"They're games of their time," Heart Machine head and Hyper Light series creator Alx Preston told me of the two games in the series, 2016's Drifter and the upcoming open world roguelike, Hyper Light Breaker. "I don't think that you could really release Drifter today and get the same sort of success it had."
That first game is a 2D, top-down hack and slasher, reminiscent of classic Zelda but with a harsher edge and a striking neon aesthetic. Its desolate world could be by turns cute and hopeful but also horrifying and gruesome, and to my eye presaged later indie hits like Hollow Knight or last year's Tunic. I love Hyper Light Drifter, and when developer Heart Machine revealed its plan to follow it up with a fully-3D, open-world roguelike, I was intrigued but apprehensive.
