Hyper Light Drifter Review

Hyper Light Drifter, developed and published by Heart Machine is a gorgeous 2D hack n’ slash RPG with an amazing pixel art aesthetic that pays homage to classic 8-bit and 16-bit games. The lead creator of this indie gem, Alex Preston, considers it to be a combination of Diablo and The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, I would tend to agree with this comparison.

The project was put on Kickstarter on September 12th, 2013 and asked for $27,000, but quickly made over twenty times their goal with $645,158. The game was originally scheduled for a summer release in 2013, but faced delays that pushed it back to a holiday launch in 2014. They missed this date as well and remained in development limbo before a final launch announcement for the spring of 2016 which was met.

After completing the story, I think I can fairly say that Hyper Light Drifter is my favourite game of 2016.

The game tells a wordless story, using images to serve as dialogue that the player has to interpret and a vague, recurring vision that we watch in full at the beginning of the game and then just in snippets after we defeat each boss. You play as a Drifter, a blue person with a mysterious past and a terminal illness for which you are searching for a cure in the remnants of a ruined civilization.

The game recommends that you use a controller to play and I couldn’t agree enough. I tried to use a keyboard and mouse the first time I played just because I’m a rebel and don’t play by anyone else’s rules. But if you choose to use a mouse and keyboard like I did, you will be making a difficult game much more difficult.

The combat is very well done with a difficulty reminiscent of a Dark Souls game, but simply calling it Souls-like wouldn’t do it justice. There are moments that require twitch movements to dodge out of the bullet hell that are the attacks of some of the more difficult enemies. You have your basic sword swing to chop any who get in your way to bits, but you also have a teleport ability that makes you nigh untouchable and a gun that you charge with violence. Along with these base abilities, you can acquire more and  upgraded them in the many store in town.

Your teleport skill isn’t only used in combat to avoid attacks, it is also used for exploration of the environment in search of the secret lore and currency which can be hidden extremely well in the pixelated trees, bushes, and abandoned homes that fill the dismal world.

I did have an issue using the teleport though. When attempting to find secret areas, it can be difficult to aim the teleport in the right spot, meaning you may end up appearing over a bottomless pit and falling in. When you are able to properly aim for your destination, it may be hard to determine if the teleport will reach where you’re trying to go and you may end up in that bottomless pit once again. Luckily, the game is quite forgiving and only takes one block of health off each time you fall.

You acquire your gun quite quickly after starting your adventure. You have a limited bar of energy which is used when you shoot, but you can refill the bar by slashing at enemies or the odd bit of destructible items such as furniture and boxes here and there.

Hidden around the world are also different outfits that affect things like increasing the recharge rate of your ammo bar or increasing your health. They can usually be found behind massive locked doors or by completing challenges like finding all the monoliths.

With the simplicity of slashing, shooting, and teleportation, each flows into the next seamlessly and creates a rewarding combat experience, which is good because you’ll be using it a lot. A fair amount of the game consists of rooms that lock the second you step and fill with enemies with which to paint the wall red.

Upon hearing of the combat arenas that fill each area, one might worry that this would get repetitive quite quickly, but this is certainly not the case. With a sizable variety of enemies, each with their own attack patterns to memorize, the combat stays fresh and interesting throughout the entire game.

The chiptune music goes wonderfully with the art style and creates the perfect atmosphere for every situation. From looking out to the beautiful landscapes to carving up a bird mage with your light sword, the music set the mood perfectly. Even when facing one of the bosses, the music gets you pumped up for a very hard fight.

Though I love the pixel art that makes this game so gorgeous, it did create an occasional issue. It can be difficult to discern what is ground you can walk on and what is simply scenery that will get in your way or send you falling to your death. Once you play for a while though, you'll get a feeling for the look of the world and this will rarely ever be a true problem.

With completing the story and find all the collectibles, Hyper Light Drifter chalks in at around 15 hours long, at least it was for me. I would recommend picking it up and giving it a try.