Been having a lot of fun with this throughout its development.

Combat is fast and fun. It's really satisfying to weave through enemies, methodically taking them out in order of current threats. This does get harder to do on the higher floors though, as the enemies will quickly overwhelm you. You'll need a plan of action for that.

This is a pretty hard game. But it gets easier as you figure out the best ways to take out everything. Or you can just dash up to them and hit them. That works too. If you're bored of melee, there are various spellbooks which can offer you ranged, AoE or other attacks. They don't have any cooldowns, but they can only be used a limited amount of times before you need to find a new spellbook.

There's a unique way of "leveling up" that I like as well.
Rather than getting a guaranteed upgrade of some sort when you have enough exp, you simply get another slot to hold an orb. Orbs float around the tower, each offering a random power up, such as vampirsm, alchemy, pet affinities, or agility. The orbs are fragile however, and will explode violently if hit by a single attack from you or an enemy. While your foes won't target the orbs intentionally, they may unintentionally blow one up while targetting you.

Don't get too confident when you have a lot of items you feel are powerful, though. Just look at the game's name...

Note: These are my initial impressions based on two hours of gameplay. Will most definitely update when I get further.

This is, first and foremost, a battle arena-style game. You defeat x number of enemies and move onto the next floor. What initially seems deceptively simple is in fact incredibly depthful and almost infinitely replayable.

When you launch the game you are treated to a nice 16-bit-esque cinematic and the option to either go for the tutorial or dive right in. I strongly recommend doing the tutorial, not only because the character within is hilarious, but because the game has an awful lot to explain to you, intuitive as it may seem after. From there you'll be whisked to the first floor, and you will quickly see that this is a game about learning by doing.

Many major facets of the game are procedurally generated, while the floor layout is selected at random from a premade set. The level design is pretty basic, though considering the combat and how it flows this is most certainly to the game's benefit- a simple level design with a few obstacles means combat flows relatively uninterrupted. As you defeat the literal horde of enemies each level throws at you, you'll level up and be able to pick up more orbs you'll find floating around the arenas. If you were expecting a description for anything, see my previous statement about learning through doing.

The core combat mechanic of this game is surprisingly satisfying, and while it initally seems simple it all mixes together into a very compelling package. Enemies are hardly just bufoons running about and attacking when in range- they have patterns to a degree but combat is designed to be both fluent and methodical, a combination that may initially jar players, and most certainly increses the difficutly. The AI of enemies is designed to throw you off just that little bit, and often you'll find groups of the same enemy coordinating attacks or behaving completely differnetly than when one of their kind isn't nearby. The result is that no two floors and no two encounters with a single enemy type will quite be alike, and you absolutely have to keep your perception at a hair-trigger level to survive.

The frenetic pacing combined with the tactics of your enemies creates an experience that isn't quite seen in any other game, and the clever way the enemies trip you up will be both your greatest source of satisfaction to overcome and your greatest source of agony when it defeats you. Combat is defined almost exclusively, however, on what you take with you into battle.

As mentioned before, there are random orbs as well as various other items such as wearables, weapons, and scrolls floating around the arena. There are also, however, diamond-shaped cards you'll occasionally run into on the battlefield. These are modifiers for the game and while I haven't gotten into messing around with them too much, I do know that they drastically change certain aspects of the game.

Every third floor, you'll be able to access a shop that will allow you to switch up your items by purchasing (but not selling) new ones. From my experience this will always be laid out the same way, though this could well change later in the game. At the start you have access to eleven items (and one constant hidden item), one of which is a random card you've not yet attained (typically prohibitively expensive for the early game). You spend the currency dropped by enemies here and more often than not you'll find yourself coming up short on funds. This is neither damning to gameplay nor a way to ensure your favorite build- it's the exact same items you'll find outside the shop, though it is a convenient way to top off a tiny bit of health at a time should you find yourself running low.

