Hyper Light Breaker, the co-op, open world 3D prequel, will launch in Early Access in January

rockpapershotgun.com:

Hyper Light Breaker is a prequel to the excellent topdown action-RPG from 2016, Hyper Light Drifter. The differences are myriad, given that Breaker is also 3D, open world, co-op and a roguelite. It also now has a release date for its launch into Steam Early Access: January 14th, 2025.

The "Breakers" of the title are an organisation of warriors and explorers attempting to save the world after a war. What those Breakers do, and where its similar to its predecessor, is explore a world full of strange, abandoned buildings, with a plentiful sense of mystery. You'll also scavenge items that you can use to create your character build and change how you approach combat, and that combat is a mixture of ranged and melee with combos and parries.

I loved Hyper Light Drifter, but it's always a worry when a game makes the leap to a new medium - and 3D, in many ways, is a different medium than 2D. Ed didn't love Heart Machine's last third-person action game Solar Ash, and Edwin was not reassured by his Hyper Light Breaker hands-on from back in March.

"In general, I found my character to be unwieldy and a little unresponsive," wrote Edwin. "Equipped with dual knives and a pistol, they're one of several classes you'll be able to choose from in Breaker's final form, so perhaps I simply drew the short straw this time round. However, while the conspicuous recovery times of your attack and damage animations nudges you to memorise the inputs and avoid over-committing, Breaker's delays feel a little too drawn-out versus the overall floridity and fluidity of its presentation."

I have hope in my heart (machine) all the same. It'll have had nearly another year of development by the time it launches, and it'll still be Early Access even at that. Plus, if Risk Of Rain can successfully leap into the third dimension, anything can.

You'll find more on Hyper Light Breaker on its Steam page.