Hyper Light Breaker has been in a weird place since its early access launch in January: It’s a great action game with a gorgeous neon sci-fi art style, but the hybrid roguelike/extraction shooter structure surrounding that core has been roundly criticized by players.
But despite taking it on the chin in the Steam user reviews, developer Heart Machine is responding to those critiques constructively, with its upcoming Buried Below update set to completely revamp the game’s progression and the balance between its roguelike and extraction shooter elements.
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This was a change the studio seems to have been weighing for some time, but the deciding factor was the massively positive response to a prototype version of this overhaul tucked away in a prior update.
“Back in February, we actually put out an experimental beta branch for folks to try that was a very rough version of a one life run, and we got a lot of positive reception to that,” said lead producer Michael Clark. “That’s where we’re switching into: No multiple lives, still keeping extraction, but really focusing on making each run more encapsulated, just enclosed to itself, so that we can give you much juicier loot. Have you get that zero to hero power fantasy that is kind of the core of the roguelike experience in every single run.
“You had to read the patch notes carefully to actually figure out what the password was to get the beta. And that beta had a very early prototype of what we’ve got in here for the flow and getting that feedback and seeing that folks it was resonating with folks, even in a very rough, very experimental state. People were enjoying it, and could see the potential there.”
I had the chance to speak to Clark and watch unscripted gameplay of the new update, which launches April 29. Alongside a new boss, character, and weapons, here are the topline changes coming to Hyper Light Breaker:
- You can still extract from a run in progress to recuperate in Breaker’s hub, but when you die, the world resets, bringing the game more in line with other roguelikes rather than extraction shooters.
- Meta progression has been completely redesigned to complement this: You’ll level up your Psycomm (subclass) during a run, with long-term progression pushing your level cap on the Psycomm higher.
- Your progress to a new level while out in the world resets when you extract, adding another risk-reward element to staying out for one more level up.
- No more weapon vault or hoarding, but Clark promises that individual weapons will have more exciting and powerful unique effects to compensate.
- Even stricter fog of war when first dropping into a world, to encourage exploration and up the tension and mystery.
- A redesigned new player experience with a more substantial tutorial.
- Different characters are limited to certain weapons, sharpening the distinctions between the cast.
- You now both level up and extract at obelisks throughout the world, with extraction no longer requiring timed defense of a position.
Easter egg redesign
Clark said Breaker’s extraction elements were meant to complement its open world design, to allow players to more fully explore and appreciate a given seed of its procedurally generated map. You could not only extract back to the hub from an active run, but you also had multiple lives to burn through before Breaker would reset the map and your progress through its bosses.
Now, you’ll still be able to extract during a run, but if you die, the map, your weapons and level up progress, as well as defeated bosses, will all be reset. Clark likened the change in Breaker’s flow to the difference between free-for-all deathmatch and a round of Counter-Strike, heightening the stakes.
Clark made it clear that this will likely be the biggest progression and systems change Breaker will get in early access, joking that the team isn’t going to turn it into a kart racer or something with its next major update planned for the summer.
Even though this shift makes death more costly, it also seems a bit liberating. Prior to this update, Breaker had that extraction emphasis on building up a big arsenal of weapons to fall back on in case you beef it on a run. This had the unfortunate effect of making the game start out punishingly difficult when you lacked gear, but then lose its teeth as you got established. Clark was hopeful that the more traditional roguelike structure will equalize that difficulty, making it more consistent from run to run.
Shadows die once
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Heart Machine is also further differentiating Hyper Light Breaker’s characters from each other. In addition to their specialized Psycomm subclasses, you’ll now only see certain weapon types drop for certain characters, solidifying their play styles and identities.
That also goes for Rondo, a new ninja-y, damage-dealing speedster coming in the update whose Psycomms focus on enhancing parries and dodges. They’re coming with two particularly sick new weapons: A “Gloom Shiv” glaive with a moveset like a Chinese spear fighter straight out of a wuxia film, and a “Dream Blade” katana whose sweeping attacks and heavy followthrough look like they were lifted from Sekiro.
Breaker’s progression rework reminds me a lot of Cyberpunk 2077 2.0, a far-reaching overhaul that isn’t immediately apparent when you look at the game or even take the controls for a second, but whose crucial shift in context and incentives will (hopefully) result in a better-feeling, more engrossing experience. We’ll know for sure when Buried Below goes live on April 29.
