Are you reminiscent of the old days days when games were simpler?
When a few simple pixel monsters would frustrate you for hours on end until you were finally able to crush them to a pulp?
Have you been wishing for a game that mixes the best of the classics with the best of the newest releases?
Well then it’s time to wonder into the wonderful world of Hyper Light Drifter!
What does Hyper Light Drifter have to offer?
- challenging battle system
- limited power ups, healing, weapons, etc.
- retro graphics beautiful and vibrant
- smooth mechanics
- freedom, player chooses which direction to journey in what order
- almost no directions
- lots of puzzles
- decent replay value
The Best of Hyper Light Drifter
This is the easy part.
Hyper Light Drifter is an addicting, challenging, and gorgeous game to play.
Freedom
One of the best things about this game is the exploration. The world you are in is quite large and even after you go through an area when you go back you will often discover stuff you missed the first time. If you just decide to head in a direction and explore you will also randomly run into new discoveries. You can hack bushes, skeletons, and other stationary objects around the levels. Not to mention that when you start the game you are given a choice of directions to go and you can pick any of them, it’s up to you. Even though you have to solve puzzles in the right order and find items to unlock content overall the game feels very open to exploration and discovery.
Graphics & Audio
Although the graphics are simple don’t let that fool you, it might look like a game from years gone by but there is a vibrancy and smoothness to the graphics and gameplay that feel very much this generation. Along with the bright colors there is also plenty of pixel blood, creepy monsters, and run down robots that add a more mature theme to a game that can look kind of childish at first glance.
The audio track is also simple but adds a good amount of tension and drama to the graphics. Battle sounds are well balanced with the attacks so that you end up feeling immersed into the game.
Battle System
As far as battling goes, expect to die…a lot.
You only get five health bars and with enemies that can damage two of them in one hit that have a habit of spawning in large numbers to attack you, utilizing your dodging abilities along with careful aiming and attacking is a must.
You’ll often find yourself under fire and having to dodge and/or retaliate while solving puzzles or figuring out how to get from one area to another via platforms or jumping.
Different areas in the game have different difficulties to some extent but it is up to you which direction you want to go in from the four paths your given.
Gameplay
Overall, you will be running/dashing around attacking monsters, solving puzzles, and collecting stuff.
- As far as weapons you’ll get a light saber style sword, guns, and bombs that you can upgrade later on.
- Bombs can be used to blow larger sections of the map clear and your sword can reflect bullets back at enemies if you use it just right.
- You can dash as much as you want, even jumping across from platform to platform, or mix it with attacks.
- Below is an example of blocks moving quickly that you have to dodge quickly between as they move and change position while trying to avoid getting crushed.
- You also can’t jump and have to figure out what to do to get around obstacles by activating platforms or figuring out puzzles.
Story
With no dialogue or clear information, have fun figuring out just exactly what is going on.
There seems to be some sort of sickness going around.
Your character starts out by coughing up blood onto the ground which then turns into some sort of black mass monster that then begins to attack you, there are corpses all over as well as run down robots and you’ll learn more about the story as you play but it won’t help you much as the whole thing is up to individual interpretation.
There is a connection between the story in the game and the creators real life experiences that you can look up if the ambiguity in the game is too much for but trying to figure out the story from just what is inside the game offers a fun sense of adventure also.
Beauty in Simplicity
The map in Hyper Light Drifter is pretty basic. If you are looking for lots of details that will let you know exactly what to expect you’re not going to find it here.
The map is pretty much like the whole game.
When you look at it from the surface, it looks simple, but as you get further into it the true detail and beauty of the game starts to shine.
From battling it out in the action combat areas, to shopping in the towns, to exploring the levels for the fun of it, to the detailed pictures through which the story is inferred, Hyper Light Drifter really does feel polished
If we left something out feel free to leave a review or comment!
