Hyper Gentle Breaker may share the same identify to its 2016 predecessor, and it even takes place in the identical universe (although it’s set 15 years earlier), however it’s a really completely different sport from the atmospheric Zelda-like that blew followers away eight years in the past. “It’s referred to as Breaker for a purpose, not Hyper Gentle Drifter 2,” inventive director Alx Preston instructed me in a hands-on preview after I requested what the primary factor he needed folks to know was. “That is its personal sport…it stands by itself two legs.”
Not like the secluded top-down pixel artwork indie darling that put Coronary heart Machine on the map, Hyper Gentle Breaker is an on-line co-op hack-and-slash sport with loot-based runs and extraction mechanics. Assume NieR Automata meets Returnal, however with the neon coloration palette and evocatively brooding synth soundtrack Coronary heart Machine (which additionally launched Photo voltaic Ash in 2021) has turn out to be recognized for. Following its authentic March 2022 reveal and two subsequent delays, the sport is now headed to Steam Early Entry this summer season and I not too long ago received to expertise the bold pitch for myself.
Hyper Gentle Breaker hands-on
What is instantly clear is that, whereas not an precise sequel, Hyper Gentle Breaker nonetheless exudes the menacing magnificence and gripping sense of place that I liked about Hyper Gentle Drifter. Composer Joel Corelitz’s soundtrack instantly sinks its hooks into my creativeness, whereas saturated pinks, teals, and lime greens invite me to discover deeper into the procedurally-generated open world. I mop the ground with some slimes, go toe-to-toe with masked bandits, and get my ass kicked by an enormous werewolf named Dro, one of many many bosses gamers will defeat on their solution to taking over the “Abyss King” on the finish of every new run.
A hand glider let me cross chasms, whereas a hover board let me surf by enemies to cowl distances extra rapidly. Throughout subsequent runs I experimented with heavy and light-weight melee weapons, in addition to secondary pistols and shotguns. There’s additionally dodges, perfectly-timed parries, and a stagger mechanic to beat enemies’ defenses and go ham on them. On paper all the things is smart, however I didn’t instantly discover myself gelling with the tempo or really feel of fight. Whereas serviceable sufficient, the moment-to-moment motion didn’t seize me immediately like Hyper Gentle Breaker’s broader world and presentation did.
“I might say third-person melee fight might be the toughest factor that you might do constructing out a sport,” Preston stated.“Relating to direct interactions there’s a purpose why a variety of builders don’t try to sort out it in nice depth or element and extra depend on capturing, as a result of third-person melee takes a variety of actually particular consideration to element and methods to make it work and really feel satisfying and such as you’re in management and it was your fault on the ability hole, versus the sport’s fault on not telling you what data you want on the proper time.”
No matter the suitable steadiness finally ends up being, it’s undoubtedly one thing that may be fine-tuned in Early Entry, which Coronary heart Machine stated might take a yr or extra. When the sport initially arrives, it should characteristic “greater than a prologue,” in keeping with Preston, who in contrast the preliminary Early Entry model to what Supergiant’s Hades provided when it first received into gamers’ arms. A number of biomes we be out there to discover within the open world, alongside completely different characters and builds. A lot of the bosses and story components, nevertheless, will arrive afterward.
It’s straightforward to think about what Hyper Gentle Breaker is chasing with all of those interlocking methods, from a world that turns into extra hostile the longer you discover it earlier than extracting again to a social hub space together with your hard-earned loot, to the truth that as much as three gamers can battle alongside each other concurrently. Like Danger of Rain 2 and different loot-driven roguelites, Hyper Gentle Breaker has the potential to be a sure form of participant’s eternally sport, at all times teasing one thing new to find or a brand new solution to play. Useless Cells got here out in 2018 and solely simply stopped receiving updates that massively refreshed the sport every time final month.
Preston stated final yr that he doesn’t assume the unique Hyper Gentle Drifter might have the identical type of success releasing in the present day because it did again in 2016. Does that imply Coronary heart Machine won’t ever make Hyper Gentle Drifter 2 followers like me have been dreaming of? “We’d, I don’t know,” he talked about in an apart when describing how Breaker is it’s personal factor. Personally, I hope Breaker finally ends up being so good I cease excited about the Drifter 2 we’d by no means get.