Reflecting on Hyper Light Drifter’s release in 2016, it feels like the timing couldn’t have been more perfect. Indie games were making significant waves back then, and that year saw several big hits—Firewatch, The Witness, Inside, Cuphead, Enter the Gungeon, Darkest Dungeon, and even Stardew Valley. With titles like these leading the charge, it almost seems 2016 belonged to indie games. Just a couple of years prior, the scene was already being shaped by fan-favorites like Her Story, Undertale, Downwell, Soma, Octodad, and Shovel Knight.
One thing you’ll notice about these games, compared to a lot of today’s indie titles, is that they are largely singular experiences meant for solo play. Sure, Stardew Valley came with a co-op mode, but the rest was purely solo endeavors. This stands in stark contrast to the current trend of smaller-scale live-service games, roguelikes, and other titles aiming for endless gameplay.
As we look back at these pioneers, and Hyper Light Drifter in particular, it’s remarkable to see how much the landscape has shifted with its decade-later follow-up, Hyper Light Breaker. Back during its Kickstarter days, Drifter captivated us with its blend of modern pixel art, a synth-heavy soundtrack, and an intriguing world. The final game didn’t just tick those boxes but wrapped them up in a narrative puzzle that demanded player involvement to unravel.
What stood out was its focus on combat and world-building, elements unfettered by the industry’s current state. Nowadays, Steam is flooded with countless developers vying for that next big status, and finding a fully self-contained experience has become rare. Multiplayer dominates, live-service seems to be the norm despite its frequent challenges, and roguelikes are everywhere. It’s an understandably appealing route—designing something endlessly replayable can be a lifeline when both time and budgets are tight. Only the well-established indie names, which sometimes barely fit the “indie” label anymore, can afford to create single-player adventures in the style of JRPGs or classic Zelda.
Given these shifts, it’s understandable why Heart Machine chose to transform Drifter’s world into a roguelike format with potential live-service elements to keep players hooked post-early access. The jury’s still out on whether this was the best decision, as “early access” here means really early; the foundational loop is all that’s in place. The challenging combat, which we loved in Drifter, transitions nicely into 3D, and no doubt will undergo refinement through future updates.
Interestingly, comparisons are being drawn between Breaker and the upcoming FromSoftware title Elden Ring: Nightreign, which also explores roguelike elements with procedurally generated maps and intense boss battles. This parallel underscores just how much has changed since a decade ago.
Does this industry evolution sadden me? A bit, yes. There are still plenty of developers crafting experiences like Drifter and other indie gems I mentioned earlier. If anything, there are more creators in the space now. Yet, that’s part of the challenge—finding a foothold in this vast ocean of games that thrive off replayability, not to mention the heightened difficulty of discovery today.
It’s no wonder the ecosystem has evolved so substantially in ten years, but Hyper Light Breaker served as a potent reminder of these transformations. I’m not here to pass judgment, really. I earnestly hope it works out for Heart Machine; there’s potential for something truly unique if they can iron out the early access hiccups.
