Roguelikeshave been at the top of their game for years now, and the genre doesn’t seem to be slowing down one iota in terms of new game options and fresh ideas to keep the medium exciting. While games likeHadesandHades 2have perfected the formula, there’s still room for others to make their mark in the world of the Rogue.
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GODBREAKERS, a new entry from developers To The Sky and published by Thunderful, is the latest to take a crack at the genre, and I recently got to watch a press briefing before jumping into the demo both solo and with a couple of my colleagues.
While the game doesn’t seem to becompletelyreinventing the wheel, I found the option between running the game solo and playing with up to three teammates an awesome idea for a genre that can sometimes be a little unapproachable in terms of difficulty and general design philosophies.
After testing out everything this preview build had to offer,I’m walking away excited about the eventual full release to come later this year. Let me help explain what GODBREAKERS is all about, and how my early time went with this new,super-fun Roguelike title.
Gameplay At The Forefront
During the reveal meeting with the dev team, they were eager to let all of us know that GODBREAKERS wasdesigned with fun and tight gameplay at the forefront of their efforts. Sure, narrative is important, but especially in the Roguelike genre, gameplay is king.
This signaled to me that their heads were in the right place during the creation of GODBREAKERS, leaving me excited to see the product the team was ready to share with us.
GODBREAKERS rejects the either isometric or side-scrolling perspectives we see from a lot of competitors in the Roguelike market, instead opting for a third-person camera angle that you’d be more likely to find in a traditional action title. This makes sense, as one of the biggest influences cited as inspiration for this game was the belovedNieR: Automata.
In addition to NieR, To The Sky also gave specific shoutouts toRisk Of Rain 2, and of course, Hades. I can see all of these games shine through in GODBREAKERS, but I’d also mention that there seems to be a certain Souls-y vibe to the game as well in terms of the light/heavy melee attacks on the triggers and the dash/dodge that you’ll use constantly.
The biggest gameplay innovation here is the Godbreaking ability, which allows you, as the player, to enter an enemy once their health has been lowered a sufficient amount, then destroy them from the inside, earning you a special move based on the enemy’s skills as a reward. Godbreaking can be leveraged against grunt enemies and bosses alike, and testing these unique specials is a blast.
Think of it as a new take on Kirby’s ability to inhale a bad guy and steal their powers. The main difference is that in GODBREAKERS, you only get to use this new power once, while our favorite pink creampuff can use his opponent’s moves indefinitely until taking damage.
The other gameplay idea that the team seemed to hone in on was their canceling mechanic. So often in other games, I’ve felt locked into an attack animation only to be punished by an enemy with a well-timed counter that I could do nothing about since I’d be stuck in mid-weapon swing.
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With a premium placed on movement and fluidity,GODBREAKERS' canceling ability is a godsend. It allows you to dash out of a combo immediately, greatly improving your odds of escaping damage and getting to safety even if you’re deep into a chain of attacks.
GODBREAKERS also has six different character classes, each with different movesets and weapons. I only got to try out two of the six in the demo, but both felt different enough from each other that I’m excited to see what the other four will ultimately bring to the table. While the character models have a touch of genericness to them, you’ll also unlock new skins and heads to change up the visuals.
Most exciting is that this is also a Roguelike that can be played completely alone, or with a team of up to four players. Let’s start with the solo experience.
Works Great In Solo
To The Sky was quick to point out to us that they felt the game was best experienced with friends. While I appreciated this, I’m typically a single-player gamer, so I wanted to see how the game worked alone first. After a quick tutorial section, I was launched into the first of six unique biomes that will be in the full game. This was a sandy desert full of sentient quicksand, which I found weird and interesting.
I found the pace and fluidity of the combat really enjoyable.
From here, the premise and experience werestraightforward, but well-executed. My Lancer build’s attacks felt fast and fluid as I’d clear out room after room of grunt enemies. I had a special attack on a timer as well; a flurry attack, great for crowd control or focused damage for a particularly tough foe.
You also have stamina, but it’s tied specifically to your dash, not your attacks themselves. This ensures that you may stay on the offensive constantly, and I found the pace and fluidity of the combat really enjoyable as I mowed down hordes of cybernetic-looking spiders and sheep-like robot creatures.
Enemy movesets are fun to learn and well-telegraphed, so you always have a clear feel for when you need to dodge and in what direction. The coolest example of this is whenever an opponent is about to launch an AOE attack. The area of danger is clearly marked on the ground and also doubles as a meter for exactly when the enemy will deploy their attack.
I can’t wait to see more well-designed boss encounters in the final version.
The aforementioned Godbreaking ability works amazingly, and I loved stealing and testing out the powers I could gain from each enemy to figure out what I found most beneficial. Upon stealing the move of one of the spider-types, I could burrow under the ground to avoid all incoming damage, then pop up beneath an enemy to deal a devastating attack of my own.
This level was broken up with arenas of enemies to take down, highlighted by a fun mini-boss halfway through, one merchant to buy some items and powerups from, and ultimately culminating with a giant, end-of-biome boss named Uhr.
This final boss fight in particular made me extremely excited to see all the bosses in the final version of the game. The scale of the enemy here was great, and its moveset was full of AOEs that were fun to dodge and grunt enemy summons to take out between phases of the fight.
