Reality Break

About

Reality Break is a single player arcade role playing shooter game with a science fiction theme. It was developed by Element Games, LLC and was released on February 10, 2025. It received positive reviews from players.

Rewrite the Universe! Pilot an agile starfighter, upgrade it with randomized loot, and unleash mystical fate energy to alter the fabric of spacetime itself!

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

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86%

Audience ScoreBased on 378 reviews

story42 positive mentions

optimization5 negative mentions

Engaging gameplay with a satisfying loot system that keeps players hooked.
Unique mechanics like the 'Reality Break' system add depth and replayability to the game.
Impressive graphics and sound design for a solo-developed game, creating an immersive experience.

Forced resets can be frustrating, as players lose all their gear and progress at certain points.
Performance issues can arise during intense combat situations, leading to frame rate drops.
The story can feel repetitive after multiple playthroughs, as players are required to replay missions to progress.

story
243 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
17%
78%
5%
The game's story is a unique blend of engaging narrative and gameplay mechanics, allowing players to experience a looping structure where death and respawning are integral to progression. While the writing is praised for its humor and creativity, many players find the overall story arc to be relatively short and repetitive, often feeling like a single chapter rather than a complete narrative. Despite its brevity, the story's integration with gameplay elements, such as the ability to rewrite events and customize missions, adds depth and replayability, though some players express a desire for more content and variety in mission types.
- “The story is surprisingly enjoyable and the comedy is witty and fun.”
- “The story itself isn't too crazy or written by a master storyteller, but it is implemented in such a great way that your whole game loop also involves the story itself.”
- “The story is deep.”
- “The forced resets into replaying the story again make for a disappointing experience.”
- “It's relatively short with the game ending despite several plot points not being resolved; hopefully, there's DLC on the way.”
- “The combat is fun, but the storyline is ultra-repetitive; I was not a fan of it and hate the endgame of just repeating the same four missions over and over.”
gameplay
189 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
37%
60%
3%
The gameplay of this indie title is a blend of action RPG and roguelite mechanics, featuring a unique "rewrite" system that allows players to modify items and abilities, enhancing build customization and replayability. While the core mechanics are engaging and the combat is satisfying, some players feel the gameplay lacks variety and depth, particularly in enemy design and loot progression. Overall, the game is praised for its innovative mechanics and enjoyable combat, though it could benefit from further optimization and additional gameplay options.
- “For an indie game produced by a single person, this is an extremely impressive effort, and has some absurdly complex systems that can lend to some really incredible builds and gameplay.”
- “A marvelous twin-stick shmup with satisfying combat, an intriguing loot system, and a completely unique reality-bending mechanic that makes each run feel rewarding and unlocks new narrative and gameplay possibilities.”
- “The gameplay loop is really satisfying, blowing up bigger and badder ships is really fun.”
- “Other than that, gameplay is lacking.”
- “The game would be a lot more fun if the loot was better, but there is very little variety and doesn't appear to be any loot progression outside of the meta progression mechanic from restarting.”
- “Everything I've done in this game has been the same: fly around and shoot stuff without any real change in mechanics or gameplay.”
graphics
41 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
41%
52%
7%
The graphics of the game are widely praised for their vibrant, flashy art style and crisp visuals, creating an aesthetically pleasing experience, especially during intense combat scenarios. However, some users report performance issues, including frame rate drops in crowded areas, suggesting that optimization could be improved for lower-end hardware. Overall, while the graphics are impressive and enhance gameplay, adjustments to settings may be necessary for smoother performance.
- “The graphics are delightfully crisp and beautiful.”
- “Reality Break features addictive gameplay, fantastic graphics with satisfying explosions and much more!”
- “Bright, neon-soaked visuals pop, and the combat is smooth and satisfying.”
- “It's got a fair few programming issues, with occasionally odd enemy movement (namely for the bigger battleships), and for a seemingly simple space shooter, the graphics and systems are not well-optimized to prevent framerate drops.”
- “It does drop frames if you have a lot of the effects on, especially when you're destroying a lot of enemies, so you'll probably have to lower the graphic effects a bit.”
- “Two negatives I'd have: the first would be that things are not quite optimized; it runs very hot for what graphics and effects it has.”
optimization
33 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
9%
76%
15%
The game's optimization has received significant criticism, with many players experiencing severe frame rate drops, particularly during intense battles with numerous enemies, even on high-end hardware. While some users report stable performance, the overall consensus indicates that the game suffers from poor optimization, leading to an unplayable experience for many, especially in crowded scenes. Suggestions for improvement include better culling methods and reducing polygon counts to enhance performance.
- “I would suggest the developer look into methods of culling or using LODs for the ships if they haven't already, as well as maybe reducing the polygon count on some of the less-interesting models like standard asteroids (you can use things like normal maps to keep them looking nice and fancy with less performance impact).”
- “Two negatives I'd have: the first would be that things are not quite optimized; it runs very hot for what graphics and effects it has.”
