Allow me to set the scene. I recently had the opportunity to go hands-on with To The Sky’s upcoming title Godbreakers at Gamescom; the catch is that I had no idea what I was about to play. You see, it’s not unusual with trade events of this variety for games to remain under embargo until you sit down to play them. When Godbreakers was first unveiled to me, I’ll be honest, I knew the developers had a hard sell ahead of them. While I most certainly view everything with an open mind, the roguelike genre is one I’ve just always struggled to gel with. It’s perhaps testament then to what Godbreakers has to offer that I surprised myself by having a decent time with the game.
Godbreakers isn’t just a roguelike, it’s a co-op roguelike where you can play in a team of up to four players online. As far as I’m aware, it’s not exactly a title that centres around a narrative particularly; if it is, that wasn’t made clear to me. Instead, you’ll simply venture out from a hub into six biomes, each filled with unique enemies. You won’t be surprised to discover that you’ll essentially make your way through several rooms of enemies before you take on a boss fight, should you not die beforehand, that is. Defeat the boss and you’ll be able to upgrade your weapons and benefit from various buffs.
It’s the classic roguelike formula and Godbreakers doesn’t do too much to stray away from it. This is perhaps why I think I gelled with the title; I’d say this is a roguelike with beginners in mind. That’s not to say it’s easy. I only sampled one of the game’s opening biomes and the boss saw both myself and a developer, standing in as my co-op partner, off and I’m assuming said developer has already been on countless runs. I suppose it’s more the fact that there aren’t too many facets to Godbreakers that it feels approachable; it’s very easy to pick up the controls.
Advert
You begin in a hub where the player can select a weapon, testing the weapons out on a nearby dummy. I selected a staff of some kind, if I recall. The more runs you complete, the more weapons you’ll unlock; I think there were around six in total, each with various unlockable upgrades. The weapons don’t work too dissimilarly from one another. You’ll be able to use a light attack, a heavy attack, and combine inputs to create some interesting combos. Naturally, there’s a dodge and a jump - although not a double jump which ended up being my downfall having sampled a game with that very mechanic immediately before this.
This hands-on wasn’t prefaced by a lengthy introduction. We hopped straight into a run so I was somewhat nervous about looking like a clueless fool in front of several of the game’s creators but as I alluded to earlier, Godbreakers’ combat system is incredibly intuitive. Quite quickly, I got a feel for the controls, fending off enemies as I avoided their incoming attacks. The game is pretty forgiving in the sense that certain directional attacks from your enemies will be heavily indicated allowing you ample time to avoid them, and you’ll be equipped with a limited number of heals.
The unique quirk that Godbreakers boasts is where the game gets its namesake. If you deplete an enemy by so much health, the opportunity arises to ‘godbreak’ them, which means you jump inside them and nab their powers. This, I must admit, is pretty fun as you’ll get to make use of some powerful attacks which come in very handy the deeper you are in a run. I can definitely see this being a great aspect for variety’s sake as there are a wide array of enemies that you can ‘godbreak’.
Advert
Successful combat encounters will, I’ll also add, see you unlock customisation options. These are essentially skins for either your weapons or your character. I can’t say it’s an aspect of the title that hugely dazzled me. In the heat of battle, I care not whether my staff is blue or pink but hey, if you like that sort of thing, you’re being catered to.
Godbreakers is, based on what I’ve played, a fun title that I can see proving to be a blast with friends. Its key ‘godbreaking’ mechanic ties in nicely with its agile combat system, and the formula feels accessible with the potential to convert roguelike newcomers. Whether this game has enough flair to stand out from the crowd come release day, I’m somewhat lacking in confidence but I find it difficult to otherwise criticise Godbreakers beyond it perhaps being a tad too middle-of-the-road.
Godbreakers is due to launch sometime in the remainder of 2025 on PlayStation 5 and PC.
Topics: Indie Games, PlayStation, PlayStation 5, PC, Preview, Features