Tri Breaker: A Sacred Symbols Odyssey Review - A Brick Breaker Breaking Brains
Barry Johnson’s Lillymo Games has seent a lot of growth over the years since he first launched Perils Of Baking in 2017. From the growth of the team, growth in individual skillsets, to the growing variety in genres that the team has dipped its toes into, despite remaining of a humble size, Lillymo continues to push the boundaries of time honored, and largely forgotten genres. Whether it was the shoot-em-up Habroxia franchise, or the brick-breaker in Twin Breaker, the studio has long looked to inject something into a genre formula that has perhaps been ignored up until the point of their latest games’ release. Why, even when the team works on sequels you can see a “bigger, better, more badass” mentality permeate through the title. It’s why I was so intrigued to check out Tri Breaker: A Sacred Symbols Odyssey, a sequel to 2020’s Twin Breaker. What has the team learned from their last attempt? Do they reach too far with the inclusions it make? Fortunately, Tri Breaker leans into what made its predecessor such a promising title, and improves every foundational pillar for this second try. The question is, has it tried too much?
What I appreciated the most about Twin Breaker was the willingness to explore narrative in what is otherwise an overly simplistic genre. Story never needed to be a pillar, until Colin Moriarty got involved and whipped up a story about lost generation ships in space and the two heroes, himself and Chris “Ray Gun” Maldonado who were the only ones up to the challenge of finding out why. Tri Breaker takes the storytelling up a few notches with dialogue sequences that separate each of the games 40 levels, some which expand the narrative earlier, some that simply provide some winks and nudges to fans of their Sacred Symbols podcast. Moriarty and Maldonado (of the game variety) have been relishing their ten years of retirement following the conclusion of the last game when a plucky up-and-comer within the government, Dustin Furman, makes a staggering discovery that requires the pair of heroes to get off the couch, and back into Greetings and Salutations once more to fight off yet another threat. Its a story of time manipulation, shady government behaviour, and a trio of space-farers who cannot pass up the opportunity to make a dick joke – and it somehow coalesces in a form that works. You’ll be intrigued by the mystery, and you’ll be smirking at the stupid jokes, all across a well-paced 2-4 hour campaign.
The core of Tri Breaker is what players experienced with Twin Breaker. Colin and Chris in their respective ships, and each handled by a separate analog stick, are deflecting a bouncer around the environment, often looking to clear them all in order to complete the level and progress. THe primary objective remains the same in Tri Breaker as well, though the addition of Dustin, and his very phallic vessel, creates new gameplay opportunities. While Dustin takes a seat in the bouncer, he’s not just being ricocheted around the space, he has some control as well, and players will use the bumpers on their controller to steer Dustin independently of the deflections he receives from his co-hosts/pilots. This system is a clever one, but it’s one that won’t come easily to the player. By the end of the games’ 40 levels I still would fail to invert my brain to use the appropriate bumper depending on the direction Dustin was headed, and this will undoubtedly lead to some failed missions or bonus objectives, some of which that are quite tough to overcome.
One of the main criticisms of the last game was that it could get quite repetitious at times. Tri Breaker’s release responds to that feedback by including a range of fun new distractions, from several boss encounters, to levels that play like classic Snake, side-scrolling flight sequences which evoke tones of Habroxia, and more. The arrival of these levels were timely, arriving often right when the game needed a breath of fresh air, and arriving right in time to serve as a device to suit the games’ narrative twists. Beyond the standard 40 missions, each level will feature a bonus objective with the PS4 and PS5 versions of the game having differing trophy lists to then encourage players to engage on deeper levels with the gameplay in order to reach expert status. Good luck to those wanting to tick every box on the PS5 version, because it gets pretty rough!
Visually, and much like the studios’ prior title, the remake of Perils Of Baking, aptly titled Super Perils Of Baking, Tri Breaker is a substantial upgrade over the original. Its a night-and-day difference between the two games, from the gameplay sequences and how fluidly the ships pierce space and time, to the character art, enemy designs, and even the way particles disperse when something explodes. The retro lovefest shines brightest through the games’ soundtrack which will get the adrenaline and good vibes pumping throughout the entirety of your sessions playing the game.
Tri Break successfully builds upon the solid foundations of its 2020 predecessor. It is by no means an easy experience, and you will need to contort your brain in a range of unnatural ways to get all three gameplay elements working in harmony. For some, the story might be a bit heavy handed and getting in the way of the parts you want to see most, but for others, it may be the element that gets you in the door and keeps you there. Tri Breaker offers a level of challenge for players of all levels of experience, plenty of laughs, and a fun, unique take on a classic genre that you’ll be hard pressed to skip on once you’ve gotten started.
Tri Breaker: A Sacred Symbols Odyssey was reviewed on PS4 and PS5 with code kindly provided by Lambsmith PR.
