Normally, when a sequel is announced as a departure from the original, I welcome it with open arms – look no further than my inexplicable but eternal love of Banjo-Kazooie Nuts N Bolts as proof. But after just one day with Hyper Light Breaker – the follow-up (though not a proper sequel) to one of my favorite indie games of all time, Hyper Light Drifter – I feel like Vito Corleone telling you how they killed my son. I’ve only sunk 6 hours into this incredibly challenging co-op roguelike, and Although there are some bones of good action RPG in here, It is now buried deeper than the sun can see under the sloppy fighting mechanism, shallow and. A frustrating survey, and insufficient content that starts to feel repetitive after only two hours. Of course, this is the first release, so there’s always hope. An initially rough set would have turned into something much better with enough time – but in terms of what it was now, my disappointment was immeasurable and my day was ruined.

The goal of the run is to hunt down random maps for better gear and key items before taking out the three deadliest and most irritating bosses hiding in each map, then get yourself back to base to regroup, buy upgrades and be done with it. again. I’ve already given two of the best bosses, which summon endless minions and flop around erratically to do a lot of damage, but haven’t completely finished the map yet, which I don’t think will happen until I’m near the end of the current thing. Available in early access.

Maybe the combat will grow as I get deeper, but it makes a really bad first impression. There’s nothing interesting about the hack-and-slash attacks you get, the third-person shooting options have very limited ammo, moving and dodging feels unresponsive and inconsistent, and the lock-on system always shuts itself down unexpectedly. and kill me

All of these things are especially frustrating when Hyper Light Breaker is instantly difficult – and I mean it the most Difficulty, and that comes from someone who has all the success in Sekiro – but does not bother to explain its rules and often punishes you with enemy attacks that feel cheap. It’s also very funny that you start without healing items (and only give them at a great and minimal cost) when you think you need them the most at the beginning when you are studying. Instead, you basically have to throw yourself at impossible odds until you can unlock the bare minimum you need to survive.

So I spent most of my time running around procedurally generated worlds that at least looked pretty cool, using a unique art style that Hyper Light Drifter channels in 3D quite well. But these redundant areas are extremely irritating to navigate, full of awkward cliffs and crooked terrain that feels like I shouldn’t be climbing them but offers me no other choice. On the bright side, at least they give you a nice hoverboard to ride around and do tricks on, and even though the controls are as sloppy as anything else, hoverboards sure are still dope as hell and there are certainly some good times to be had there. .

I have a lot left to do and see before I’m ready to wrap up my review next week, and it’s a little encouraging that the struggle is becoming more and more patient as I begin to understand how to clean and get more. Medical center. But so far I haven’t had a good time, and that’s not what I expected from this long-awaited follow-up, even considering this is its debut.