Five days ahead of Hyper Light Breaker's January 14 launch, developer Heart Machine has revealed the price of the co-op action roguelike, as well as a nice launch deal to sweeten the pot: Hyper Light Breaker will cost $30, and from launch until January 28, will come with a free copy of 2016's Hyper Light Drifter.
Alongside a press release revealing the launch price and deal, Heart Machine has also put out a trailer showing off the playable characters and bosses that will be present at the start of early access. The starting guy who looks a helluva lot like the Drifter from the original game is named Vermillion, and he'll be joined by the more feminine, yellow jacketed Drifter-alike Lapis, as well as the pleasantly plump tanuki-looking fellow, Goro. As for the bosses or "crowns," we'll be getting the beatdown from Dro, the Artorias-coded wolf knight who gave PCG news writer Joshua Wolens and I so much trouble in Breaker's demo. We'll also have to contend with the heavy-fisted gladiator, Exus.
I've been enjoying Breaker's demos ahead of release—it's reminiscent of Risk of Rain 2, but with more precise, Soulsborne/character action-inspired combat and a stronger emphasis on exploration. Breaker will feature procedurally generated open world maps, though Heart Machine is promising all the secrets and complexity you'd expect from a bespoke experience, with the hope being that this will buttress Breaker's replayability in the long haul.
Meanwhile, Hyper Light Drifter is the reason for the season, an influential riff on top-down Zelda with more intense, complex combat and a killer atmosphere that's been handily translated into full 3D with Breaker. If, like me, you already own Drifter, the free copy with Breaker could make for a nice digital gift to a friend.
Hyper Light Breaker has been delayed a few times, but its early access launch on January 14 is well-timed: With Elden Ring Nightreign coming sometime later this year, there's about to be way more competition in this 3D open world roguelike space, and we'll see how Breaker's proc gen approach stacks up against Nightreign's presumably more static map.