- “Gets a bit stuttery on my old 3080 Ti towards the endgame with a lot on the screen (edit: this was later hotfixed with a performance tuning patch!).”
- “Optimization fixes – fps drops below 10 with high-end hardware (RTX 5080, 13th-gen CPU) during heavy projectile use.”
- “However, the poor optimization makes playing this game unbearable.”
- “Performance is unacceptable; for what it visually is (basically isometric space shoot-em-up), it eats more resources than stunning full 3D environment games.”
grinding
13 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Reviews indicate that the grinding aspect of the game is polarizing; while some players find it tedious due to repetitive story elements and forced restarts, others appreciate the unlockable mechanics and the ability to skip certain missions in later loops. The game encourages farming and grinding for those interested in maximizing their experience, but it may not appeal to players who dislike grinding elements. Overall, the grinding can feel excessive, especially after multiple playthroughs.
- “With this game, I feel like I'm just grinding the same story beats over and over to overcome the artificial progression hurdles the game puts in your way.”
- “Unfortunately, after the third time of starting over, the story becomes really tedious.”
- “The game is a loop of grinding, unlocking, discovering, and finding options.”
music
13 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
38%
39%
23%
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with some players finding it enjoyable and fitting for the gameplay, while others criticize it as repetitive or lacking depth. Notably, the soundtrack is praised for its engagement and quality, particularly in comparison to other games, but some feel it could be improved. Overall, while the music complements the game well, it may not leave a lasting impression for all players.
- “The music never got to my nerves and delivers all it promises.”
- “However, Reality Break stands alone; it's fun and engaging and has a fantastic soundtrack.”
- “SFX and music fit exactly what I would expect a game like this to sound like.”
- “The game does fall short in the music department, almost entirely lacking any.”
- “The music is quite repetitive and a bit annoying.”
- “The music is fine, although it's not gonna stick with me as much as the gameplay does.”
replayability
12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
42%
33%
25%
The game boasts exceptional replayability, with its core mechanics and roguelike elements encouraging players to engage in multiple playthroughs. Players appreciate the rewarding gameplay loop, extensive itemization, and customization options, which enhance the overall experience and keep it fresh and addictive. Many liken it to the best ARPGs, highlighting its vast potential for replay value through varied enemy combinations and loot.
- “Replayability is essentially the entire point of the game, as you loop to New Game Plus with points to spend on perks that will buff your next loop further.”
- “For a game developed by a single person, this massive space game nonetheless offers a sheer amount of loot, customization, replayability, and funny storyline dialogues. This is the most polished and 'complete' roguelike available on Steam.”
- “The game core mechanics, itemization, and roguelike elements add a ton of replayability.”
- “The replayability is baked right into the core gameplay loop in a way that feels fresh, rewarding, and downright addictive.”
- “Just like the Diablo series and ARPGs in general, there's immense replay value based on itemization and new enemy combinations.”
humor
9 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is characterized by its abrupt and sometimes forced comedic moments, which may not appeal to everyone, but are generally well-received when embraced. Players appreciate the engaging and funny dialogue, particularly interactions with AI characters, and find the writing to be a highlight of the experience. Overall, the humor adds a charming layer to the game's narrative and mechanics, enhancing its replayability and enjoyment.
- “The story is great, fun writing; I wish there were more options with the rewrite mechanic, but it's mostly a funny and likable part of the game.”
- “I found some of the dialogue quite funny, especially the dialogue with the ship and station AIs.”
- “Solid 8/10 ARPG and space game, fantastic roguelite elements, and best of all, actually funny dialogue.”
stability
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
67%
The game's stability is a mixed bag, with users reporting minor glitches and significant bugs that detract from the experience. While it runs smoothly on higher-end systems, players with low to mid-range hardware may encounter performance issues, particularly with heavy particle effects. Overall, the game is enjoyable but marred by its buggy nature.
- “Smooth and bug-free.”
- “Runs great, but can be slowed by extreme levels of particles, so be careful using heavy particle weapons on a low-spec system. Feels great to control.”
- “It's also very buggy.”
- “This game is a lot of fun, but it's also buggy.”
- “Buggy as heck, I could provide a laundry list of bugs off the top of my head.”
character development
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
100%
The character development in the game is considered adequate and effective for its genre, especially given that it is created by a solo developer, demonstrating a commendable effort in plot and character progression despite not being a space opera.
- “From a solo dev, what's presented in the game, by way of plot and character development, is more than serviceable; this isn't a space opera game, after all.”
- “The character development feels shallow and lacks depth, making it hard to connect with the protagonists.”
- “I expected more from the character arcs; they seem rushed and underdeveloped throughout the game.”
- “The choices you make don't seem to impact character growth, leaving the development feeling linear and uninspired.”
emotional
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
While the game is praised for its depth and progression, the emotional impact is somewhat undermined by frustrating gameplay mechanics, such as damage calculations that detract from the overall experience.