Hyper Light Breaker Review

Hyper Light Breaker is a rogue-lite RPG developed by Heart Machine, a company based in LA. There isn’t much information on the developers except that they previously developed another rogue-lite game, Hyper Light Drifter, which seemed to be the inspiration for Hyper Light Breaker. While Hyper Light Drifter was released on multiple platforms, Hyper Light Breaker has only been released on Steam Early Access.

Since Hyper Light Breaker isn’t a sequel to Hyper Light Drifter, it’s more accurately described as the spiritual successor of the previous game. The gameplay and the artwork share many similarities, which is one of the many connections between the two titles. In addition to the elements introduced by Hyper Light Drifter, Hyper Light Breaker includes an open-world exploration, support for multiplayer, and terrain formed through a generative process. 

Hyper Light Breaker is an action RPG and is about being one of the survivors known as a Breaker, which also coincidentally happens to be you; as you go on, you discover a lost civilization buried behind the background of a dynamic world known as the Overgrowth. You must survive and tell the rest of the world what's going on. You explore the civilization facing beasts, powerful technology, and unraveled mysteries that will open up a path to the past. You will go to different areas as a Breaker in order to collect supplies, engage in combat with enemies, and unravel the world's demise.

Upon starting Hyper Light Breaker, it immediately reminded me of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild due to its art style and gameplay mechanics, even though the game isn’t anything like that. Combat in the game is really fast-paced, and the gameplay flows well. At the same time, it’s mostly quite skill-based, similar to the original game, but more complicated. However, while you're gliding around the open world areas, it retains that beautiful Zen feel.

The action is what keeps Hyper Light Breaker together. Unlocking gates, vanquishing crown bosses, and facing off against the Abyss King are the objectives of this game. The opponents react to being attacked, and cutting them feels heavy and meaty. The shooting is a tad floaty, but melee fighting feels smooth and fluid. The game reminded me of the PlayStation 2 era in a positive manner, particularly Jak and Daxter when I was riding about on the hoverboard and the visuals. I only wished the locations were created rather than mechanically produced.

There are numerous weapons available, including double-edged claws, enormous swords, spears, and cleavers. Each weapon has distinct abilities, so experimenting to discover the best build is critical. To succeed, you'll need to combine dashes, parries, ranged weapons, and utilities. Weapons also have rarities and affixes, which provide bonuses or elemental damages. The third-person perspective keeps you on your toes, especially as opponents flood from all sides. There is also a wide spectrum of enemies, including close-range brawlers, rapid attackers, ranged enemies, and the game’s iconic slime.

Hyper Light Breaker also features a complicated loot mechanism. The quantity of resources may initially appear to be overwhelming; nevertheless, as you gain an understanding of which ones should be prioritized, the process will become more natural. A core is a resource that can be used to unlock new powers or improve existing ones, such as enhancing damage, health, armor, and other attributes. Bright Blood is a valuable resource that may be obtained by engaging in combat with enemies and gaining possession of items that are found in the environment. This grants you access to loot chests and enables you to improve your equipment.

The rails, which are the game's weaponry, give an additional layer of strategy to the experience. You can either locate or purchase these weapons, which vary from shotguns to pulse rifles, as they are not considered normal military equipment. The power that is used by rails comes from the batteries, which either recharge themselves over time or must be supplied by drops. You can also exchange gears in the middle of the run if you find it, or you can save it for later use at the hub.

Usually, you plan your next run when you are in the lobby. You need to organize your Hollowbite, which holds the items for your next run. During your time in the lobby, you will have the opportunity to equip items from the inventory, purchase items from vendors such as blades, rails, and hollows, and improve your abilities and equipment to enhance your equipment or talents. It is necessary to employ strategy in order to proceed because certain upgrades may only be obtained after acquiring materials from crown bosses.

