Disappointing First Impressions with Hyper Light Breaker
Usually, I am all for wild departures in sequels, but after spending just a day with Hyper Light Breaker, I can’t help but feel let down. This follow-up to Hyper Light Drifter, one of my favorite indie games, has left me disheartened. The six hours I’ve invested in this challenging co-op roguelike have exposed sloppy combat mechanics, shallow exploration, and repetitive content.
Challenging Gameplay and Bosses
The main objective of Hyper Light Breaker is to explore randomized maps for better gear and key items while facing three difficult bosses on each map. Although I’ve defeated a couple of bosses, the highly deadly minions and erratic boss behavior make progress slow. Completing a map fully seems like a distant goal at this early access stage.
Combat makes an absolutely terrible first impression.
Initially, the combat feels uninteresting. Melee attacks lack depth, shooting has limited ammo, movement is unresponsive, and the lock-on system is unreliable. Pair these issues with the game’s extreme difficulty and lack of guidance, and every encounter feels like an unfair challenge. Starting without healing items only adds to the frustration, forcing players to struggle through tough situations.
Exploring Beautiful Worlds
Despite the gameplay flaws, the procedurally generated worlds are visually stunning, capturing the essence of Hyper Light Drifter in a 3D environment. Navigating these areas can be frustrating due to awkward terrain, but the inclusion of a hoverboard adds a fun element to traversal. Although controls are not perfect, the hoverboard provides some enjoyable moments.
I still have much to uncover before finalizing my review next week. While combat is gradually becoming more tolerable as I adapt to its quirks and acquire healing items, my initial experience with Hyper Light Breaker has been disappointing. This early access launch has fallen short of expectations for a long-awaited follow-up.