The sound design in this game is designed to invoke a 16-bit atmosphere and the soundtrack is best described as chiptune, with many songs sounding reminiscent of Anamanaguchi. The sounds of the action itself are largely retro-inspired and add to the already satisfying combat by changing depending on what you have equipped- a Rapier Soul will not sound the same as your default Bracer, and so on. Each sound is crisp and distinct and further amplifies the satisfaction of combat. At the moment there is the unfortunate problem, however, of all of it being muddled onto what sounds like a single track, so it doesn't achieve the sound clarity it could, and certainly diminishes from the experience from time to time. I certainly hope the developers fix this problem posthaste, and by the time you've read this it may have already been fixed, but it's worth mentioning nonetheless.

Sound issues aside, I've encountered no game-breaking glitches of any kind. The overall package is extremely satisfying to pick up and play, and I would not hesitate to recommend your purchase of this game. I can tell already I'll get a massive number of hours out of Ruin of the Reckless, and I'll certainly be enjoying every methodical second of play.

I really wanted to like the game, but the melee combat just does not seem to fit in with the genre.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxUkt3bitsk

Think of Ruin of the Reckless like Nuclear Throne with melee feel. Traverse the tower levels, kill the monsters, get the key to go to the next floor and then escape via elevator. All that until you are free! As you progress through the tower, gain levels and collect “power orbs” – the orbs that amplify your abilities / enhance your character. Think of those as of mostly passive skills: vampirism, pet follower, “more money drops. You can also gather new spells that are more like active abilities (but you can have one at a time).

• Good item / spell variety. You can also unlock different cards that affect the gameplay: be it a new starting item / spell loadout, more enemies on levels (for harder difficulty) or more money drops to make the game easier.
• Characters / Monster are very well-detailed for a pixel art. You can see that a lot of effort went into this.
• The music/sound effects are decent.
• Interesting approach to difficulty: no traditional difficulty settings per se, but a special “cards” that you can equip in the game lobby. Those cards affect the gameplay modifiers, making the game easier or more difficult: your character can have more hp, more monsters can spawn on the level, levels become easier, etc.
• The tower that you are climbing feels like a part of its own world: the characters you meet have their own personality and it adds to immersion.
• Challenging difficulty

• The melee mechanics just do not seem to work. Technically, everything is there, but the process becomes pretty straightforward and repetitive: go to the monster and kill him. If he rushes – stay a bit back, wait until he attacks, find an opening and perform your own strikes. The weapons do not feel different: they have different hit patterns, but mostly the attacking process feels the same over and over again. Spells save the situation a bit, but this is not enough (charges are limited and you are holding 1 spell at a time, right?).
• Backgrounds / Tiles are rather bland. They do the trick and they fit into the style color-wise, but overall they are not detailed well-enough compared to other characters.
• The Game is made in Game Maker, which might not be the best choice to show so many details / monsters on the levels. My setup is I5-4670 @ 3.4GHz / 8 GB Ram / GTX 760 – the game’s fps would drop significantly when a lot of monsters appear.

I really wanted to like the game: you can see how much effort went into making it. However, the core idea of melee combat just did not seem to work well. It is done with a lot of attention, but that does not make it interesting or exciting. If we compare it to the Nuclear Throne: there, you have different weapon shooting patterns, but so do enemies. You need to get creative when dodging the attacks and shooting on the run, trying to avoid the enemy touches / bullets like a plague. On the contrary, the process here feels repetitive and not captivating: there’s some dodging involved, but most of the time (when you are not using spells) the end of the combat is the same. You need to approach the monsters and hit them in melee. You don’t care much about the environment / hiding like you did in Nuclear Throne. The challenge of masterfully evading and keeping the distance is gone here, and while it seems like a minor thing, it changes everything. Because eventually the ending of every melee combat is the same: you need to approach the enemy and hit him.

Ruin of the Reckless is a rogue-lite game developed by Faux-Operative Games. RotR succeeds in offering fast paced action with great levels of build variety.

Graphics
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While lacking in variety in some cases, RotR drives home that 16-bit feel with a fairly vibrant color palette, smooth animation, and some fun character / enemy designs. While progressing up through the tower, the environments do get a bit redundant, but it's never enough to take away from the game overall.

