To state my view on the current state of this before my statement below: I would say not to buy this game currently unless they began working on it again as it is very barebones and holds nothing to the amazing game drifter is.

So I'm not sure who will or won't see this, but I've felt frustrated about the perspectives on this game from the point they announced its not being worked on anymore. I think its important to clarify a few things for those that may not understand the state that Heart Machine were left in when they switched publishers to Arc Games.

Unfortunately, Heart Machine were under Gearbox for some time, which as we know can be the best or worst experience of a studio. Some of this is mentioned in a video /noclip did on them called "Embracing Chaos - How Hyper Light Breaker Survived 2023".

Gearbox are known for messing up IPs and many of you know are (hopefully) reading this know how Risk of Rain 2 turned out. Luckily this has been sorted out, but Heart Machine did not have the same experience. Without knowing more details, Gearbox had some control of the direction and push of HLB, and we need to NOT blame Heart Machine for this.

It's also good to acknowledge that they in some sense had to release HLB due to funds. After leaving Gearbox there was more than likely more pressure on them to bring in funds before Arc stopped supporting them entirely. Yes there are assumptions, but I feel some of these assumptions have some solid basis.

Really this should never have occurred, but I don't think the blame is really on Heart Machine much at all. Game development is complex and they were not put in a fair position.

It had potential, but it's honestly pathetic that they cancelled it. If you're thinking of getting it, don't.

Sad to see the development stopped. I was excited for this one when it was announced, but refunded because the game felt off. Continued to follow the development with the intention to buy back after 1.0. Guess it won't happen.