DEATHLOOP | First Impressions

How's it going, gamers? I hope everyone is doing well. So, I recently started playing DEATHLOOP, a game developed by Arkane Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks, and honestly, I have to say it right off the bat — this game is strange. Not bad at all, not even close to bad, but strange in a way that I didn't fully expect when I first launched it. It's the kind of game that starts picking at your curiosity from the very first minute, and once it gets its hooks in you, well, there's no going back. It's been pulling me in hard, and I'm honestly here for it.

So, without further ado, let me tell you a bit about my first impressions of this wild ride.

A Strange Story With Time Loops

The premise of DEATHLOOP is, well, exactly what it sounds like — a loop. A death loop. You're stuck in a repeating cycle on a mysterious island called Blackreef, and the only way out is to figure out how to break it. You play as Colt Vahn, an assassin who wakes up on a beach with absolutely zero memory of who he is, what he's doing there, or how any of this started. And every time the day ends or you die, it all resets. Same beach. Same confusion. Same mess.

What makes the story so interesting — and also so strange — is how it unfolds. Because you're in a loop, you don't get handed a clean, linear narrative from the start. Instead, you have to piece it together yourself, run after run, loop after loop. Notes scattered across the world, environmental clues, audio recordings, and conversations all slowly start to paint a picture of what Blackreef actually is and why Colt is trapped here. It's an almost inverted way of storytelling. You're not being told the story, you're discovering it, and that's a genuinely cool feeling when it clicks.

The island itself is divided into four districts — Updaam, Karl's Bay, Fristad Rock, and The Complex — and the day is broken into four time periods: morning, noon, afternoon, and evening. Each expedition you take into one of these districts uses up one of those time slots, and the behaviors of everyone on the island shift depending on the time you show up. That means figuring out schedules and patterns is a big part of how you'll eventually put everything together.

Colt Has Many Problems, and One of Them Is Julianna

Now, let's talk about one of the most entertaining and equally frustrating parts of this game — Julianna Blake. This woman is, without a doubt, one of the most persistent headaches Colt has to deal with. She's another assassin on the island, and her whole mission is the opposite of yours. While Colt wants to break the loop, Julianna is completely committed to keeping it going. And she will not let you forget it.

What makes Julianna truly special is that she can invade your game. Not just as an AI opponent, but as an actual player-controlled character if you have that option enabled. She can disguise herself as any random enemy on the island, blend in completely, and then the moment you think you're safe — boom — she's in your face. The game even announces her invasion and locks off your exit tunnels until you either deal with her or hack your way out. It's terrifying, especially when you're on a really solid run and things are going well, and then suddenly Julianna shows up to completely ruin your day.

Even when she's controlled by the AI, she's no joke. She's clever, she hits hard, and she has her own set of abilities and powers that make her a legitimate threat every single time. Colt and Julianna constantly bicker through radio communication, and their dynamic is actually one of the most entertaining parts of the game's writing. There's history between them, tension, and a very strange mutual understanding that slowly reveals itself the more you play. It adds a whole layer to the experience that keeps things from feeling purely mechanical.

You Don't Remember Anything, and You Have to Keep Exploring the Same Clues

Here's where the game gets genuinely interesting from a gameplay standpoint. Colt's amnesia isn't just a storytelling choice — it's a design philosophy. Since he doesn't know anything when each loop starts, and neither do you as a player, you're both discovering Blackreef together in real time. Every document you find, every conversation you overhear, every clue you pick up is building toward understanding how to accomplish the impossible: kill eight specific targets called Visionaries in a single day before the loop resets.

The catch is that the game never fully holds your hand. The first couple of loops guide you gently, but after that, it largely lets you loose on the island to figure things out yourself. And that's both thrilling and occasionally maddening. You'll find a note that points you in a direction, discover a locked door you can't open yet, stumble into a completely unexpected encounter, and realize that every little thing on this island is a potential piece of the puzzle. It rewards curiosity enormously, and every building, every corner, every back alley has something in it worth investigating.

What you do carry between loops is your knowledge — and anything you've locked in using Residuum, which is essentially a resource you collect to preserve weapons, powers, and trinkets from one loop to the next. So while the world resets, your understanding of it grows, and your arsenal can grow with it if you're smart about how you manage things.

If You Die, You Lose Everything

And here is where the real pressure kicks in. DEATHLOOP has a system that's part roguelite, and it stings in the best possible way. You have two respawn chances within a single run before a third death fully loops you back to the beginning of the day. When you die and respawn, you drop your unspent Residuum, and if you don't get back to pick it up, it's gone. It's very similar to losing souls in Dark Souls — that sinking feeling of watching your resources hit the floor as you go down.

This creates a very real sense of tension, especially during moments when you're deep into a run, you've gathered a ton of Residuum, and Julianna decides that's the perfect moment to make her entrance. The stakes feel real. Losing progress hurts. And that actually makes every successful run feel incredibly satisfying. When you push through a tough district, secure your Residuum before dying, and walk out the other side with new gear locked in, there's a genuine sense of accomplishment that keeps you coming back for more.

Expecting a Lot More

So far, DEATHLOOP has been a fascinating experience. It's not the kind of game you just zone out with for a few hours and call it a night. It demands attention, it demands patience, and it rewards both. The atmosphere of Blackreef is dark, stylish, and dripping with a retro 60s aesthetic that makes every district feel visually unique and full of personality. The shooting mechanics are smooth, the powers and abilities you collect feel genuinely fun to experiment with, and the moment-to-moment gameplay has this great energy to it whether you go in loud or try to sneak through like a ghost.

I still feel like I've barely scratched the surface of everything this island has to offer, and that's exciting. There's clearly a lot more to uncover, a lot more clues to find, and a lot more Julianna headaches in my future. But you know what? I'm here for all of it. So, gamers, I hope you enjoyed this first look at DEATHLOOP. I'll continue in a future post, and trust me, there's going to be a lot more to talk about. See you in the next one!