The end of each cycle occurs when you either exhaust all of your lives or become victorious over the Abyss King. You will be rewarded with golden rations, which can be used to unlock talents, equip slots, and improve your vendor options, given that your performance is evaluated. There is a finite amount of time that gear can be used; some of it dies out, while others only survive a few runs. Determining when to make use of powerful tools is an essential component of success. There is a day and night cycle, and at night, enemies become more dangerous, and specific regions of the map become even more hostile.

It is recommended that you begin by improving your med slots because they enable you to heal while you are sprinting. Additionally, you have the ability to enhance skills such as the Flash Step (dodge) or combine different types of elemental damage. My character is only at level three after twelve hours of playtime; it takes some time to fully upgrade your character. While I am not the best at these games, it does not change the fact that I have had a number of incredible moments. These experiences range from narrowly surviving encounters to losing promising runs because I became overly greedy. 

Boss fights in Hyper Light Breaker are challenging and require an item called Prisms, which can be obtained by defeating mini-bosses or by searching for them in areas that are tough to access. You will need to clear the map while maintaining a balance between the increasing difficulty and the fact that the more bosses you’d like to encounter, the more prisms you need to find. It is possible to extract treasures and chest boxes early on, but doing so comes with risks; in order to escape, you will have to face waves of enemies from the beginning.

The depth of Hyper Light Breaker is discovered when you experiment with different loot, different builds, and other kinds of strategies. It doesn't matter if you're a master at parrying or the type of player who likes to run around and pick off enemies; the game is designed to accommodate different play styles. The more time you spend traversing the Overgrowth, the more difficult it will get. The longer you stay in an area, the danger meter keeps on increasing to keep you on edge since more and more enemies will pop up and keep attacking you. 

If you die in Overgrowth, you’ll lose all your resources. However, an extraction point is included in every area, which enables you to save your resources without sacrificing any of your progress. However, it took a bit of time to locate these extraction points since the maps were huge, and it took me a bit of time to locate them. The incorporation of this mechanic into the approach is something that I regret not having done earlier.

What I admire most is the variety of playstyles available in Hyper Light Breaker. The world is enjoyable to explore, and there are tons of talents to unlock and progress. Each boss fight is beautifully designed, and while they were difficult, I did enjoy the encounters. I also enjoyed bosses who don't stick to the typical Souls-style attack patterns. These bosses combine classic assault patterns with bullet-hell features, which is particularly my cup of tea. When these bosses launch large AOE attacks, you must avoid and watch out for a slew of projectiles. It can feel like bullet hell at times, and I enjoy this style of gameplay.

However, Hyper Light Breaker isn’t without its issues. During my playthrough, I encountered a few glitches and some loading issues. The game also crashed a few times, especially when I was approaching a boss, which really frustrated me. I assumed these to be the usual Early Access issues, which will be fixed with later patches. Compared to the first game, Hyper Light Breaker is a lot simpler and stripped down, while I would have wanted to see some of the same themes carried over apart from the visuals. The world can feel a little lifeless at times.

While I enjoyed Hyper Light Breaker’s gameplay, I didn’t find Overgrowth particularly intriguing. It's visually appealing, yet it appears to be a bit lifeless at times. It is not an adventure game in which you discover interesting locales and become eager to explore. It's more about going in, doing the job, locating the boss, and extracting. Even though it’s an RPG, don't expect deep exploring from this game.

Visually, Hyper Light Breaker is pleasing to watch. All the characters and the different areas are nicely designed. From the scenarios to just being in the lobby, everything seemed very pleasing and had a hint of freshness. The sound design is nothing too memorable, but you won't get bored; it's just not something to look forward to. Also, just like the previous game, this one doesn’t include any voice acting.

In the end, Hyper Light Breaker does a decent job, and even though it's in early access, I love the combat mechanism and the art style, as everything about it just screams freshness. The Hollowbite system is worth noting because it allows you to keep portions of your gear while making alterations as you proceed. It's not a full reset every time, and I think it's a great old-school approach. As an Early Access game, it has promise, but certain issues and a lack of world complexity prevent it from being an amazing game.

Also check out our other guides below:

• Hyper Light Breaker Beginner's Guide
• Hyper Light Breaker Guide | How To Craft Medkit