I’m not too far into Loopmancer, but I’m loving it. It’s a beautiful 2D roguelite mounted in a glorious 3D cyberpunk world. You have great wonderfully nasty weapons, the controls are swift and precise, and the polish fails at the most charming moments – your character’s hair is one, and the pleasantly stilted swearing of your enemies is another.
But there’s already something about it that I am really becoming obsessed by. The pocket money. Downed enemies drop money for you to collect, money which you too will lose if you have it on you when you die. So instead, it’s imperative that you invest it. Loopmancer: stylish, violent, and impressively prudent.
Luckily for us, you’re investing your money in stylish violence. Scattered around the game’s levels are terminals that allow you to put your money towards unlocking the fancier parts of the game’s arsenal. Whenever I come across one of these terminals, even if it’s a basic grenade I doubt I’ll use, I end up dropping all my cash into it, because this is a roguelite and I lose my cash when I die, and – crucially – I have to assume I’ll die pretty soon.
