Hyper Light Drifter Review
Played on: Mac w/PS4 controller
Available on: PS4, Xbox One, Ouya, PC, Mac, Linux
Developer: Heart Machine
Publisher: Heart Machine
Time played: ~8 hours
Story and World
HLD is a top-down, old school adventure game that will immediately remind you of a modern A Link to the Past. It takes place in what feels like a futuristic world on the brink of destruction, and you are the lone hero who must traverse a world of enemies to collect powerful canisters that will somehow make everything better. My understanding of the story is fairly basic since there is no dialogue and the game tells you very little. Instead of having conversations with NPCs, you will simply see 1 to 3 pictures that describe what the person is trying to say. While a game without dialogue is a cool concept, I was left wanting more in terms of the story.
What didn’t leave me wanting more was the immersive world you explore. The pixel art style looks gorgeous, and the excellent use of color creates some impressive scenes. Combined with great sound design and entrancing music, this is the type of game best enjoyed by turning out the lights and popping in some headphones.
Gameplay
Hyper Light Drifter rewards you heavily for exploration. There are many cleverly hidden passages, keys, and items to discover, and although I feel like I did a thorough job of exploring I finished the game with an alarmingly low number of keys. It is big on secrets, and it would be really fun game to 100%. Unfortunately you will never know how much you find because it does not give you a completion percentage.
Combat is simple, quick, and tight. You begin the game with a sword and gun, as well as the ability to dash. All of these can be upgraded to take on additional properties, but for the most part combat stays the same throughout. The game isn’t long enough for combat to get stale, but I do wish there was a little more variety in upgrades and weapon type. Also, upgrades and weapons feel well earned in the first half of the game, but if you do a good job of exploring you will have plenty of currency to spend and be able to acquire almost every possible upgrade.
One interesting mechanic is that the only way to get more ammunition for your gun is to destroy objects or enemies. I started the game with an affinity for firing my gun from a distance, but I was always forced to charge in for melee attacks to replenish my depleted rounds. That makes it impossible to play as a ranged-only character, which is great because so much of the fun in this game comes from dealing with enemies up-close and personal.
Although combat is simplistic and fun, it is rarely ever hard. I would almost always take damage in fights, but I only died a handful of times. Health packs are plentiful, so I was able to start almost every major fight with full health. The only time I died more than twice in a scene was with the final boss, who puts up one hell of a fight. I wish all the bosses would have been this engaging, but unfortunately they are not. Hyper Light Drifter would benefit greatly from an unlockable ‘hard mode’. If that were there, I would almost certainly have started a second play through immediately after the first.
Two final notes on exploration. First, I really appreciated that once you clear an area of enemies the enemies in that area stay dead for quite a while. I always hate having to kill respawned enemies while I’m exploring, and Hyper Light Drifter rarely makes you do that. It’s a nice touch. Second, the inclusion of a fast-travel system is also greatly appreciated. It’s very nice to be able to move from one major area to another without having to replay large swatches of the game.
Overall
Hyper Light Drifter is a great time. The game looks amazing, combat is fun, and exploration is satisfying. With a more immersive story and increase in difficulty, this game would be nearly perfect for it’s genre. It does a great job refreshing a classic genre, and it’s an absolutely must-play for fans of old school, top-down adventure games.
+ Graphics and art style look amazing
+ Great music and sound design
+ Exploration is fun and rewarding
+ Fun, fast paced combat
- Too easy
- Story largely forgettable
