Launched on April 28th 2016 Lost Reavers was a free-to-pay game exclusive to the Wii U. Developed by Bandai Namco and released to almost universal disdain, Lost Reavers is an objectively awful game. But, while this brings me pain to admit it, I love this game. LR brings almost nothing unique to the table, with 4 characters on a quest to find a relic at the end of the level and bring it back to their safe zone. Players can obviously tell that Bandai Namco took zero risks with this game, yet I can’t help, but to play it every day after work.
Lost Reavers brings us the story of a world that is experiencing an energy crisis. Humanity was left relying on these items called Relics (these will eventually run out, but I have a clever solution to this problem). The Lost Reavers are a group of people who utilize a time-machine which allows them to travel to the past and collect the Relics that are providing energy for humanity. This is literally as far as the story of LR goes and it is really just an excuse to repeat the levels as much as possible (because they are really repetitive).
I love this game for multiple reasons, but while it has been universally bashed by reviewers with legitimate reasons to hate Lost Reavers. Strangely I find myself appalled while simultaneously attracted to this title. This attraction is not unwarranted though since the game is actually very fun if you manage to turn off all higher cognitive functions.LR is the definition of mindless fun (?) and in spite of the low quality it is a game where you can simply sit back and repeat the same few levels with your buddies without stressing out. Now allow me to explain the reasons for which I love this game since they are almost guaranteed to be the same aspects which reviewers have hated.
The Price
Lost Reavers doesn’t cost a penny to purchase. You can literally log into your Nintendo eShop account and download it straight into the Wii U. Bandai Namco implemented micro transactions into the game, but they are nearly unanimously not worth the money. You will literally increase the ability to unlock new weapons by such a miniscule amount that you’re better off repeating the same levels continuously in order to farm analysis chips. But, this is good because it’s not pay-to-win since you’re only speeding up the process to get a better weapon and not really getting new equipment to surpass everyone.
The Puzzles
Puzzles in LR consist of approaching a green ring and pressing the A button to unlock whatever obstacles lie in your way. This might sound terrible, but it eliminates the need to actively think about what you’re doing. The player only needs to worry about reaching the relic and bringing it back to the portals, there are mini-bosses in some stages and they can soak up bullets pretty well. But, as far as the gameplay it’s always going to amount to reaching the green ring and pressing a button.
The Enemies
Enemies in Lost Reavers are bland, repetitive, and annoying which makes them extremely fun to mow down with you characters! There are different colors for enemies which denote their difficulty, for example blue enemies will drop rare items, reds will chase and hurt badly, regular enemies simply exist to annoy the player. The bosses though will definitely give you trouble, unlocked at level 15 the player is realistically expected to avoid them until they’re at least level 25. The bosses in Lost Reavers will soak up damage like a bullet sponge and become increasingly more difficult as they lose health. This will eventually lead to the bosses downing your character in one hit naturally inducing anger in your person (however, if you’re anything like me you will avoid these battles). But, once you reach the levels necessary to fight them on an even field along with a few good players they are very interesting battles which need proper preparation. Having these battles adds a much-needed variety to Lost Reavers.
Events
Every once in a while the hosts over at Bandai Namco will host an event which will provide double experience or a set of clothing. These events are simple and only require the player to play the game as they normally would or kill a certain boss more times than another. This is awesome because it provides incentive to play Lost Reavers on a regular basis at least in order to keep up with the events and get the rewards.
Fast Paced Gameplay
The levels in Lost Reavers are small and fast which each one lasting anywhere from 3 to 7 minutes depending on your skill level and items. The faster a level is completed the more experience you’re provided with in the rewards screen thus the players are incentivized to finish quickly. This is also how you unlock more of the game as it unlocks the more challenging difficulties which provide better experience and even weapons as rewards. Basically Lost Reavers is a speed runner’s wet dream with absolutely almost no incentive to remain in the level any longer than required.
The Bile Fascination
This game is awful. There is no denying that Lost Reavers objectively failed to live up to the hype. Yet, I can’t help, but feel astounded at how terribly this game failed on every level possible. From boring repetitive gameplay (which again I absolutely love) to the bland enemy designs and sorry excuse to solve an energy crisis, Lost Reavers is a horrible excuse for a current-gen game. Yet, it has to be seen to be believed (almost like watching a train wreck) and I recommend everyone who is trying to develop a game at least play Lost Reavers (since it’s a perfect example of what not to do).
Obviously these reasons are all very subjective, I can understand the reasons why Lost Reaver was relegated to the depths of low review scores and regarded as a failure. But, you have to give some credit to Bandai Namco for creating a game which has legitimately provided me with bile fascination (which after years of serving in the military, I thought was no longer possible).
P.S.
The clear solution to the energy crisis is to gather the Relics at later time periods rather than earlier. Once those run out they can time-travel to the day prior and gather the Relic from the day before they gathered it originally and thus they can keep repeating this process until they figure out a more permanent solution to the energy crisis rather than gather as many of them as possible and run out eventually.

Dash The Bomber

Dash The Bomber is a sailor is his 20's with a penchant for goofy, yet deep thoughts. An avid gamer for generations he has played everything from the Atari 2600 to the PC in which he writes his work on. He currently lives in the middle of the ocean and appreciates donations in order to buy goodies from Amazon while deployed (makes his life slightly better). You can help the guy out by donating here: paypal.me/dashthebomber.