When I played Slay the Spire and Into the Breach for the first time, I knew each one would exert major influence, and that many devs to come would offer their own spin on the mechanics canonized in these titles. What I didn’t expect, however, was that developers would take these two very different games and fuse them together. However, the Tactical Roguelite Deckbuilder is here to stay.
HIGH Thrilling combat and movement. Catchy soundtrack, addictive gameplay loop.
LOW Mediocre weapon drops and dead rooms. Not much worldbuilding. Underutilized minigames.
WTF Why is there no ability to drop a gun in favor of the default gun?
If I’ve taken one lesson from the Steam spring sale, it’s that there are a lot of deck-building roguelikes out there. In fact, there are too many for my wallet to handle.
Prior to this writing, I was starting to lose momentum after a few games left me questioning why I bother spending my time this way, but I’m glad to say that even in its relatively unpolished state, Hyper Light Breaker offers an experience that is both challenging and rewarding in equal measure — it also doesn’t hurt that it’s total eye candy, rendered in gorgeous cel-shaded 3D that manages to capture the essence of its acclaimed neon-coated 2D predecessor, Hyper Light Drifter.
HIGH The new boss fights are challenging, creative encounters.
LOW Things can get a bit too hectic with four players.
WTF There should’ve been an “easy online” mode from the start…
This is a transcript excerpt covering the score awarded to Rogue Waters on the So Videogames podcast, Episode 430.
HIGH The dopamine rush of a good drop.
LOW Sometimes build ideas are non-starters.
WTF The ball explodes into blood when it hits a cactus?
HIGH Rich, flexible mechanics. A boatload of meaningful content.
LOW Some unavoidable clunky menu shuffling.
WTF A pot full of human backs?
HIGH Feeling like a kung fu movie star.
LOW The long grind before getting to that feeling.
WTF The old guy running around in his underwear.
HIGH Charming art style and characters.
LOW Clunky controls make complicated repairs impossible to complete quickly.
WTF Why do random customers keep deciding to kill me?