Hyper Light Breaker is a multiplayer roguelite prequel to Heart Machine's stunning pixel art action RPG, and it also appears to take some cues from the studio's more recent parkour platformer Solar Ash with its fun traversal tools. With numerous characters each sporting a promising potential for build variety, it looks to be a game that taps into the "one more run" mentality of games like Risk of Rain 2 while maintaining a firm moment-to-moment challenge level that's satisfying to overcome.
Game ZXC was given a short early hands-on preview of the game, though our demo build was mostly limited to some combat and map exploration. We didn't get the chance to explore much of the game's longer-term progression systems, overarching narrative, or multiplayer functionality, but we did get a good understanding of the game's combat, exploration, and boss fights as a solo player.
Hyper Light Breaker Sound Designer Weighs in on His Process
Hyper Light Breaker audio lead Alex Johnson talks to Game ZXC about how he designed the game's dynamic audio and made sounds from scratch.
Hyper Light Breaker's Loadout Options Are Surprisingly Diverse
Our demo was all about the combat system, and the default character felt very comfortable thanks to a kit and playstyle that strongly resembles Hyper Light Drifter. Similarly to Hyper Light Drifter, we were equipped with our standard melee weapon, a punchy ranged weapon with limited battery-powered ammunition, and a few special abilities that largely defined our build. This ranged weapon is charged through battery pickups around the environment or performing finishers on staggered enemies just like in Drifter, so using it sparingly and strategically is critical and part of the back-and-forth of the combat flow.
Our favorite loadout was the Summoner, which rocks an arsenal of offensive and healing drones that seems well-suited for multiplayer though it was also perfectly adequate for our solo romp. Although we didn't get to play around much with these, we noticed a wide variety of different passive abilities that will also go a long way toward bringing a build online. For example, one passive we found launched damaging projectiles whenever we dashed, which synergized with another passive that would reflect enemy projectiles when we dashed. The combinatorics of these passive abilities seem to be the primary way that players will express their playstyles, and working out these synergies will probably scratch a similar itch to formulating the perfect Diablo build.
Hyper Light Breaker's Combat Is Tough But Fair
If we could only use one word to describe Hyper Light Breaker's combat feel, it would be "deliberate." Enemies hit hard, and each combat action from the player is a potentially risky commitment. Although it may be tempting to button-mash like a more fluid character action game, Hyper Light Breaker's combat style has a more rhythmic souls-style feel that demands paying close attention to enemy attack patterns. A mistimed dodge or getting greedy with one too many attacks can be costly, and our failed boss fight attempts could be measured in mere seconds. In addition to dodging, there's also a perfect parry mechanic that rewards exceptional timing for some high-risk plays.
Speaking of boss fights, we found the first boss we battled to be quite a challenge as a solo player with little in the way of progression unlocks to help us out, but it certainly felt doable with some effort. The boss we faced had a variety of mechanics that caused us to hone in on the rhythm: some boss attacks needed to be dodged by jumping, while others had tight dodge windows, and a few mob enemies were thrown in to mix things up. Overall, it feels like the kind of game where one should anticipate dying a handful of times as part of the learning process, just like a soulslike game, and it'll be interesting to see how these encounters play out with a balanced group of players.
Hyper Light Breaker's Environments Are Gorgeous and Fun to Explore
Aside from combat and the boss fight, we also had the chance to dabble in some general exploration which is the meat of Hyper Light Breaker's roguelite extraction runs. The idea is to jump into a mix of handcrafted and procedurally generated areas from the hub, gather as many resources as possible, and then return to base to feed the progression loop and make the next run even more successful. To aid in traversal, we could call upon a hoverboard at any time, and it reminded us of how the skateboard felt in Kingdom Hearts 2. There's also a nifty glider that is automatically pulled out upon double jumping, and we imagine these tools will come in handy for finding some of the more well-hidden loot.
As expected from Heart Machine, Hyper Light Breaker is a visual marvel as a result of faithfully translating the beloved art direction of Hyper LIght Drifter into 3D. The vibrant color palette, impressive vistas, and the futuristic yet ancient architectural style had us periodically stopping to soak in the view, though the early demo build's understandable lack of narrative elements left us craving some additional context and we look forward to seeing more of that side of the game be revealed.
Hyper Light Breaker is set to release in Steam Early Access this summer on PC.