While I didn’t find the encounter especially challenging alone, I really dug the design and the need to chip away at various weak points before exposing the boss to direct damage to its giant head. The gameplay loop of the boss fight here was a blast to learn and execute upon, and I can’t wait to see more well-designed boss encounters in the final version.
With that, my solo demo ended, andI had a blast overall. Still, since the co-op aspect of GODBREAKERS is such a major part of the game’s design as well, it was time to see how things changed up with a squad, too.
Co-Op That Feels Just As Nice
Already feeling positive about GODBREAKERS from a solo perspective, I was extremely curious to see how it also functioned with a team, since that’s how the devs recommend the game be played. I made sure to ask during the Q&A portion of our call if the game scaled in difficulty between solo and team-based runs.
The answer was “Yes,” GODBREAKERS would scale appropriately based on total player count, with a full team of four needing to take down more enemies that would also have higher HP bars and more aggressive damage output.
After running through everything again with a couple of co-writers at DualShockers, this definitely was the case, though my team still breezed through this demo level with little resistance. Still, it’s important to remember that this is a Roguelike where you’ll try to complete a full run of all the game’s levels at once, soan easier first level is not necessarily a bad thing at all.
Level of challenge aside, it was cool to see GODBREAKERS in action with a group of teammates. One of us played as the Pillar class, which has a slower moveset with a heavier weapon, as well as a special move that granted our entire team a temporary damage barrier. This synergy between classes and the ability to buff your teammates is an awesome feature.
I was also happy to see that after clearing a room, the reward items dropped by enemies were shared between the team, so you never have the awkwardness of one person taking everything and leaving the others to fend for themselves. Speaking of reward items, GODBREAKERS is full of some really cool buffs and additional abilities you’ll pick up during a run.
I’m finding myself already captivated by the world presented here.
You’ll gain little things along the way, like faster movement speed or improved stamina, but also perks like status effects imbued on your weapons, or a higher chance of landing a critical attack for extra damage. I foresee a lot of enjoyment during a run of GODBREAKERS building out your specific perk/buff loadout and turning into a total powerhouse by the end.
As we worked our way through this vibrantly colorful, sandy desert stage once again, I took special note of the awesome sci-fi soundtrack and overall sound design as my group hacked and slashed our way back to the final boss.The good vibes of GODBREAKERS are high, and I’m finding myself already captivated by the world presented here.
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Yes, the game definitely scaled in difficulty with more players in the group this time, but my two partners and I still managed to come out victorious without much of a struggle at all. Again, I’m sure this balancing is still being adjusted, and I will note once again that this was simply one level. I’d imagine the challenge keeps growing the further you get into the game.
Regardless, after completing the demo again with my team, we all immediately jumped back into our Discord chat and said to each other virtually in unison some iteration of “Wow, that wasfun!” At the end of the day, if GODBREAKERS can continue to be this darn enjoyable from start to finish in the full release, I think a lot of us are going to have a very good time with this one.
Full Game Hype
I still feel like I’m just scratching the surface of GODBREAKERS, and that’s a good thing. I’m walking away excited to see what else the game has in store for me. I got to test out the Lancer and Pillar archetypes, but the full game will also have Twin Blade, Duelist, Reaper, and Striker to main. As a typical Dexterity fan in games, the speed rating of the Twin Blade character has me intrigued.
…the fluid combat and overall feel of the gameplay have their hooks in me.
I’m also excited to keep unlocking new abilities and carry some perks over between runs to feel like I’m making progress with each new attempt. Since this demo ended after level one, I can’t yet speak to the true sense of progression in GODBREAKERS, but I feel optimistic that it will matter and make each run feel like it has a purpose, regardless of winning or losing.
With how cool the one boss fight was in this preview, I also can’t wait to see every other Big Bad that the game will throw my way as I continue to progress through each biome. To The Sky promised us multi-phase fights that will keep you on your toes, and I believe them after seeing each unique and exciting phase change during the one boss I’ve fought so far.
My favorite thing in the Roguelike genre is encountering new and unique-feeling bosses to memorize the movesets of, crack their weaknesses, and ultimately prevail over them, and GODBREAKERS seems positioned to give this to me in spades. The bits of narrative I was given in the demo were interesting too, butthe fluid combat and overall feel of the gameplay have their hooks in me.
I’m still conflicted about whether I’ll want to play GODBREAKERS alone or with a team, but the true answer is that I’ll probably play it both ways. There seems to be enough of a super-enjoyable action-Roguelike game present here that I’ll be motivated to see it through in every iteration possible.
Difficulty scaling heremightneed beefing up based on what I’ve played, and I’d also argue the devs may need to consider a lock-on mechanic, which is currently absent.
Regardless, I really had agreattime with my preview of GODBREAKERS, and the rest of my team did too. This seems like a verypromising indie to keep your eye on during the remaining months of 2025, and I’m truly excited to see the final vision realized.
Reveal Trailer And Launch Details
If you want to test out GODBREAKERS for yourself, either alone or with a squad,there’s a public demo available on Steam right now.
There’s no concrete release date at this time, but the team is aiming for a full release at some point by the end of 2025. The game will be available on Steam (Deck Verified), PlayStation 5, and the Epic Games Store. Cross-play will not be a feature at launch, so make sure you coordinate with your friends if you want to have a dedicated squad to run through the game with.
In addition to the reveal trailer for the game you’ll find below, you can also get a closer look at GODBREAKERS if you happen to be attending Gamescom 2025.
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