Can you smell that? Eau de résistance, baby. There’s nothing quite like toppling the ruler of a dystopian world and rebuilding it from the ashes of tyranny, which is what Reignbreaker delivers in droves. It is one of the best roguelikes you probably haven’t tried yet, and it emulates the Hades 2 style with an isometric-like view of combat. It is very much a game that you should try, and excitingly, you might even be able to get it for under $1 in this new bundle.
In all honesty, when Reignbreaker launched, I didn’t give it a second thought. Burned out from playing Hades 2 for 40 hours in one week, the idea of a similar roguelite made me nauseous, so I left it for almost a year. However, when this bundle popped up, it gave me a reason to finally give it a try – and I should’ve done it far sooner.
Put into the fearless boots of a rebel, you play as Clef, whose main goal over the course of the story is to put an end to the Kingdom. This isn’t your typical dystopian premise, with neon lights and poverty-stricken streets, like Cyberpunk’s Night City. Instead, it’s a medieval world, wrapped in a punk coating that feels as stylish as it does nonsensical. Sometimes, the rule of cool is a good enough reason.
Reignbreaker wears its inspirations on its spike-covered sleeve. The action itself resembles much of Hades, and even the way dialogue is presented is very familiar, with depictions of characters popping up to spread exposition and build the world. Although the combat may be familiar to Hades fans, Reignbreaker feels unique because it is distinctly high-octane – forcing you to move like a tank with rocket boosters.
Clef’s punches hit with a whammy that would make Doomfist jealous (for any Overwatch fans out there, you’ll get it). As you complete trials, you earn rewards to power yourself up over the course of the run, while new motorized javelins give you different ways to take down the Queen of Keys’ hordes of enemies. As a bonus, you can even switch on traps, allowing you to have some support during runs and turn the tyrannical force of the Kingdom against itself.
Admittedly, the story and characters aren’t as engaging as the Hades duology, but that’s a fairly high bar to reach. Instead, the combat is an excellent parallel to it, and feels infused with as much fun and chaos as you’d expect from a roguelite. It nails that ‘one more run’ feeling that the genre lives for, and honestly, you’re doing yourself a disservice if you don’t get it while it’s this cheap.
Right now, you can grab Reignbreaker – and plenty of other excellent titles – in the Killer Bundle from Fanatical. It starts from $5.75 / £5.75 for five games (or $1.15 / £1.15 each), or you can opt to go on a spending splurge and grab 20 or more games for $0.95 / £0.95 per key. This is a lot cheaper than the Steam sales discount on the game, too, and there’s a huge variety of genres to explore. For a full list of the Killer Bundle games, check them out below:
- Chernobylite: Premium Edition
- Reignbreaker
- Postal: Brain Damaged
- Zombie Army 4: Dead War
- Strange Brigade – Deluxe Edition
- Postal 4: No Regerts
- Gori: Cuddly Carnage
- Gatekeeper
- Evil Genius 2: Deluxe Edition
- Bang-On Balls: Chronicles
- Sniper Elite V2: Remastered
- Bramble: The Mountain King
- Deliver Us The Moon
- Martha is Dead
- Castle of Alchemists
- Webbed
- Falconeer Chronicles: Bulwark
- EcoGnomix
- Talisman: Digital 5th Edition
- Rungore
- Doom 64
- Afterplace
- Operation: Polygon Storm
- Silver Bullet
- Servonauts
- Bunny Park
- Arx Fatalis
So, if you’ve been wanting something to scratch that Hades itch, perhaps while you wait for some discounts on Hades 2, then I recommend giving Reignbreaker a try. Alternatively, my other picks would be Postal: Brain Damager for a boomer shooter, Gatekeeper for something that emulates Risk of Rain, or Chernobylite for a hardcore FPS similar to the Stalker series. Seriously, there are some essential PC games here.
