Anyone who grew up with Diablo or has played one of the newer hack & slay role-playing games such as Path of Exile, Grim Dawn or Lost Ark knows the associated inventory management. You loot a wolf, then everything ends up in your inventory, which is basically far too small, and then the sorting begins in order to squeeze in an amulet, a sword or a piece of armor. A tedious task that is actually just annoying and hinders the flow of the game. At first it seems like sheer mockery that the indie game Backpack Battles makes precisely this inventory management the central game element. Yes, are the developers stupid? Not at all! Because in Backpack Battles, fiddling around with your inventory is incredibly fun.
Inventory management is good
In Backpack Battles, unlike Diablo, you don't explore any dungeons or kill hordes of monsters. Instead, you pack your backpack with one of four character classes and then let them compete against characters from other players – in the form of an Auto Battler. You always alternate visits to the dealer with combat duels. In the shop you can buy new items and expansions for your backpack for a handful of gold coins and work comfortably on your setup. This is where the magic of Backpack Battles happens, a sort of inventory Tetris. Because most items interact with each other through bonuses, depending on how they are next to each other in your backpack.
For example, if you place a whetstone next to a weapon, it will gain a damage modifier. Other items instead interact with objects of the same type – food, for example. This is still quite straightforward in the first rounds of a game. But the complexity quickly increases and with it the scope for creating strong combos with increasingly powerful items of higher rarity and a fusion mechanic. If you place all the items needed for a crafting recipe next to each other, they will merge into something new and significantly stronger after the next fight. Class-based, unique items provide extra spice and the necessary variety, resulting in interesting specializations.
Which: PC Games
I pack my backpack
For example, the Berserker is the only one who starts with a blacksmith's hammer, which allows equipment to be refined. Ideally, over the course of a game, you will craft a range of dragon skin armor pieces, all of which provide strong bonuses to the berserker rush that sets this hero class apart from the other three. The pyromancer, on the other hand, has her strengths in speed and incarnation, while the ranger relies a lot on luck, among other things, and the grim reaper is only too happy to be poisoned or is difficult to bring down thanks to vampirism. After a few fights, you can even further develop each of the four classes by specializing into five subclasses each. This allows for a variety of tactical orientations and a high level of flexibility in which direction you develop your build.
However, this also depends to a certain extent on chance, because you are tied to which items are offered to you in the shop. At the same time, there is almost always a lack of space in your backpack. As I said, all the swords, bows, armor, accessories and other stuff not only need to be stuffed in, they should all be in the right position for maximum bonuses. Questions arise such as: What central item do I base the build around? Where the heck is the ruby dragon supposed to fit into all this? And what things absolutely have to go in the class-specific backpack section? Because yes, even the backpack itself is put together modularly with various components, which in the best case also have effects on the equipment stored inside. Almost like a puzzle game, after each fight you go back to the drawing board and optimize, optimize and optimize to get the best result.
Source: PC Games The developers have shown a lot of creativity and a good pinch of humor with the items and combinations. There are of course the classics such as swords, axes, bows, leather armor, helmets and so on. But they also fight with brooms, shovels or pans. You can also pack various companions such as dragons, wolf pups, squirrels and more into your backpack to assist you in battle. As a nice little homage to the gaming role models among the Hack & Slay RPGS, socketable gemstones have also found their way into the game, which, with their grades and colors, could come one-to-one from Diablo 2 – including a skull named Tim.
With the pan to victory
The moment of truth comes in battle and you find out how your character is doing. The duels are completely automated, so you watch as the items in the backpacks on both sides trigger based on cooldowns with simple animations. Pans fly around, potions are expelled, special abilities are activated and after a few seconds the skirmish is usually over. If that's still not fast enough for you, you can even activate a multi-stage time lapse.
Source: PC Games Even if you can't influence the outcome during the action, it's sometimes very exciting to just watch what happens. Especially with builds that only really get going after some time, there can be a surprising comeback. If you want, you can view a complete log of all actions including statistics at the end of the fight. Which of the weapons used dealt how much damage? At what point did stamina run out? When are relevant effects triggered? All of this and more can be viewed in order to make the necessary adjustments in the shop so that a narrow loss can turn into a victory in the next fight.
Asynchronous duels with a ranking system
Regardless of whether you compete in ranked mode or play unranked, the primary goal in Backpack Battles is to get ten wins before you run out of attempts. You will be compared to the builds of other players who were at the same rank in their runs as you are currently. This ensures good balancing and since the fights can be paused at any time, you can also get inspiration for future attempts. If you manage to win ten, the game will present you with a decision: add the points you have won to your rank progression or continue playing in survival mode? It has the potential to score even more points – if you get far enough. Now it's a matter of surviving for eight more rounds. The best thing about it: This gives you even more time to further refine your build with new items. But of course you also compete against even stronger opponents who had the same opportunity.
Backpack Battles is currently still launched as an early access game, but most of the content is already ready. This is because the developers released a demo for the game almost a year ago and then continuously expanded it with new content. So basically free early access before the actual early access has started. Accordingly, the Auto Battler already makes a very well-rounded impression and a lot of fun. By the final release, among other things, a lobby system, a reinterpretation of the ranking system and a fifth class, the adventurer, will be added. And of course more cool items – of course. But Backpack Battles is already a clear indie recommendation for fans of auto battlers and all of you who like to tinker with the best equipment and try out different builds. But be careful: this game can quickly cost you entire evenings. So to be on the safe side, pack enough time in your backpack before you go into battle.