peace to the land. The loot that you collect is either in the form of gold, health potions, the occasional invincibility power-up, and, of course, that sweet, sweet ever-so useful XP. As mentioned before, your goal is to run through and defeat enemies to reach one end with a towering boss figure. Littered throughout each level are safe houses/stores where you can spend gold on upgrading your offensive and defensive skills along with increasing your speed and critical hit damage. Visiting these houses (along with replaying through previous levels) and spending your gold is something you will be doing almost frequently. If you so happen to perish during your truckery of baddies, you can simply revive yourself and start back at the nearest safe house. The drawback here is that you will lose a hefty amount of gold in the process. 

At first, slaying medieval baddies and giant bosses is incredibly easy, but eventually, you will find yourself slowing down as enemies begin to get tougher and tougher. While the entirety of Loot Hero DX’s arcade-like gameplay here can be best described as “shut off your brain and move to the right of the screen,” it’s heavily encouraged that you go back to previous levels to upgrade your stats. It should also be pointed out that Loot Hero DX is a short adventure with nine levels that can all be finished in under an hour. Although, even as you slay the dragon for the first time, you are still given the choice to go through each of the levels with increasing difficulty and the opportunity to collect even more loot. It is here where I found myself wanting to push forward and build up our hero to their maximum potential just so that I could slay the dragon at its peak. For some, there is the impulse to just bail after the first run of the initial nine levels, but the allure of this semi mindless, brief adventure got to me and never let go. 

As the difficulty increases with each defeat of the same dragon, you will also be filling out your Feats page, which is a set of accomplishments. Some of these Feats include defeating a set amount of enemies, finishing a level in 15 seconds, or vanquishing the dragon at a certain difficulty. In addition to defeating the dragon each time, you are also gifted a miner who will mine for gold off-screen. While it’s indeed quicker to replay levels to grind for gold and XP, it honestly doesn’t hurt to have as many miners as an additional means of cash flow as you work to upgrade your stats. 

Aside from completing each of the Feats, filling out the Bestiary (which fills out upon defeating a specific enemy), and killing the dragon for the umpteenth time, there are a few scant hours of replayability here. But, again, it all depends if you feel the need to plow past each and every level ad nauseam to grind out your trusty lancer to their max potential. Yes, it’s derivative here and there, yet in the end, Loot Hero DX has just enough for an hour or two of fun distractions.

Overall, Loot Hero DX is practically a one-trick pony with its emphasis on collecting all the loot whilst pummeling through baddies like a bat out of hell. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but the small thrill of this might wear thin for some wanting a little more. However, for anyone who has a knack for a breezy and easy pick-up-and-play arcade-like title with a smidge of RPG elements, then hit the ground running with this one.