Music & Sound
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Kicking off with an extremely catchy theme performed by SLIME GIRLS, the games music continues to be catchy and fairly unobtrusive through the game. Sounds are also well placed throughout and provide a satisfying thump when attacking enemies or utilizing spells lending well to the overall feel of the game.

Gameplay & Game Feel
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The controls handle well especially when utilizing an Xbox One or Xbox 360 controller. Character movement is responsive and in the event of most deaths I couldn't find myself blaming the game or the controls, just myself for making the wrong decision or moving at the incorrect time. The dashing mechanics are very similar to what you'd find in something like Hyper Light Drifter, and combat feels very similar to a melee version of Enter the Gungeon. The game handles well, and the variety in enemies provides enough of switched up experience, especially when fighting certain enemies in different combinations as you ascend the tower.

With a multitude of weapons and orb combinations to choose from, each run feels in its own way "unique" so to speak. Some weapons do feel a bit more powerful than others, and I believe this is more of an issue with some enemies being very difficult to tackle with certain weapon types over others. Overall I'd say the variety in weapons, magic, orbs, and trinket combinations yields a fairly unique experience each time you die and respawn in the tower.

Overall
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While I'm not normally a huge fan of rogue-likes in this style, I found myself enjoying my romp through RotR while not feeling exhausted each time I would die and have to restart. The gameplay doesn't particularly stand out amongst the pack of similar titles, and the environments can lack variety, but it's satisfying and fun to replay. If you're a fan of games such as Enter the Gungeon, or Binding of Isaac, I'd strongly recommend picking this up!

I bought this on a whim after reading the reddit AMA. Super surprised how polished the game is. If you liked Nuclear Throne but wanted the ability to make it easier or harder this game is for you. The mecahnics are super tight and polished. The game would actually benefit from some DLC to add more visual content but for the price it is well worth the full amount.

I was excited for the game after reading the Reddit post and watching some gameplay. The game just does not feel "right". Combat is boring and feels like you're not connecting blows. More like you're spitting out colliders that are registering with other colliders vs. a game like Castle Crashers where you feel like you're actually connecting blows/your weapons interact with enemies. Screen shake is not a substitute for a clean feeling combat system; I had to disable screen shake after my first fight as it gave me a huge headache (and props to the developers for allowing you to adjust that) but without it, combat just feels bland.

I've requested a refund.

My first impressions of this game are great but I will update my review as I put more time into it.

Ruin of the Reckless has a very simple gameplay loop of trying to ascend a tower by finding the key and then the elevator on each floor until you die or succeed and then repeating. While doing this you attempt to acquire weapons and equipment to help you fend of attackers so you can gather currency and experience. Money allows you to purchase items at shops as well as cards that act as modifiers to your run equipable in the lobby. Experience allows you to gather more orbs that add passive upgrades or extra attacks to your character during the run. The combat is melee focused but also has a spell system with limited charges to add range or crowd control options. The dodge roll and secondary attacks are also affected by random pickups throughout each run.

The art style and animations on the characters is very nice but the backgrounds seem very minimal and plain aside from the hub area. The game could also use an option to return to the lobby after death so you can adjust which cards you have equipped rather than needing to select ‘return to lobby’ from the menu.

All in all really enjoyable rogue-lite so far with a decent challenge!

Edit 1
After 3 hours I'm really disappointed in the weapon and equipment selection. Combat is becoming very repetitive and builds rarely seem all that different from each other. The weapons in general are extremely similar and sparse. As far as the skill cards, which act as permanent modifiers to each run, I’ve only unlocked around 4 and none of them are particularly interesting. If these complaints continue further through the game I’d have a much harder time recommending it.

Edit 2
4 hours in and I have now made it past the first boss. I’ve encountered 7 different melee weapons, 6 different spells, and 3 different sub attacks. The main problem I continue to have is that nothing feels unique and all of the runs start to blend together. Since it only took me four hours to reach this point I can’t recommend Ruin of the Reckless. Everything feels too similar and the combat has almost no nuance. I really want to like this game but it’s not looking like I’ll be able to continue playing for much longer.

