Summary

• Hyper Light Breaker differs from its predecessor with procedurally-generated 3D environments, and serves as a prequel.
• Focus on fast, fluid combat with strategic parrying and stagger bar tactics against elite enemies and bosses.
• Explore a constantly changing world as a Breaker to defeat the evil Abyss King with unique biomes and hoverboard fun.

Hyper Light Breaker is a new sci-fi adventure set in the world of 2016's Hyper Light Drifter. The new project from Heart Machine is much different than its predecessor, and actually serves as a prequel rather than a sequel. Screen Rant went hands-on with the title this week at Summer Game Fest with a new demo to learn more about what the roguelite has to offer.

Breaker does many things differently from its predecessor, eschewing 2D platforming in favor of procedurally-generated 3D environments, and it's set hundreds of years before the story of Hyper Light Drifter as well. In typical roguelite fashion, players will go on excursions out into a chaotic world called the Overgrowth and then return to a hub in which they can do things like buy gear and change their loadout for the next run. For the demo, three character selection options with identical stats were available, from which I chose to venture out in the world as a tanuki named Goro.

Going On Runs In Hyper Light Breaker

Defeating Elites & Bosses With Fluid, Fast Combat

Before players venture to the Overgrowth, they'll customize their loadout after selecting a character. This includes ranged and melee weapons as well as the character's Holobytes and Amp - the former are ive boons like doing extra damage with certain weapons, and the latter are powerful special moves. Once players are transported to the Overgrowth, the main focus is to defeat elite enemies in order to collect boss keys, which allow players to access the game's even more epic, large-scale fights with bosses called Crowns, which are integral to progression.

Combat in Hyper Light Breaker is extremely fast and fluid, requiring quick thinking about which weapon or move in the character's arsenal would be most effective against groups of mixed enemies that dot the world. The preview included a fight with a boss named Exus, who wasted no time in demolishing my character with giant green fireballs. A big takeaway from the fight is how important parrying is, as well as strategically filling the enemy's stagger bar with attacks, which eventually allows for epic finishing moves.

The World Of Hyper Light Breaker

Never See The Same Place Twice

Breakers are of an elite organization tasked with fixing a curse afflicting the Overgrowth that causes it to constantly change, with the ultimate goal being to defeat the evil Abyss King who seems to be at the root of it. The world I explored during the demo was a mix of open plains and mountains, with Exus' lair located atop a very tall one. There are many things to discover in the world - at one point, I found a key that activated a platform that took me high into the sky to a secret location with loot, for example.

The visual style of Hyper Light Breaker is so unique and captivating that it's hard not to be enraptured by the bright colors and detailed environments. The final version of the game will have a huge number of different biomes players might wind up in, which will incorporate all kinds of flora and fauna alongside things like seasonality. A highlight of exploration is the hoverboard, which can be used at any time to seamlessly glide through the world, which is both very useful for longer journeys and just plain fun.

The Future Of Hyper Light Breaker

Early Access & Nearly-Endless Potential

Though the release date of the final version of the game has yet to be announced, Hyper Light Breaker enters early access later this summer. It will include more varied character and loadout options, and integrating player into the 1.0 version is a core part of the developer's plans. Early access will only be available on PC via Steam, though there are plans in place to bring the game to consoles at some point in the future.

The color-saturated, sci-fi world of Hyper Light Drifter being brought into the 3D realm is truly a delight, especially considering the fact that no two journeys into that world are ever the same. This demo piqued my curiosity about what other biomes, weapons, and Breakers will be available, and the way all those things will in turn allow players to nail down such varied strategies and playstyles is quite exciting. The exact date for Hyper Light Drifter's summer early access hasn't been revealed yet, but it's certainly something for roguelite fans to keep an eye on.