loopmancer is what would happen if a cyberpunk sleeping dogs was made into one Groundhog DayRoguelite-esk.
Developed by eBrain Studios, loopmancer is a stylish platformer set in the not too distant future of 2046. You play as Xiang Zixu, a cyber-enhanced detective on the hunt for a missing journalist in Dragon City’s criminal underworld.
When clues to the missing journalist are within Xiang’s reach, he is unglamorously killed. After dying, Xiang finds himself back in the bedroom of his lavish apartment, the kind only video game characters can have. It’s here where the Groundhog Day Time warp rules come into play. Xiang reassembles the clues you’ve gathered from his past lives so you can make decisions that affect the rest of the story. While the game has yet to be officially released, its demo is available to play on Steam.
fight one loopmancer is fast-paced with fluid dodging and clunky hack-and-slash brawls between 3D platforming levels. Some areas change randomly, adding a fresh gameplay experience to a new loop.
To keep the game’s roguelite combat fresh, loopmancer uses a lagaway-like weapon purchase system. Tiny robots scattered throughout the levels called PUT machines allow you to buy new weapons with e-coins, the currency that flows from destructible crates and enemies. You can put money into a variety of purchasable weapons placed throughout the levels, such as an armed fish. If you die, these funds will count towards your next loop and will be permanently unlocked after a completed purchase. This not only encourages completely overpowering the enemies in the levels, but also adds variety to how you approach the game’s combat. Logistics terminals, the game’s checkpoint stations, allow you to heal Xiang and teleport around the map.
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Juking and dodging enemies scattered around areas is satisfying, especially since friendly fire causes them to explode like that old Fruit Gushers commercials with the occasional ax or grenade throw by you or your comrades. Hacking through enemies also causes them to spit out hilarious, albeit repetitive, curse-filled lines of speech. I enjoyed hearing Wilhelm’s screams and SpongeBob-like screams over her severed legs.
During the fight of loopmancers’ time warp roguelite elements are great, the story aspect in the demo is where it gets a bit muddled. Although the game has the foresight to anticipate how exhausting retread dialogue could be, and offers a skip button for both cutscenes and character interactions, there were moments when I wasn’t sure I should dare, to talk with them Characters or reading codices in levels. Loops sometimes lead to alternate dialogue with Xiang where characters provide new information, causing me to click through dialogue I’ve already heard on the off chance that I’d hear something worth my time . Most, however, came from two characters and was more flavor text than case details.
Although there are funny moments when Xiang taunts his staff, betting that he already knows the details of his mission, having learned from his countless deaths, before they question him about the parameters of his mission. Dialogue in these moments is sparse, depending on how just (or unjust) your untimely death was in previous loops. However, you cannot skip Xiang’s Slow ghost in the shell
To his honor loopmancer is lore-heavy, a quality most cyberpunk indie titles lack. While that would be a plus in most cases, lore dumping is in loopmancer about codexes and diary entries counteracts the high-speed gameplay Demo requirements – although it might work better in the full game. Throughout each level you will find codexes and journal entries from either new blood gang members or the unfortunate residents of their towns. While these texts offer a glimpse loopmancer‘s intriguing world-building, they’re also speed traps of long text scribbles that bring a hard end to the flow of platforming and combat. Bothering to read codexes becomes a gamble to find a message you’ve already read or a new entry thanks to the randomly altered sections of the game.
loopmancer is an impressive demo, considering it’s the first game for the 21-strong team from Beijing. Hopefully eBrain Studios will work out the kinks when the game is scheduled to release later this year because I got to see speedrunner eating loopmancer high.
