Earlier today, IGN uploaded a new gameplay preview for Hyper Light Breaker, the highly anticipated sequel to Hyper Light Drifter. Clocking in at well over five minutes, the preview highlights writer Rebekah Valentine’s experiences watching Heart Machine founder Alx Preston playing through portions of the title at the Game Developers Conference. Much of the preview describes details we already knew about the game, such as the new rogue-lite open world and the high-octane combat. Having said that, Valentine does go over some brand-new bits of info about Hyper Light Breaker and shows off some new gameplay footage.
According to Valentine, Hyper Light Breaker features the same aura of mystery and crypticness as its predecessor, with the characters still communicating using pictograms rather than full-on speech. While exploring the mysterious Overgrowth, players have to defeat the bosses located across the game’s procedurally generated biomes. To unlock the bosses, players need to track down several beacons in their respective biomes and activate all of them. Players can battle both the bosses and the world’s myriad enemies using an expanded array of weapons and abilities, including a giant cube capable of smashing foes.
A unique approach to rogue-lite design
Hyper Light Breaker boasts an incredibly open structure that allows players to tackle any beacons and biomes in any order they wish. Of course, certain biomes will prove quite challenging if players travel to them early, but the option exists nonetheless. Preston told Valentine that Hyper Light Breaker contains five biomes in its current state, although he did not outright say if more will come.
The gameplay preview also reveals that every time the player defeats a boss, a little bit more of Hyper Light Breaker’s story will unveil itself. The preview shows a few of these bosses in action, although Preston admitted that their movesets are currently somewhat overturned and will likely change in the future.
