Heart Machine's Hyper Light Breaker has had many big changes with the Buried Below update. So I asked the team about them.
When Heart Machine released Hyper Light Breaker it received a mixed reaction. Nat Smith in her early review mentioned problems like rough co-op a weak intro and disjointed gameplay. but still saw potential in the game. Since then Heart Machine has been working on improving it. The latest update Buried Below marks the start of the games comeback.
Although much of Hyper Light Breaker may feel familiar. the Buried Below update brings many changes. It includes a new tutorial a more traditional roguelike structure and updates to characters and vendors. Heart Machine has made big adjustments to the game during early access and when I asked the team about the challenge of this they gave an honest answer.
In short, Extremely says Michael Clark the lead producer of Heart Machine. The Buried Below update changes almost everything in the game. Every part of the game had to be reworked and balanced. It was a team effort because we had to redo almost everything, focusing on a few new main ideas.
Instead of being an extraction roguelike like it was at launch. the team has made Hyper Light Breaker more like a traditional game. While it still keeps a lot of its original features the way you play it now is much different. After hearing a lot of feedback from players. I wanted to understand why Heart Machine decided to make this change.
Clark explains that when creating something new you have to try different things and explore new areas. Breaker was designed as an open-world roguelite and the extraction feature was added to make it work. This lets us create bigger worlds that can be played in shorter sessions.
Clark explains that the Buried Below update wasn't made just because of player feedback. but the feedback helped confirm their decision. We believed this change would be a better foundation for the final version of the game So after the early access launch. we started testing the idea. In February we released an experimental version for those who read the patch notes carefully. The feedback we received proved our idea was right and we began the months of work to fully implement the change. Since the update launched on April 29. it's continued to show that this was the right move for the game.
No matter if you're a new or returning player your experience with Breaker starts with a new tutorial after the Buried Below update. You'll watch an intro video and then play through a guided level that teaches you the basics. This feature wasn't available when Breaker first launched So I asked Heart Machine why they decided to add it after the big changes.
Clark explains that feedback from social media, Steam reviews and external playtests showed that players who stuck with the game for a few hours enjoyed it. but those who didn’t were often frustrated and confused. Since the game's release there have been tutorial cards meant to give players important information at the start. However most players just skip them believing if it was truly important the game would make them learn it. Clark even noticed this in internal playtests Where team members would quickly close the tutorial cards and then ask if they had been removed one of them had just closed the card they worked on.
We originally planned to create a detailed tutorial closer to version 1.0. But with the feedback we received and the major changes in Buried Below it felt like the right moment to focus on teaching people how to play the game.
With all the changes to Hyper Light Breaker it's clear that Heart Machine wouldn’t change anything. even with the knowledge they have now. I really admire this attitude as the Breaker team takes the feedback they got seriously and uses it to improve instead of ignoring it.
No Clark says. I wouldn't change anything with the direction. If you don't try new things or take risks. you can't create anything new or learn. We chose early access because it lets us try out new ideas and get feedback from players. You can't move forward without taking the first step.
We could have played it safe and been less exciting and maybe that would have worked. Has that been successful for many of the big low-risk games lately? But if we had we wouldn't be where we are now and we wouldn't have learned what we know today.
Buried Below may have changed how Heart Machine is handling the rest of Hyper Light Breaker. but it doesn't mean the entire early-access plan has changed. Clark says the team had already planned for this and most of what’s coming is still on track.
We've always kept some extra time in our schedule to pursue opportunities and respond to player feedback. While many changes affect the entire project the main features are still part of the plan though the details may change Clark says. We're excited to share more plans with an updated roadmap after the May update is released.
After Breaker had some problems when it first launched. it's easy to write it off before the full 1.0 release. Many games these days come out broken which has become normal but so has the chance for recovery. Games like Final Fantasy 14. Cyberpunk 2077, No Man's Sky and Fallout 76 all faced struggles but improved over time. I truly believe Hyper Light Breaker can do the same.
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