Hyper Light Drifter PROS CONS Quick and responsive combat I Could never get ahold of the dashing The ambiguousness of the story works You have to commit to environmental storytelling to get the most of the story Enemy variety and bosses Only a few upgrades felt essential Combat is intentional I feel as though not all deaths were âMy Faultâ Bugs and Issues Specs [*]Crashed once on steam deck. But checkpointing is so frequent that it didnât hinder progress [*] PLAYED ON STEAM DECK [*]AMD Ryzen 9 3900X [*]ASUS TUF RTX 4070Ti [*]32 GB 3600MHz RAM [*]2TB PCIe 4.0 SSD [*]1440p Settings Content and Replay Value Hyper Light Drifter is a tight and creatively unique game. The game allows you to choose how you would like to play out your adventure after the tutorial controls and doesnât tell you much else. Outside of the main objects to collect to press the main story along, there are other collectibles to find if you pay attention to your environment. These collectibles offer access to equipment upgrade and lore in the form of puzzle deciphering. After the adventure is complete, the game offers tougher difficulties and a boss rush. None of which I felt like I needed. Should you get it? Hyper Light Drifter now has already established itself as an indie darling. This is because of its tight gameplay, self-interpretive story, and itsâ lean into taking inspiration from The Legend of Zelda formula. For these reasons I believe this game is worth a look. Not only for its reputation but homage to classic adventure games Overall Verdict 8/10. Hyper Light Drifter does a lot right. It takes you back to the old days of adventure games where you must decide how you want to go about completing the story. My knock against it is trying to extract and analyze what that story is. Personal problem, yes. The game is long enough that once you head into a new zone you ingrain yourself within that new area and are then taking in its story. If you take notes then you might be able to tell the story of each distinct zone. Even if you are, you must then put it together and understand how it fits with our protagonist. All I got was that he seemed to be terminally ill and maybe hoping to seek a cure at the end of his journey. But I know thereâs more than that. Outside of narrative hang-ups, combat is fast, responsive, and intentional. There were times I felt as though I got cheated at certain deaths, but I chalked that up to a consecutive dash system I feel as though I was never utilizing correctly. When death befell me (and it will for you too) I was treated to some odd checkpointing that would pull me back further than expected. Hyper Light Drifter is a good game that outshines what I believe to be its hangups. As long as youâre willing to fully engross yourself within its world and environmental storytelling, you are rewarded with a tragic story about a worldâs greed and a heroes journey with death. Clocking in at ~17hrs (with help from a guide), this game respected my busy schedule, acted as a solid palette cleanser, and provided me with an enjoyable time. Setting & Writing: This is where I can go dreadfully wrong so bear with me here. Hyper Light Drifter follows the title character as he adventures to defeat a monster that has caused him to go through a slow death. Throughout the game you follow shortly behind another drifter and what seems to be visions of a dog. From what I gathered they seem to be hinting at an Anubis like figure. This would explain the moments when you often see the dog during small cutscenes where the drifter coughs up blood. To confront the monster, you must go to four distinct biomes and collect what looks to be concentrated forms of Hyperlight. Once gathered you are subjected to a boss fight and upon completion turn on a beacon which unlocks a seal where your final confrontation awaits. I believe this to be the main crux of the story. Iâd be remiss if I didnât mention the environmental storytelling that each zone tells. If you pay enough attention, you may be able to tell what befell this world prior to the Drifters story. From what I was able to tell there are five races of character. A cloister of birds to the snowy north. Snakes in the arid south. Otters to the ocean east. Raccoons(?) within the forest to the west. Lastly human looking blue people riddled throughout. Each contributing to the world in some way. Possibly having something to do with the corpses of giants laying about in each zone. Theres a story here and the pieces are there. What helps are the collectible stone monuments that you can optionally collect. Once deciphered they tell the history of each zone. What that is, I never deciphered. This thought-out world building definitely rewards those who take the time to understand the world lore. Gameplay system & Bosses: Hyper Light Drifter shines in this aspect of the game. Combat is intentional. You must go into each area, each combat room, and each boss encounters committing to your button presses. If not, you get hit. Hit enough times you die. There is no way to upgrade your HP, but you can get more potions if that makes you feel better. The drifter is outfitted with a sword and gun. Each tool should be utilized to its max potential to get the most out of combat. Dashing is also a huge staple within combat. I found this the hardest to master because itâs truly a skilled timing mechanic. Time your dashes correctly and you have near infinite dashes if your stamina meter isnât empty, and you donât fall off a ledge or crash into a wall. Enemies come in a variety of forms. This ranges from typical OHKO enemies to enemies that will require you to observe their attack patterns so that you may exploit their opening. Boss fights are challenging but far from impossible. It strikes a happy medium just being tough, but not âthrow your controller at the screen toughâ. Every time you die to a boss you are checkpointed outside of its arena to hurry in there and try again. Quest, Mini-games & Challenges: Throughout the journey you will run into various skill base challenges. Most of them revolve around the use of the dash mechanic. This dash mechanic is timing base. Getting quicker until your button presses fall into a trance like state. Most of the time I could achieve this trance like dashing when I wasnât thinking about it. When it mattered for these high skill challenge areas, I found myself getting frustrated that it took me as long as it did to complete the areas. I admit that this is possibly more of a personal skill problem but was still a hangup that hindered my enjoyment. Outside of these challenges, most of the secondary content is in observing the environment to find hidden paths that lead you to the various collectibles. Gearbits to upgrade your gear, keys to unlock special doors, and monuments that the player can decipher to learn the lore of the world. Other minigames include a boss rush mode once you beat the game and enemy arena challenges. Miscellaneous (art, music, etc.): Although this game leans heavy into the pixel art presentation, it looks crisp and the small cutscenes make me want more. The color scheme is vibrant and pleasing to the eye. This may have to do with how different each zone is. Your eyes arenât looking at the same thing before you move on to something else visually. The music takes a somber approach most of the time.
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