You need to look no further than my strange yet enduring fondness of Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts to see that I usually embrace sequels that are a radical departure from the original. I feel like Vito Corleone is asking you to look at how they killed my child after spending more than a dozen hours with Hyper Light Breaker, which is a follow-up (though not a true sequel) to Hyper Light Drifter, one of my all-time favorite independent games.
The foundation of a decent action RPG is undoubtedly present in this extremely difficult cooperative roguelike, but it is currently hidden beneath shoddy combat mechanics, frustratingly shallow exploration, and sparse content that becomes monotonous after a few hours. Although this is its early access launch, there is always hope that a rough package will eventually become something much better, but the current version is mainly disappointing.
Before facing three extremely dangerous and incredibly annoying bosses, the objective of each run is to hunt through a randomly generated map for better equipment and essential goods. After that, you must return to the base to regroup, purchase upgrades, and repeat the process. Using a distinctive art style that effectively captures the essence of Hyper Light Drifter in 3D, the randomly generated environments that you and up to two companions will spend the majority of your time exploring at least look gorgeous.
However, these recurring regions are quite annoying to traverse, replete with uncomfortable cliffs and uneven terrain that make me feel as though I shouldn’t be climbing them but give me no other option. On the plus side, they at least provide you with a nice hoverboard to ride around on and perform tricks on. Hoverboards are still awesome, and even though the controls are as shoddy as the rest, you can still have some fun with them.
The careless fighting in Hyper Light Breaker may be annoying.
Unfortunately, the same cannot be true about drab hack-and-slash battles. Moving and dodging feel unresponsive and inconsistent, the lock-on system frequently toggled off unexpectedly and killed me and my crew numerous times, the alternative third-person shooting option has very little ammo, and the melee attacks you are given aren’t particularly interesting. As a result, I stopped using it completely. Hyper Light Breaker may be frustrating when you combine that with the fact that you’re surrounded by crowds of people all the time, who are frequently more bothersome than fascinating.
It feels much worse when you’re playing alone because there doesn’t seem to be any scaling to make up for your decreased manpower, so you better hope you have some pals who are willing to assist you with your runs. These things are particularly annoying when Hyper Light Breaker is balanced to be extremely challenging right away—I mean extremely challenging, and that’s from someone who has all of Sekiro’s achievements—but doesn’t bother to explain its rules and frequently punishes you with a barrage of cheap enemy attacks.
It’s also funny that you don’t have any healing items at all when you first start studying, and you only get them very sporadically and at a high cost, even though you would think you would need them the most. Instead, unless you can unlock the bare minimum you need to survive, you essentially have to throw yourself at insurmountable odds. The current version of Hyper Light Breaker only features two of the three bosses that were originally intended to be present: Exus, a melee warrior with fire magic, and Dro, a big wolf with a sword. Both encounters are quite sloppy, with the boss fumbling around wildly to deal massive damage and minions being summoned repeatedly.
Dealing with these powerful commanders alone is simple enough, but battles that are already difficult become incredibly frustrating when you’re continuously attacked by the same extremely deadly foes you fight in the open-world sections. Only two of the three bosses that were initially supposed to be in Hyper Light Breaker are present in the current version: Dro, a large wolf with a sword, and Exus, a ranged fighter with fire magic. With the boss fumbling madly to do massive damage and minions being summoned constantly, both battles are quite messy. It’s easy enough to deal with these strong commanders on your own, but when you’re constantly attacked by the same lethal enemies you face in the open-world areas, already challenging combat becomes immensely stressful.
Unfortunately, there aren’t many incentives to keep playing Hyper Light Breaker after that. Although you will gain some minor advantages that will make runs easier to handle and make you a little stronger, there won’t be much to see or do when you return to the field. The roguelike formula, which typically requires you to activate difficulty modifiers and other features so that the challenge level keeps up with you in return for a higher reward, feels rather backward to simply have an easier run in later stages. Right now, Hyper Light Breaker doesn’t have any of that. Playing as a surfing ninja raccoon is at least visually appealing, but the two other characters you may unlock just have a few stat changes and one special ability to set them apart.
Another factor that made me lose interest was the absence of any exceptional or potent loot, particularly after I finished a run or two. From heavy greatswords and lightning-fast hand claws to peashooter sidearms and powerful shotguns, you’ll find a variety of melee and ranged weapon types. However, the common and weaker versions of these weapons feel a lot like the rare and powerful ones you’ll eventually unlock, except for a few minor benefits like restoring health when you kill an enemy or some other small bonus. Crazy game-changing options that significantly boost your combat performance or change your strategy during a particular run are completely absent from the pool of items.
Verdict
Hyper Light Breaker is a clumsy rogue-lite that uses the Hyper Light universe I love poorly during its early access launch. The procedural worlds feel difficult to explore, the bosses are cheesy and annoying as everyone gets out, the combat is sloppy and monotonous, and the progression and rewards are both mediocre. Even with friends there, you’ll have a very difficult package when you add all of that to the typical work-in-progress technological issues.
During its early access launch, the awkward rogue-lite Hyper Light Breaker makes terrible use of the Hyper Light environment I like. The fighting is clumsy and repetitive, the bosses are corny and unpleasant as everyone leaves, the generated environments feel hard to explore, and the prizes and growth are just average. When you combine all of that with the usual work-in-progress technical problems, you’ll have a challenging package, even if you have pals there.
