I’ve just spent the last three hours playing Reality Break, and I know two things for sure. One, my brain hurts. Two, I like what I’ve played. Quite a lot, actually. I’ll see if I can unpick why in the paragraphs that follow, as I dig into this engaging new action-RPG by Element Games.
What is Reality Break, then?
This is usually a fairly straightforward question to answer, but in this instance there is a quite a lot to work through. On the surface, Reality Break is a satisfying top-down space shooter about blasting enemy ships and grabbing sweet, sweet loot. However, there’s a meta-layer to the game that has my head in a spin – in a good way.
In Reality Break you play as a mercenary whose journey puts them in collision with a piece of “ancient tech”. This tech fuses with their ship and also speaks to our merc, sending them/you on a journey to take down ominous forces from across the galaxy. In some respects it’s a fairly traditional ARPG and as you play it’s a case of upgrading your gear to build a loadout ready for the sterner challenges that await.
Here’s where it gets saucy… at certain moments Reality Break invites you to reset your character’s timeline and start again – the developer calls it an opt-in roguelite, and that’s very apt. During combat you might die a few times, but a quick respawn and you’re back in the action, but not when you “break” your entire character. Doing so gives you a permanent boost to your base stats – and a variety of other boons that can be unlocked over time – but it also sends you back to the start, giving you a chance to replay certain parts of the game and change the trajectory of events in this new timeline. Very cool.
Time and time again
Not only is the above the title of a very interesting book by Ben Elton, but it’s also the experience you’ll have playing Reality Break. In my first playthrough of the demo I visited some friends on Station 6, so I could scan the ancient tech I had acquired.
However, during the aforementioned scan, the whole station was destroyed. I was quite taken aback by this, although clarity emerged soon after when I was invited to reset/kill my character and restart the campaign. I went again, this time with knowledge that allowed my friends on Station 6 to scan the device in a way that didn’t kill them.
This second run let me change events as well as apply everything that I had learned. This meant that I managed my upgrades better, was more direct during combat, and I was able to speed through old dialogue I’d already read. I’m not sure how many times we’ll have to reset our characters and how that’ll feel in the long-term, but the early gameplay loop had me thoroughly engaged.
The divergent timelines that you navigate in Reality Break represent a rather novel implementation of roguelite mechanics, and I can tell that a lot of thought has gone into this aspect of the game. I also like the fact that it’s optional, and so if permadeath and roguish character progression isn’t your favourite thing, you can skip it and have a more traditional ARPG experience.
In space, no one can hear you looting
All that timeline hopping wouldn’t matter much if the game underneath was a mess, but I really like Reality Break, and for a number of reasons beyond the enigmatic gameplay loop.
At the heart of the experience are the satisfying top-down space battles. Your ship can be upgraded with a range of different weapons, from lasers to shotgun-like blasters and everything in between. The combat feels weighty and punchy, and as you’re highly mobile and well armed, it won’t be long before you’re feeling like an ace pilot.
After a while I was balancing my main and secondary weapons, and then using area-control abilities (on cooldown timers) to manage the waves of oncoming attacks. The combat system is smart and responsive and highly adaptable, and I was quickly experimenting with different builds to find marginal gains. There is also a “rewrite” mechanic that lets you further enhance your equipment with passive upgrades and the like – there’s a lot to think about.
Not only does it play great, but I think the visuals are pretty strong, too. The enemy ship designs in the demo are varied, and there’s also decent variety in terms of backgrounds, with the environments coming to life thanks to a clever use of perspective.
Time to sum up
After completing the story portion of the demo, I’m on the hook and looking forward to more. Element Games has crafted a really exciting space shooter that feels great to play thanks to its sharp controls and impactful gameplay systems.
Playing around with different weapons and abilities while engaging in frantic combat encounters took me back to playing the classic shmups of yesteryear. However, Reality Break’s time-twisting meta adds a whole new dimension to the experience and a ton of unexpected depth – if you want it. Head over to Steam to download the new Next Fest demo if that sounds like your jam.