This game is very well made. The combat is polished, fast and fair. Tons of powers to collect and cards to modify the gameplay. As a rogue lite it is of course tough as nails, but still very fun. The music is sublime as are the effects. The dialogue is funny and smart. Co-op mode is very much appreciated as well. Very much recommended if you like intense action games with challenging gameplay.

Little bit of gameplay:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cj-0tvuOyaQ&feature=youtu.be

Ruin of the Reckless is a rougelite indie action game that is in some ways similar to Risk of Rain and The Binding of Isaac.
If this review is too long for you, I suggest you only read the first paragraph about the game's content and the final verdict at the end.

Check out this review and many others on Save or Quit: http://saveorquit.com/2017/05/22/review-ruin-of-the-reckless/

To be honest, there isn't really a story. You are a guy who has to beat up monsters and go upwards towards the top of the tower. The only catch is that this is not as simple as it may sound at first.

• Exciting Gameplay | This game is really filled with action. You have to be on the move for the entire time and there are always new enemies waiting for you just around the corner. If you play this game, you have to be ready to be chased at all times in a very fast-paced manner. You even have to be careful not to stay on one level for too long - if you do, missile launching enemies start to appear. This forces you to clear each area as fast as you possibly can or risk dying.
  
• Fun Tutorial | The tutorial included in this game is probably one of the best tutorials I've ever seen. It quickly introduces you to all controls, weapons and abilities that you need to survive in this game for as long as possible. Not only that - it also includes a healthy dose of humour, contributing to a more relaxed introduction into this game.
  
• Power Orbs | Every time you level up (which happens approximately once every one or two floors) you gain a power orb slot, which can be used to store power orbs (duh). Power orbs are spawned randomly at the beginning of each floor and are available to collect by holding the E key. Orbs hold many different kinds of powerups, for example damage up, speed up, higher item spawn chance etc.
  
• Colourfulness | This game uses a very pleasant colour palette and I really like the contrasts. The enemies are easily visible, mostly because they tend to be shown in more aggressive colours (black, dark blue, red) while the environment is mostly light green and yellow.
  
• Chaos Cards | This is another very important aspect of this game. During the gameplay, you will get the chance to buy yourself a chaos card or you might just find one randomly for free. When you collect the chaos card, you can equip it while in the lobby. When you do, the game can become easier or more difficult, depending on which card you choose (the effect of the card is shown to you before you equip it). This is really important as it replaces the standard difficulty option in the settings menu.
  
• Local Co-op Support | If you have friends and they happen to be interested in playing video games with you, Ruin of the Reckless is another game you can play with them if you have a controller nearby.
  
• Active Developer | The developer is very active when it comes to answering on the threads made by fans on the Steam's Discussions tab. Also, updates are very frequent. This shows that the developer cares about their game, which is always a good sign.

• Only Melee Weapons | The only way to kill an enemy using a regular weapon is to go next to them and hit them enough. In my opinion, this game would really benefit from having some ranged weapons as not all players like to use melee all the time.
  
• Repetitiveness | Although the game is difficult enough to keep your mind busy for most of the time, you may start to notice after a while that you pretty much have to repeat the same process over and over again. Go to the enemy, hit them, move forward. If needed, evade bullets or incoming enemies. I know this sounds like an accurate description for a lot of similar games, but it really becomes obvious in Ruin of the Reckless. There should be some more variety, maybe they should include more different weapons or something else.
  
• No Achievements | It's a shame, to be honest, this game could have some really nice achievements which would certainly contribute to the amount of fun people would get out of this game. So far, there's really nothing additional luring people to play the game more except for wanting to complete the game.
  
• Windows Only | You can only play this game if you have Windows installed on your system. As far as I know, this game was made in Game Maker which, again, as far as I know, has an option to create versions for other operating systems as well. Ensuring that the game is compatible with other OSs is also a good move to make more people spend their money on it.
  
• Pricing | I'm not sure if $15 is an appropriate price for this game. It's not too bad, but it may not hurt to reduce it by a few dollars. Since I was comparing it to The Binding of Isaac in the very first sentence of this review, I will compare these two games here as well: TBOI costs exactly the same but includes an enormous amount of content. In this aspect, RotR's pricing is definitely not something that would make potential buyers prefer it over other games.

