Progressive and Creative Loot Systems[]
Loot systems, they can make or break a game. All games that implement a loot system are saying that there will be progression in the game! As you play the game, you will have access to more and more things. These things will create options in game play, and these items can range in strength and utility. These things make up the base of any loot system, but progression is the key. Games like dungeon crawlers, rely on a player having a feeling of progression. The constant grinding of minions and quests have to have a purpose, the player needs to feel a sense of gain from it. Loot is a great way to do that, if the player is constantly replacing gear and weapons with newer, stronger and more creative alternatives, it creates a sense of control and empowerment for the player. Creative combinations of powers and abilities to loot keeps the game fun and exciting for players as they explore their options. It also adds depth and longevity to a game.
Borderlands Series[]
The Borderlands series is a great example of a creative and progressive loot system. As you play the game, you are constantly replacing and swapping out your gear for something new and even crazier then the one before. Whether its a gun that explodes when you throw it, or a pistol that shoots 20 rockets at a time. There are so many roads to explore that the player is constantly looking for something new to play with.
Diablo 3[]
The quintessential dungeon crawler, Blizzard's Diablo series is centered around loot progression. Between loot sets, special abilities, and secondary stats, the game gives ample reason to keep playing just for the loot fest alone. This is also reflected graphically. Stronger pieces of gear tend to generally look cooler than the lower pieces.
Risk of Rain[]
In Risk of Rain, you grind in a cooperative rogue-like to survive as long as you can. As you kill progressively stronger enemies, they drop more coinage, and they also drop 'artifacts.' These artifacts bestow on you novel power-ups, like faster movement, health regeneration, coin-production, and many more. This clip shows players in a late stage of the game raking in mad monies and sick-nasty artifacts. The novelty of these loot drops and their combinations keep the player interested in each play-through to persist in the grinding.