Hyper Light Breakerbuilds on its predecessorHyper Light Drifterin every conceivable way, including its progression systems. LikeDrifter,Hyper Light Breakeris a roguelike game. Players go through it in “Cycles” - each time they spawn, they complete as much of the game as they can until they run up against a wall and their character dies. They then start the Cycle again from scratch, only this time, they find themselves in an entirely new procedurally generated world, with new challenges to face and new upgrades to gain.
But in order to ensure players are reliably able to complete the game,Hyper Light Breakerimplements a variety of different progression systemsto ensure the player character gets increasingly stronger over time. There are those that apply only within an individual Cycle, those that apply across runs, those that affect your character, and those that affect the world around them. Learning to use them is an important factor in powering up custom characters over time, and eventually ensuring that continued progress through the game is feasible. There are four different progression systems inHyper Light Breaker; here’s what each of them is and how it works.
The Vault Lets You Build Up A Stash Of Gear
Cross-Cycle Progression
Like most roguelikes,Hyper Light Breakeris all about collecting gear. Players will constantly search for new and better weapons and armor, unlocking new attacks, increasing your defenses, and defining your playstyle along the way. Gear is the reward for almost everything the player does inHyper Light Breaker: chests contain it, secrets hide it, merchants sell it, and enemies drop it. Often, the randomly spawned gear can make or break a Cycle - but that’s just the problem.
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Roguelike gear is typically locked to the runin which the player finds it; once they die, it’s lost forever, unless they’re lucky enough to find it again on the next run. EnterHyper Light Breaker’s first new progression system: The Vault.The Vault is a sort of gear repositorywhere players can send their excess gear, then pick it up again on later runs.
This way, duplicates don’t go to waste; they could save a life on a future Cycle. Over time, players can even build out a vast and varied Vault, and canstart being selective about what they choose to take with thembased on what complements their current build the most.
SyComs Are Unique Abilities That Can Be Developed Throughout The Game
Leveling Up
Gear is all well and good, but, based onHyper Light Breaker’s class system, each character also has their ownunique set of abilities, called SyComs, that’ll need to be leveled upthroughout the game. For that, players need to use items called Cores, which they’ll find in various places throughout the game. Leveling up SyComs might have a variety of different effects: increasing damage for one, bumping up max HP or defense for another.
It’s unclear whether SyComs will level up along a fixed path, or whether there’ll be more of a skill tree mechanic that allows players to choose how to develop them. What is clear is thatplayers decide which character/class features to spend their Coreson.
Player.EXEs Are Permanent Perks
A Use For Golden Rations
And to further customize each character, there are items called Player.EXEs.These are effectively permanent perksthat have unique effects on how each character works; their uses appear to be a lot broader and more flexible than SyComs, and as a result, will probably have a bigger impact on playstyle. Player.EXEs might unlock whole new features for characters, like allowing them to parry projectiles, or might grant them improvements to their starting gear for better early-Cylcle boosts. These are purchased with items called Golden Rations, and yes, they are permanent; once applied, they’ll last through as many runs as the player wants.
Hyper Light Breaker Lets Players Level Up Their Relationships With Vendors
Getting A Better Deal
Many things that players will gather and use throughout theirHyper Light Breakerruns will come from in-game merchants. Whether they’re encountered in the hub city or found throughout the world, interacting with and buying from these merchants is a major part of the game. Therefore,players will need to level up their relationships with these merchants over timein order to unlock better goods, services, and prices. This is also done with Golden Rations, although there may be other ways of developing friendships, like completing quests.
Those are the four methods of progression players will need to get used to onceHyper Light Breakerlaunches in early accesson January 14. Understanding their interactions and the best way to spend one’s limited resources will be an important part of progress inHyper Light Breaker.
Hyper Light Breaker
Hyper Light Breaker is the follow-up to developer Heart Machine’s 2016 isometric action-adventure game, Hyper Light Drifter. In this stand-alone sequel, players will embark on a journey through a land called the Overgrowth, where massive monsters roam the ruined cities reclaimed by time. Either alone or with friends, players will collect new gear and build their character to help them uncover the secrets of this forgotten land.