The game is fun, no doubt about that. It's quite difficult, but it's not a problem to adapt it to your skill level by using Chaos Cards. The graphics look really nice and the gameplay will keep you busy for some time, but you may start to get bored after a while, depending on how much you enjoy such games.
Overall, I recommend purchasing this game, but maybe not at its full price unless you're sure you would enjoy it. The gameplay was most certainly enjoyable and I will play this game in the future again.

With love,
BirdCute

Note that my copy of this game was obtained for free for reviewing purposes. However, this did not affect the quality and objectivity of the reviewing process.

Ruin of the Reckless is a good game, no question about it in my opinion. The game has satisfying combat that blends a mix of melee fighting and spellcasting with (if you prefer) movement abilities that gives you a very good amount of control and opportunity to take on enemies. In addition there are "orbs" floating around each level that you can use to upgrade your character as you level up, that have a good amount of variety ranging from pets, new attacks or passive upgrades. The way you play the first couple of hours will most likely not look the same after 10 hours, both in speed and efficiency. Graphics are serviceable, but nothing special, which I assume is to avoid the game being too cluttered. The game succeeds for the most part in that aspect, but it's just barely and there are at least a few moments where it becomes too much with swarms of enemies around you.

However where the game succeeds the most in my opinion is the music. It has one of the best chip tune soundtracks I've heard in years to the point where I decided to buy the soundtrack after about 5 minutes of gameplay. If you are a fan of that kind of music I would certainly recommend listening to a few tunes, because personally I will probably listen to the music long after I stop playing the game.

When it comes to replayability, something most people expect a lot from with roguelites, I think many people could be surprised in a negative sense. Technically this game goes into the same genre as Binding of Isaac and Enter the Gungeon, but it's different enough that you could be left surprised if your expectations are to get exactly the same as those games in a different packaging. The game has procedural generated levels, but if you expect hundreds of items and weapons that completely change the experience of each run then think again. The game has enough of these items that you can change up the way you play in multiple ways, but they are too few to take away your choices in almost every run. For example if you prefer weapon X and spellbook Y, then in the vast majority of runs you will find them to make your favorite build. In other words, if what you are looking for is an instant classic of a game that will provide you with hundreds of hours of gameplay, then you very well may be disappointed.

However I still think you should consider giving Ruin of the Reckless a chance, because while it's not going to be able to compete with (in my opinion) indie classics like Isaac or Gungeon, there is a good game here that will keep you entertained for a good amount of hours if you like challenging games, and also has a very interesting system that lets you adjust the difficulty and change up the gameplay in a much more comprehensive way than the other games. You acquire items while playing or talking to NPCs in the hub world at times that are called "cards". These cards can be added before you start a run in the hub world that drastically changes the game. You use this system to change "classes" (which basically only means starting gear), but can make enemies stronger/easier, make more items drop, change the ratio of traps compared to enemies and much more. Even if you use all the cards you find that make the game easier (something I recommend in the start), it's still very challenging and will most likely kick your ass run after run for a while. I'm almost 10 hours in and still haven't beaten the game on as easy as possible modifiers even if I'm getting close. If you play on medium or harder modifiers then I imagine you will have a massive challenge on your hands.

In conclusion this game is worth the price in my opinion as I expect that I will get about 20 to 40 hours of gameplay from it. If you enjoy the challenging aspects of roguelites then I think this game will more than satisfy you. If you don't think you could enjoy a game like this without an almost infinte amount of wacky combinations of items and weapons for more than a few hours then probably wait for a sale.

PS! I have some framedrops at times in this game that are far from gamebreaking, but can be a bit annoying. These are typically when using devastating spells that kill a ton of enemies or in some later levels where there is a lot of enemies on the screen. The developer has acknowledged this and said they are working on an optimization patch. Personally I don't think it's bad enough to avoid purchase, but for those that have low tollerance for the occasional framedrop should probably wait until further patching.