As someone who has played a fair number of games like Risk of Rain 2, Hyper Light Breaker was a refreshing experience, a new title developed by Heart Machine. Whether you play it by yourself or with friends, Hyper Light Breaker has a lot of potential. Getting to play this game was fantastic, and the experience I had was highly polished. I knew that the game would be vibrant, but I wasn’t sure to what extent it was going to be. Some games have the problem of being overly vibrant to the point that it’s neon and sickening. Hyper Light Breaker finds the perfect balance between muted and pastel tones with pops of vibrant color.
When it comes to roguelites, a lot of them can be very intense and overwhelming, which is often supported by the soundtrack that goes with it. I enjoy that a lot of the time, but Hyper Light Breaker stands out from the crowd based on the soundtrack alone. Even in conversation with the developers, we spoke about how fantastic the soundtrack is. It has a lot of variety and can be the calm before the storm, especially before you get into major fights against Crowns.
One of my favorite pieces of music is the one that plays when you’re in the hub area. The developers and I spoke about how calming it was, and it was a soundtrack that I’d love to be able to access outside the game to have on in the background while working. Of course, the soundtrack does ramp up a bit once you get into big fights, and it helps build the tension perfectly as you get into fights. However, when you’re out in the world and exploring and taking down smaller enemies, it’s a very calming experience.
The art style is stunning and was easily one of my favorite features of the game. It wasn’t overly vibrant, and there were a lot of different color combinations to indicate the different areas that you could explore in the game. Compared to other games similar to this, Hyper Light Breaker uses a system to generate a completely procedural world every time you die, so nothing will ever be in the same place.
That factor alone makes the game endlessly replayable. There are always new nooks and crannies to explore, and secrets are hidden in many corners. With the ability to glide and skate around the terrain, it allows you to access areas that would typically be off limits, where you may even find a chest hidden away with some supplies you need.
Compared to Risk of Rain 2, this game helps tackle the overwhelming need to explore every corner of the world. Hyper Light Breaker has a map that helps you figure out where points of interest are and allows you to ping on the map and flag areas that you want to explore. As someone who gets very overwhelmed with open-world games, this made it so much easier and significantly less stressful than a game like Risk of Rain 2.
There are lots of different weapon combinations you can try out, as well as items and upgrades that you can use to make yourself more powerful. As with any roguelite, you will get to power yourself up the more you die and for each run you complete, adding to the game’s replayability. In addition, it combines roguelite combat with world-building, as you get to scavenge resources on every run you do, with the option to return home during the run. Doing so allows you to take the resources back to the base, where you can get more upgrades and unlock new content.
The combat system is well-thought-out and provides different ways to tackle it. Whether you want to use ranged weapons or melee is completely up to you. Additionally, you get access to things like grenades, which can be incredibly helpful in a sticky situation. The game gives you the option to either parry an enemy, where you can perform powerful attacks if you succeed at a perfect parry. Or, you can dodge out of the way, which is what I tend to do as I struggle with parry timing. There are a lot of different enemies that you’ll encounter, each with their own movesets, meaning if you want to parry, you’ll have to study them all pretty carefully to figure out the parry window.
Admittedly, I did find it easier to parry the bosses, as they are the more significant enemies in the game and are a lot bigger and easier to see. However, they can be incredibly punishing and do a lot of damage to you, even leading to a one-shot on some occasions.
Overall, I am incredibly excited to play this game more starting tomorrow, when it comes out in Early Access, as it’s already a very polished experience based on the one I played during the preview. It’s a game that I’d be comfortable playing on my own without guidance, as there is a map to help me from getting overwhelmed, whereas Risk of Rain 2 is a game that I can only play if I have friends helping me out to lead the way.
I’m excited about the chaos I’ll cause and the fun character designs I’ll see along the way. The developers currently anticipate around a year of early access before the full launch.
