Hyper Light Breaker is an early access rogue-like/extraction action RPG from Heart Machine, the same studio behind hits like Solar Ash and Hyper Light Drifter. I’m having a hard time reconciling the fact that this is the same team that created those two incredible games. Both of them had this minimalist yet deeply effective design that just clicked. But with Hyper Light Breaker, its subpar design decisions feel like it’s missing the spark that turned its predecessors into instant classics.
The game is essentially split into two parts: the hub and the Overgrowth. The hub is this city-like area where you buy equipment, choose different characters and setups, and pick up permanent upgrades that will help you in Overgrowth—the actual world where the action happens.
Visually, the Overgrowth is stunning. It feels like a 3D version of Heart Machine’s previous games, with those cold, vibrant colours like violet, green, and red, with pretty much the same UI as its predecessors. The combat is familiar too: you’ve got the same snap dashing, the same sword swings, and even a hoverboard for traversal that is very reminiscent of Solar Ash’s sliding traversal. Sadly, it’s missing all the depth that made strolling through Solar Ash’s world so exhilarating. There’s no grappling, no gliding, and no rail traversal. It’s just walking, dashing, and hovering, and with your combat arsenal consisting of light attacks, heavy attacks, and guns, interacting with this beautiful world feels so… limiting and uninspired.
Not only do you as a player feel like a downgrade, but the world itself is another downgrade from the studio’s earlier portfolio. The Overgrowth at the time of writing is composed entirely of scattered enemy hideouts that you grind through to be able to pass another onslaught of enemies in the extraction zone. The world lacks any other real landmarks, quests or any motives to keep you engaged, the lack of a real story also doesn’t help. There’s nothing here beyond some basic tutorials and the fictional language that the game uses to create a sense of mystery. Think “The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild” without any dungeons, towns, or memorable locations, just some Bokoblins and Fire Keese as well as some mini bosses, and that’s it.
I borrow Zelda’s Bokoblins and Fire Keese as examples intentionally, as you will mainly encounter and grind the same types of enemies in Hyper Light Breaker, or variations of them, for hours and hours. It’s a direct copy-paste from Zelda with some aesthetic changes, but the main difference is that Hyper Light Breaker reduces its combat to a numbers game instead of deliberately making handcrafted challenges.
The core loop revolves around facing hordes of enemies spawned by a central “engine” monster, which you must defeat to collect prisms and unlock Crowns (the mini bosses of the Overgrowth). You will use these crowns for more grinding to be able to survive the extraction zone onslaught. Sadly, the combat lacks the incentives for finesse and strategy that made Hyper Light Drifter so compelling. Combat is almost always hampered by clunky movement and an awkward flow between attacking, parrying, and dodging, and it always leads to enemy strikes landing unpredictably when you are busy fighting, leaving you frustrated rather than challenged.
The charm of Hyper Light Drifter was in its tight, deliberate combat design. Every encounter felt like a puzzle, demanding precision and strategy as you parried, shot, and slashed your way through meticulously crafted dungeons and enemy set pieces. Enemy placement was thoughtful, and each room introduced new surprises and puzzles that kept the gameplay fresh and rewarding. In Hyper Light Breaker, however, the shift to sprawling 3D environments sacrifices that precision. The open spaces and overwhelming enemy numbers strip away the tactical depth, replacing it with chaos that feels more exhausting than exhilarating, as well as any lingering sense of surprise beyond their defeat, except for the weapons/materials you get.
The numbers factor is not a surprise seeing that this game is designed for multiplayer co-op play. The sheer volume of enemies and their aggressive behaviour practically necessitate teaming up with friends to survive. But even then, the experience leans heavily into the roguelike grind, where success feels less about skill and more about luck—scavenging for rare weapons, stat boosts, and upgrades to tilt the odds in your favour. While this approach might appeal to fans of the genre, it strays far from the tight, skill-based combat that defined Hyper Light Drifter.
Not to throw salt in the wound, but the game is also a technical wreck that fails to reach a stable 30 FPS, plus a tonne of other bizarre issues and hiccups. This area is generally improved on with patching and fixes, but it’s definitely worth mentioning given its current state.
Hyper Light Breaker isn’t just an early access game that needs more polish and content. It feels like a pre-alpha build that’s still trying to figure out what it wants to be. I want to love it—I really do. Heart Machine’s previous games mean so much to me; every pixel, every sound, and every mechanic felt deliberate, as if the developers had distilled their vision into its purest form, and I can see glimpses of that magic here too. But right now, I don’t see how Hyper Light Breaker can turn into something that lives up to the studio’s legacy or at least grab anyone’s attention.
