Godbreakers from developer To the Sky and publisher Thunderful Publishing is a colourful, vibrant roguelike action title. With up to 4 player co-op, and a visual aesthetic that draws you in, is Godbreakers actually worth checking out and should you look into it?

In Godbreakers, players will take on the role of a nameless, strange entity that’s been brought to life by 3 mysterious cosmic figures. They’ve tasked you with taking down the “Monad” and you’ll have to fight through different worlds and take out his self-proclaimed “Gods”. The game’s lore is fed to you via tidbits of information that you’ll gain access to by playing through levels and interacting with cubes and completing side objectives.



Characters will chime in with some comments here and there and you’ll be given just enough information for you to start to piece things together. It’s quite simple and straightforward without hijacking the entire game’s core premise but I do wish it could have been fleshed out a bit more with a story cinematic every now and then to really tie things together.

The game’s lore is fed to you via tidbits of information that you’ll gain access to by playing through levels and interacting with cubes and completing side objectives.

Moving on to the gameplay, Godbreakers is a melee brawler. Players will pick a character Archetype and get right to it. Playing as the default lance user is quite fun and as you progress throughout the game, you’ll slowly start to unlock the other Archetypes. The Twin-blades user for example is very fast while the Reaper is a bit slower. Each Archetype has their own strengths and weaknesses and these work in synergy with each other since this is a co-op game as its core.



Playing Godbreakers single-player is perfectly doable but the game’s real enjoyment lies with the fact that you can play it co-op with up to 4 players. If you’re able to get a full squad together, chances are you’ll have a blast playing this game. Even playing with just one other person, the sheer enjoyment I got out of the game was exponentially more since you can share items with your co-op pal as well as revive each other if you die in battle.

Godbreakers' gameplay involves using light and heavy attacks in addition to using special equipment attacks and the titular “Godbreak” ability. Deal enough damage to an enemy and have enough of a specific charge meter and you’ll be able to basically possess the enemy and break them from the inside out while stealing their attack ability to use for yourself. Think of Kirby sucking up an enemy but with an additional step along the way and with less permanence.



“Godbreaking” in this manner is essential to victory in the game since you’ll want to time your attacks to inherit the right skills from the right enemies to use in battle. Some enemy abilities deal a lot more damage than others or are just better suited for the battle you’re currently facing so there is a thin layer of strategy here.

Godbreakers' gameplay involves using light and heavy attacks in addition to using special equipment attacks and the titular “Godbreak” ability.

Getting to grips with the different enemies and their abilities is quite fun and is really easy to grasp. In fact, the combat in Godbreakers is something you’ll be able to pick up, play and get to grips with in relatively no time flat. It’s very casual and anyone will be able to enjoy this game.



So while all of that sounds great on paper, the game ultimately falters with its core premise of being a roguelike. As it stands right now, there’s a very limited selection of worlds to play through. Each world consists of a set of rooms that are inhabited by enemies and there’s a mini-boss and then the final boss. It’s extremely formulaic and straightforward and the variation here is unfortunately severely lacking. After playing for a few hours, you’ll most likely have seen everything already.

There are some random teleporters in levels which can take you to a challenge level which serves as a sort of time trial obstacle course but these are few and far between and more of them should be added to the game for some more variation to the gameplay loop.

As it stands right now, there’s a very limited selection of worlds to play through.

Additionally, the boss enemies can be quite tough to defeat at first and you’ll have to slog through the same levels over and over again until you finally amass enough upgrades to get you to the next world’s final boss. Yes that’s the roguelike formula in action but when there’s a distinct lack of unique items and upgrades to use, it becomes very repetitive very fast. Especially if you’re playing the game in single-player mode. At least with co-op you can chat with your friends and it’s less tedious.



Boss enemies in Godbreakers all have their own pattern of attack and you’ll soon learn this after your first few attempts at them. The difficulty curve for some is a lot steeper than others and players will definitely be avoiding certain worlds at first because of this just so that they can progress further. For example, the boss enemy in the poison themed world is extremely tough to beat and because of the poison mechanic wearing you down constantly. You will struggle to defeat him for quite some time. Compared to the boss enemy in the other second tier world, you’ll breeze through her if you’re skilled enough to just dodge her attacks.

That also brings me to another aspect of Godbreakers that’s quite lackluster. The game needs a lot more variation with its enemies. Yes, each enemy has their own unique attack but there’s only a handful of enemies in each world and there should be a lot more to keep things fresh and varied.

Godbreakers reminded me of Hades and Risk of Rain 2 but both of those games just do everything so much better. It’s rather hard for me to recommend Godbreakers unless you’re looking for a game to play co-op with friends that won’t break the bank.



Aesthetically, Godbreakers' graphics are quite appealing. The low polygon cartoon-esque animated visuals are great and the colour palette and themes of each world are on-point. It does however get very samey very quickly, especially given the fact that there’s only a few rooms of enemies to fight through before the mini-boss and the subsequent world bosses.

Playing through the game you’ll slowly unlock new cosmetic pieces for your playable character. These are body recolours and different head parts that can change which alter your appearance. Sadly these tend to not match your weapons quite well and this seems to be an oversight from the developers.

The soundtrack of Godbreakers is surprisingly good with the boss battle themes being the standout here. The first world’s boss for example has a great guitar track that plays and it got me excited to hear the rest of the game’s OST. Also surprisingly, there is voice acting in the game with some varied accents which is nice to hear if not a tad cliché.

Final Verdict

Overall, Godbreakers is a solid 7/10 title that could do with a few updates/patches to address a couple of glaring issues. The game needs some more polish in general to its cosmetic system, its combat system, balancing to enemy difficulty and to expand on the equipment and perk system further for more enjoyment. The game isn’t bad but its staying power is unfortunately very limited unless you are playing it with friends. Give it a try if you can but be warned, it’s not going to keep you hooked for too long.