Predecessor Hyper Light Drifter garnered a cult classic reputation for its feeling of isolation, environmental storytelling, and tight 2D gameplay full of secrets. Which makes Hyper Light Breaker a big surprise, a 3D prequel that focuses on straight, loot-based, third-person melee action mixing melee and gunplay in the vein of Destiny and Borderlands – right the way down to embracing multiplayer. Whether solo or co-op, however, it isn't winning many fans so far in early access, and it's easy to see why.
A singular loop comprises the entire game at present. You spawn back at the Cursed Outpost, a small hub area where you can unlock nodes on your skill tree, find other players to team up with, and also fix up shops by spending in-game currency to then buy guns, blades, armor, and Holobytes – extra perks that buff stats, or add the likes rot or fire damage to enemies (you can mix and match five). All of these come with the now-standard color scheme of item rarity making it feel very much like any other loot based shooter. You then use a Telepad to travel to The Overgrowth to play the game proper.
