Hyper Light Breaker, the next rogue-lite action adventure from the developers of Hyper Light Drifter and Solar Ash, will now launch in early access this fall instead of the previously announced Spring 2023 release window. The game has also revealed its first official look at its action combat and gameplay in a new trailer.
Hyper Light Breaker replicates the visual aesthetic of Solar Ash and appears to follow in its footsteps, with the 3D world and biomes set in the same colorful fictional universe established by Hyper Light Drifter. The main differences are that players here will be able to traverse the world alone or with friends via online co-op, and enjoy procedurally generated biomes and labyrinths, unlike the first two linear games.
According to Hyper Light Breaker's Steam page, the game will be open-world, with unlimited replayability and build combinations. The early access is expected to last for a year, and currently, players who join the early access can expect a clear story, procedural world generation, and a wide variety of weapons and character upgrades, in addition to several different player skins. (The early access will also support online multiplayer with up to 3 players, but it's not mentioned if the full game will support more).
The final release will include even more player character skins with readily available load-outs and weapons, along with upgrades and mods. NPCs will also be added and all levels will have more polished OSTs, minibosses, and bosses. As for performance and balance, these components will be addressed alongside players during early access.
It is also stated that the full story and narrative will be available to discover in the full version, so the story in early access will not be complete, but it is not clear how much of the story will be available in the game at early access launch.
Another report on Steam delves into the studio's philosophy of procedural open-world design, saying that the game will dynamically generate global components that have the ability to affect an entire run/playthrough, rather than just stage or biome-specific elements. Points of interest will also be highly differentiated and unique, resulting in entirely new biomes to explore, rather than sub-variations of the same biomes, as the studio puts it.