Hello adventurer reader!

It's been a while since we last talked, but I'm still here, going strong and steadily developing. Today, I’m excited to announce a new update coming to Early Access! Actually, this is a preview of Update 1.2, which we’re planning to launch at the end of the year. Since we’re still in Early Access, it makes more sense to release new features gradually and gather feedback from players before the final version.

So feel free to jump in and enjoy! Before we dive into the news, I want to extend a massive thank you to each one of you. The journey of Breaking Gates is driven by the passion and dedication of our community. It's inspiring to see you all playing, creating content, and streaming! This support has been fundamental in guiding the development. And of course, a special thanks to Nuntius, our publisher, who made this comeback and update possible.

Alright, let’s not take up too much of your time — let’s check out the changes!

A New Perspective! New Character Illustrations!

Our amazing illustrator Pedro Vieira brought the idea of modernizing the characters' visuals to give the game a more commercial and updated look. Since we’re bringing the game to more platforms and reaching a wider audience, it made sense to me. So in addition to new illustrations and promotional art, he also redesigned all the dialogue images, giving the game a much more professional feel. Here's a preview of our protagonist:

Character Art – Hako

Character Art for Dialogue Scenes

New Gallery Menu

You can now view all these new illustrations in the registry menu under the character information section.

The New Adventure Log!

We now have an Adventure Log menu! A place with background info on characters and details about enemies. As you play, new entries will appear in the log. Our plan is to expand the Adventure Log with item information, universe trivia, and much more — turning it into a sort of in-game guide. Of course, I’m not sure if everything will be possible, but this is a solid start! Even if it doesn’t affect gameplay directly, I think it’s fun to have this kind of writing. Oh, and we’ve tied some new achievements to it too, for those who take a peek.

A Visual Polish!

One of the changes in version 1.2 was the remastering of all textures to better fit larger screens. While Breaking Gates has a charming style, we hadn’t anticipated the need for this adjustment. Nowadays, modern consoles support much higher resolutions, and our little game didn’t scale well, looking blurry on big screens. Here’s how the game looked on a 4K display:

Before

It was clear that it wasn’t working — the character looked huge, the UI was oversized. The game was originally made for small screens and mobile devices (I can’t deny my roots… it was what I could do at the time on my tiny Samsung A10 with 2GB of RAM!).

After

After some research, we found out that for a game to look good on large screens, it needs to have around one million pixels — and ours had less than seven hundred thousand. So we took a step back before adding new content and worked on remastering all textures for better clarity. There's still work to do, and some menus are still being adjusted. Not all textures adapted well, so we had to remake and even create new ones. Many original assets were lost over time. With future updates, we’ll keep improving things. But now, the UI is cleaner, and the proportions feel more natural on modern screens.

Combat Improvements

I've always loved 2D combat games — I have so many in mind I can't even name them all! I used to have this design philosophy: “If you can do it to the enemy, the enemy can do it to you!” It led to some hilarious — and frustrating — moments.

Just like you could beat enemies into the corner, they could do the same to you — even kicking you while you were knocked down! That, my friends… is life! Anyway, despite criticism, I still consider that part of the game’s essence.

That said, we toned it down a bit. We’ve added a new enemy damage control system that tries to “save” you when possible. It works smartly, monitoring your HP and gradually scaling down enemy damage. This idea is borrowed from a fighting game mechanic! Of course, it won’t save you every time — some enemies have nasty moves that bypass the system… These creatures are ruthless and seem to have a mind of their own!

Dodge Dash with Invincibility!

One thing that was missing — and has now been added — is a brief moment of invincibility during dashes. You can now truly dodge enemy attacks. I made it subtle — not too easy or too hard — but it might save you in the right moment.

Combo Counter

The combo counter is back! It now boosts your Super Energy — the higher your combo, the more energy you gain!

New Items

Forge Shop

- Added "Royal Zumbidora Sword" to Helga’s Forge Shop – Summons bees that chase and sting nearby enemies.

Added "Wind Sword" to Helga’s Forge Shop – Creates a powerful gust of wind that launches enemies into the air.

New Helmet "Forest Ruler" in Helga’s Forge Shop – Recovers a percentage of your health when falling into an abyss.

New Helmet "Gale Helm" in Helga’s Forge Shop – If equipped with the Wind Sword, boosts its ability with bonus damage.

Potion Shop

- New Barrier Potions added to Juan’s Potion Shop.

New SP Recovery Potions added to Juan’s Potion Shop.

New Drop Items

- New Helmet "Stylish Glasses" – Increases skill cooldown recovery percentage.

New Sword "Panpaku Blade" – Temporarily transforms you into one of the enemies.

New Accessory "Warrior Master's Book" – Increases gained experience.

Fixes and Other Adjustments

Interface

Added attribute descriptions in the Status Menu

Increased inventory space

Fixed crash when opening pause menu

Modified some terms and labels for better clarity

Environment

Removed abyss pits in the water section of Allira Forest

Added support platforms in some Allira Forest areas

Added activation crystals to the Ancestral Gates (Still improving this!)

Collision improvements and adjustments

Fixed items and crystals sticking to ceilings!

Removed some enemies from certain map areas to improve level flow

Combat

Improved hitboxes on several attacks

"Celestial Charge" ability now keeps the player airborne

Fixed bug where enemies became invincible

More collision improvements

To be continued...