A few months back, I enjoyed lurking a conversation on the RPS Discord about the proliferation of cyberpunk/steampunk/atompunk/what-have-you-punk variants and how most of them in fact lack the rebelliousness and counter-counter elements that punk actually entails. That discussion was back on my mind as I sat down to play Reignbreaker, a new action-roguelike from Studio Fizbin, at Gamescom 2024 – slightly wary of its self-described medievalpunk styling. However! Turns out you’re trying to kill the queen. Yep, that’s, uh, that’s pretty punk.
In Reignbreaker, you are Clef, a liberated former child soldier of the mad monarch’s private guard. You’re back inside her gargantuan stronghold to bash up her automaton army, take out her Loyalist underlings, and generally smash the state, likely dying a few dozen times along the way but always returning for another jaunt into the bastion’s depths. Your weapons: a pair of giant lockpick-shaped spears, perfect for delivering a killing blow to the giant lock-shaped mechs that form the bulk of enemy ranks, and shattering their metal mechanisms to bits. Is the symbolism subtle? Nope, but then it’s still more truly punk than if they’d just stuck spikes on everything.
Fizbin has a sort of form here: their Alice Bee-approved Say No! More was an overly anti-capitalist argument against everyday submission, and community manager Ian Stewart told me that Reignbreaker is a direct response to the “rise in right-wing authoritarianism all around the world, the growing class divide and exploitation”. Ergo, burning it all down, ideally with fantasy spears that can chuck out a burst of chaingun fire or explode in a screen-filling burst of fireballs.
Playing it, admittedly, had me thinking less about casting off societal shackles and more about how big fans Fizbin are of Hades. Reignbreaker’s rough concept has, according to Stewart, been knocking around for a decade or so, yet it’s clearly been crafted in the image of Supergiant’s modern roguelike classic. Succeeding in its flashy isometric fights grants a choice between three run-specific upgrades, with progress occasionally pausing for a chat with some charismatic, lovingly hand-drawn, likely flirty side character. It’s so very, very Hades.
Is that a problem? Not necessarily – there are far worse games to wring inspiration from, and Reignbreaker takes care to tweak the formula here and there. There’s a stronger emphasis, for instance, on weapon variety, so you’ll pick up a wide range of combat lockpicks that can trigger different kinds of environmental traps as well as offer their own methods of direct damage-dealing. These are kept across runs, and you can equip two at a time, widening your options. The queen’s bastion is also more of a sprawling structure than Hades’ quickfire arenas, with battles only temporarily locking you inside certain chunks, creating a more imposing sense of scale and hammering home what Clef is truly up against.
Still, direct comparisons don’t always flatter the newcomer. Reignbreaker plays and runs slickly enough, but combat doesn’t yet have the same pin-sharpness that Hades (or Hades 2) puts into every strike. I’d like to see a bit more enemy variety too, though appreciate I’ve only played what is probably a tiny slice of the final game. At least the ones I did fight, in droves, showcased some strong design nous: a keyhole-faced church bell with shoddily attached robot legs is what Tan France would call “a look”.
Will this keen aesthetic eye, armoury of exploding needles, and sincere anti-authoritarian streak be enough to shift Reignbreaker out from Hades’ vast shadow? I don’t know yet. But I suspect it wouldn’t be very punk not to try.
For more of the latest news and previews from Gamescom 2024, head to our Gamescom 2024 hub.