Tri Breaker: A Sacred Symbols Odyssey

More block-breaking that continues the story and brings new mechanics, but also makes it a lot more challenging. This game is a sequel to Twin-Breaker. Since I already reviewed the first title, and this one brings several improvements and mechanics while keeping the main gameplay intact, most of the review won’t be much different. The story continues several years later, with the two heroes who saved the world enjoying their earned retirement. But since the government can’t stand still and continues to study the data they brought back, one man wants to change that because he fears they might abuse the time travel technology. However, he needs the help of the two paddle pilots. The gameplay is once again a typical block-breaker with a twist: you control two paddles rather than one. The third hero who joins the heroic pair sits in the ball or bullet that is bounced around the playing area. The bullet has the ability to steer, which offers you more control over your flight path. Steering consumes fuel, but each bounce off a paddle or contact with the screen's edges returns part of it. This provides a convenient method for eliminating those single troublesome blocks in a corner. However, the game does not become easier because the bullet’s speed increases with each bounce and the controls change as the bullet goes from top to bottom. The story takes you through 40 stages. Well, the story bits between characters are only told after a certain number of stages so you don’t actually learn a lot. Dialogue can also be skipped, but it’s recommended to watch it at least once for some jokes between three heroes. Overall goal is to destroy all bricks. They have numbers on them that indicate how many hits it takes to completely destroy them. Destroyed bricks offer you points and occasionally drop a typical power-up, such as an extended paddle, extra health, or, most importantly, a heavy ball that can shatter through any block with a single hit. The game introduces various mechanics that complicate things. There are metal blocks that can only be destroyed by explosions, speed blocks that increase or decrease speed, walls that do not fall drop one side is cleared, target stages where you need to hit moving blocks before they disappear on the other end, and so on. It makes no difference whether you play on normal or high difficulties unless you want to earn every achievement. The biggest difference is that hard features significantly more and stronger blocks per level, but the goal stays the same. Losing is possible if you waste all three lives, but you can also gain a life by destroying a block or purchasing one with points. Another thing connected to achievements are missions and grades. Each stage features a bonus task, but since difficulty is irrelevant, you can complete it on normal and make things a little easier for yourself. You do not have to repeat a mission on hard after completing it on normal. Grades are harder since they are based on luck and how quickly you can acquire a heavy ball. The stages have a three-minute time limit, so you want to complete them as quickly as possible to earn the greatest score. Of course, on "hard" mode, this is extremely difficult due to the increased number of obstacles, making a heavy ball crucial. Another problem is that you cannot lose a ball because it would lower your overall score. Compared to the first game, in which it was doable to beat hard stages, this one takes it a bit too far.

As a thirty-three year old fella that's been gaming since the days of the Super Nintendo and Sega-Genesis, I found Tri Breaker to be a nice breath of fresh air from the AAA titles we've all gotten so used to over the past two decades. Some folks seem to believe that graphics are the only variable that define a video game's worth in the 21st century, but the reality is, it's so much deeper than that. Tri Breaker scratched an itch that has been going for awhile now. Tri Breaker: A Sacred Symbol's Odyssey is a genuinely fun game that will test your brains configuration of its hand-eye coordination programming through it's clever use of it's controls when you have a controller in your hand. There are also plenty of toasts to classic game titles throughout with clever implementation of familiar level design and controls. There are forty levels from start to finish accompanied by brightly colored graphics and interesting sound design with soundtracks that will teleport you right back to 1997. If you're looking for a game that will let you step back into the past while breathing in some fresh new mechanics to experience, Tri Breaker can do that for you. Recommended as a great game in its own sector.

A game that starts out as a brick breaker and then provides a bunch of gameplay surprises that makes the entire thing a really fun and memorable experience. Big fan of the developer and they make really good retro titles. Support this one :) Full Review Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsGVaPfNMyg

My *very* early impression (about 15 minutes in) is very positive. I'm loving the soundtrack, I'm loving the quirky story that doesn't need to be there but is, and I'm loving the ball-steering mechanic. I'm not historically a big brick breaker guy myself so maybe this has been done before but I've never seen it. I'm looking forward to see what else this game has to offer!

I dont know what I just played but its so good I'm about to get it on PS and play over there, I was craving a Brick breaker esk game and found this, glad that I did.

Fun little brick breaking game with plenty of twists. You’ll get a lot more out of it if you’re a sacred symbols fan for sure. Big step up from the first one!

Easy brick breaker to play on the Steam Deck. Really enjoy these types of games on the deck.

High quality, super fun

A solid brick breaker game and a great experience to play on steam deck. Some of the later levels get really hard and it's a good challenge.

Played on my Steam Deck. A very surprising brick breaker, way more twists and turns than I expect from this kind of game.