Hyper Light Breaker director says the open-world roguelike's runs aren't "the be-all and end-all" so players will have "a lot more freedom"

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The Hyper Light Drifter sequel enters Early Access this summer

Hyper Light Breaker
(Image credit: Heart Machine)

The director of upcoming roguelite, Hyper Light Breaker, has revealed the game's runs won't be "the be-all and end-all" like a traditional roguelike. 

In an interview with Edge (issue 397), Hyper Light Drifter and Hyper Light Breaker director Alx Preston gave fans excited for the upcoming sequel a little more context to the studio's next game. "There's no first or second or whatever biome or boss," the developer tells Edge. "Because it's generated, it'll depend on what world you got." Rather than being a fully-fledged roguelike, Hyper Light Breaker is instead what the developer is calling an "open-world roguelite." 

Instead, Preston continues: "There's a lot more freedom to choose what you want to do in these runs, since the run itself isn't the be-all and end-all like a Roguelike, where if you don't complete it, the game's over." If you need a little more help picturing what the upcoming Heart Machine game will play like, the director has previously revealed that their roguelike is like Breath of the Wild meets Hades - which sounds like a great mix.

We first heard about Hyper Light Breaker when it was revealed just over two years ago. The game's first trailer gave fans of Hyper Light Drifter everything they loved and more, with more vibrant 3D visuals and co-op gameplay. Thankfully, we don't have to wait to play this one ourselves, as last year Heart Machine revealed that Hyper Light Breaker would be released via Early Access in summer 2024 - we're just waiting to find out the exact date. 

In the meantime, you can wishlist the roguelike on Steam to stay tuned for updates. 

Hope Bellingham
Hope Bellingham
News Writer

After studying Film Studies and Creative Writing at university, I was lucky enough to land a job as an intern at Player Two PR where I helped to release a number of indie titles. I then got even luckier when I became a Trainee News Writer at GamesRadar+ before being promoted to a fully-fledged News Writer after a year and a half of training.  My expertise lies in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, cozy indies, and The Last of Us, but especially in the Kingdom Hearts series. I'm also known to write about the odd Korean drama for the Entertainment team every now and then.