Beast Breaker Review

Lately, I’ve seen a fun little trend emerging in the videogame scene: old gaming classics being turned into full-fledged adventure games. For example, pinball was used in Yoku's Island Express, Peglin made Pachinko into a roguelike, and then there’s today's point of interest, Beast Breaker. Combining the pixel-perfect aim of Super Breakout with a wholesome cast of characters and an epic story, this scrappy little RPG from Vodeo Games and Huey Games managed to grab my attention.

The game takes place in a world once blessed with magic, but now endangered by both a seeping corruption and the titular Beasts, gigantic creatures wreaking havoc. Our heroic main character, Skipper, is a little mouse person living on a farm on the outskirts of civilisation with their grandma. While hiding from a Beast attack, a floating device, called a PIN, appears and informs our hero that someone needs help, and they are the only one close enough to help. Grabbing an old sword, the brave mouse rushes off to face the attacker, starting the game proper.

The heart of Beast Breaker’s gameplay revolves around its combat, though there are a few other facets we’ll get into later. You see, the enormous monsters we face are formed from Cores and Scales, both of which can be broken by our weapon of choice. The big beasties are, well, a bit large and pack a massive punch, resulting in Skipper’s fighting style being all about mobility and movement.

Each fight is basically turn-based; the player has a set number of actions they can take, and then the baddie gets a chance to get a hit in. Skipper has an array of different moves they can perform, based on their current gear, though most will revolve around aiming their furry little body at the enemy or a nearby wall and firing away! Much as in games like Super Breakout or Peggle, Beast Breaker is all about aiming hits and getting in some incredibly precise shots and bounces to land blows exactly where they are needed.

The combat itself is surprisingly tactical, as the game does not always show you the full trajectory of your attacks. Players need some advanced perceptive skills to tell where they’ll wind up… that, or I need new glasses.

To defeat a Beast, one must simply reduce their central Core’s health to zero. The monsters do have auxiliary Cores that can (and should) be destroyed too, as they reduce the enemy's array of attacks, while also providing resources. Foes themselves come in multiple shapes and types, most based around wild animals.

These corruption-crazed creatures won’t stick around to be poked and stabbed forever, however. Each monster has a Rampage meter that will slowly fill up. Once full, the Beast will become enraged and rush off, resulting in a loss for the player. Thankfully, the accumulation of Rampage can be slowed down with items and reset by breaking a Core.

There is more to the game than just fighting off one monstrosity after another in succession, however. Instead, Beast Breaker is divided into missions, or Expeditions, represented by PINs sent out by locals in need across multiple areas. In addition to the critical path, there are side stories to experience, as well as optional jobs to help gather resources.

Expeditions can be divided into two main phases: exploration and battle. When a job starts, the player is plopped down onto a grid of hexagonal spaces, most of which are hidden. Our hero must explore the map to both find the roaming creature (there is only one per mission) and gather resources that can be traded in for useful items.

I’ll be honest, I had trouble understanding these segments. You see, there is a time limit of sorts, as the map has a set amount of condensed patches of evil, fittingly called Corruption Pools. The beastie du jour will begin each mission by hunting these puddles down and slurping up the delicious purple goo to gain more power. Once all have been drained, the creature will bee-line to the nearest settlement and destroy it, unless stopped.

My problem is that these maps are rather small, and the Beasts are incredibly fast. As such, I always felt like I had to rush to meet the enemy head-on or leave it for the very last moment so I could get some resources of my own. While not a major problem, I found these parts of the game somewhat frustrating.

The battles themselves were entertaining and varied, with the game offering multiple enemy types and variants to challenge. For example, you may face a Forged enemy that has tougher scales but weaker Cores, or a Growth type that can regenerate a wild amount of scales per turn. Destroying Cores and defeating Beasts will net the player a special resource called Motes. Gather enough, and you can craft new weapons and armour!

While not out on a mission, Skipper has the chance to take a breather at home. Here, they can chat with the characters that have joined up (more on them in a bit), craft or upgrade their gear, and choose which mission to take on next.

The player starts out with nothing but a sword, shield, and coat of armour. As the game goes on and they both complete missions and gather Motes, new weapons and armour can be unlocked, each with its own unique twists in gameplay, which I adored. Skipper will also meet new friends on their journey, who will offer up their services.

The allies you recruit are my favourite thing about Beast Breaker. These characters are wonderfully personable, each with their own backstories, foibles, and character arcs. Additionally, they all bring something unique to the table in terms of gameplay!

Some new friends will teach Skipper to use new types of weapons, graduating from a sword to the bow and arrow or great hammer, for example. Others will add new features to our hero's home, allowing for upgrading gear or better preparing for the next outing. Finally, you can take a number of allies with you on missions.

While out and about, the support characters have unique skills in both the map and combat phases. For example, Jonquil can reveal an area on the map, whereas Dandy can call a retinue to do some last-minute shopping for you. In combat, these allies will mainly take a back seat, hopping into the fray only when it looks like the enemy is about to rampage. Having a friend along is basically a “get out of jail free” card that will trigger if you’re about to lose… however, they can do little to help Skipper if our mousey hero runs out of health.

Visually, the game is surprisingly colourful, and both character and enemy designs are great. However, the battle arenas themselves are on the dull side, being little more than a square of sand or grass. The audio design is fine, but there’s not much to note; I admit to mainly listening to my own music or some podcast while playing.

In terms of controls, this is a game that I feel is best played with a mouse and keyboard. While it is not impossible with a controller, aiming in combat and selecting your allies in the field are weirdly clunky. The key to combat is precision, so struggling to get an attack just right can be a frustrating experience at the best of times.

Now, before I go into closing thoughts, I do have some niggles to air out, most of which are related to the aforementioned Motes. Firstly, the game has a bad habit of spawning the resources out of bounds if the destroyed Core is near an edge. While not the worst thing to happen, it is a bit frustrating to lose out!

Secondly, and on a similar topic, Beast Breaker can be a bit of a miser when it comes to any leftover Motes floating about as you destroy the central Core. Once the monster is slain, you get a bunch of resources, which is great! However, if there are any uncollected Motes from other destroyed bits, they often disappear, which doesn’t feel quite fair. This is doubly true for situations where one manages to destroy an auxiliary Core and the main one in a single strike.

The game also has a weird habit of pausing the main thread to force players to play side missions until they find a set amount of “Clues” in the map phase. Not a deal breaker, but it feels like padding and blurs the line between mandatory and optional content.

Finally, the time limits on both the map screens and the battles themselves are on the difficult side… though that may be a me issue. I often struggled with dealing enough damage quickly enough to avoid a Rampage, and more often than not ended up losing after two hits from a crystal panther’s claws. To the game’s credit, collected resources are retained even on a loss, so it’s relatively forgiving.

All in all, despite my grumblings, Beast Breakers is a fun game with a surprising amount of depth. It does a good job of adding RPG elements to the simple gameplay of Super Breakout while also managing to have some wholesome character interactions. It’s definitely worth a look.