TGS 2026 — Hellheart Breaker Hands-On Preview:

Indie publisher Red Dunes Games went big at Tokyo Game Show 2026. Their booth was larger and more lavish than in 2025, and many of the titles that were early works in progress last year are now gearing up for release in 2027. Hellheart Breaker, an action RPG roguelite by Singaporean devs Battle Brew Productions, is one game that I barely registered in last year’s TGS rush, but really captured my attention this year.

There’s no getting around the clear Hades inspiration in the narrative concept and UI, and the devs were enthusiastic to acknowledge that inspiration when I spoke with them while playing the demo. As Songbird, a white-haired, blindfolded boy, you wake up in the Underworld’s last city, Aashraya, with no memories but a burning desire to escape. The only problem is you can’t just walk out of the Underworld.

Instead, you must do favours for the seven clan bosses in Aashraya, who all just happen to be cutesy monster girls. Via light dating sim elements, you have to make choices and take sides, with the heartbreaking knowledge that all this is to eventually run away from the people you’re building relationships with.

Hellheart Breaker Gallery

Aesthetically, Aashraya is touted to take inspiration from Shanghai in the 1920s—though I got strong vibes from the Walled City of Kowloon as well. It’s essentially a red-light district-slash-night market, with architecture and monstrous denizens drawn from a mix of Asian cultures and mythologies. Enemies you encounter on runs, too, range from Japanese yokai to Chinese jiangshi vampires (think Hsien-ko from Darkstalkers).

I loved that, despite Hellheart Breaker’s dark setting, the art style is colourful with thick, cel-shaded textures and cutesy, chibified character designs that come together to set a light tone. Leaving Aashraya and going out on multiple quick runs, I was able to try a handful of biomes: an abandoned town at night filled with trees and Chinese garden walls; a red and ashen jungle filled with hellish, hostile plantlife; and the Pool of Greed, a golden purgatory filled with troves of treasure.

Clearing a room on your run nets you a reward, such as a new equipable weapon or a passive buff, and lets you choose the next room and potential reward to take. I tried a handful of the supposed 35-plus weapon types, and they each certainly felt different in terms of speed and damage output. I went from zipping around, dashing and attacking with my one-handed sword, to two-handing a giant hammer that took precious seconds to wind up before unleashing a devastating wave attack.

Hellheart Breaker/Red Dunes Booth

Players can hold two main weapons at a time to vary their approach. Unlike Hades, say, looted weapons in Hellheart Breaker have RPG-adjacent stats and elemental effects, so don’t be married to one weapon for too long.

Hellheart Breaker‘s combat was fairly fast and satisfying, though challenging in contrast to the cute style. I think many of the activities outside combat runs will also appeal to more casual players, such as the Animal Crossing-like home-building elements in Aashraya or the kappa market full of delicious-looking foods to customize to the liking of your monster girl of choice. Wooing (and potentially breaking) hearts has as much emphasis as cracking skulls.

Hellheart Breaker has a planned release window of Q2 2027 on PC via Steam, where you can play the demo yourself now. I played on an Xbox gamepad, and the devs said they hope to bring the game to consoles as well, so I’ll be keeping an eye on it for more info in 2027.