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| A blend of mystery, action, and 16-bit visuals. |
Hyper Light Drifter is an indie game from developer, Heart Machine. It pays homage to 16-bit games of old, specifically those from the Super Nintendo era, and tells an interesting story about a lone drifter against a ominous force. I personally haven't played much indie games this year, except for Unravel, so I was pretty excited for Hyper Light Drifter.
STORY- How can I describe Hyper Light Drifter? For starters, there isn't a single bit of dialogue. Some events are only shown by few pictures. This means that you'll have to piece out events yourself. While it may seem like a lazy storytelling, I find it complimenting the game well. Regardless, the game does a good job by keeping things mysterious and interesting at the same time.
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| While it may not please everyone, the story leaves a lot of room for interpretations. |
GAMEPLAY- Hyper Light Drifter is a hack and slash, action/adventure game. It has an emphasis on exploration, a bit similar to Metroid. On the action side, it's a lot like The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. You play as the drifter, who must journey to four different lands and must defeat the land's respective boss. Throughout the game, you'll be fighting various hordes of enemies that the game throws at you. Fortunately, the drifter has a decent selection of weapons such as swords, pistols, and grenades. What bothered me mainly in the combat is that you must sit through a brief loading screen before you re-spawn again, it's nothing at first but can become an annoyance later on. In order to proceed in the game, you must first collect four module pieces to open doors in the area, which include hidden routes to power-ups, shortcuts, and the boss rooms. Speaking of power-ups, Hyper Light Drifter isn't an easy game. As a matter of fact, it's a challenging one.
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| The combat, although a bit simple, is faced-paced and fun. |
While its possible to finish the game without any sword or gun power-ups, it's going to be a challenging ride. You can upgrade your gear by collecting small, mostly hidden gold bits. Collecting four of them will form one full cube, most power-ups require three cubes in order for you to utilize them, so they're pretty much scattered everywhere. There's also keys, which upon collecting a certain number of them, will allow you to access some secret areas that are filled with goodies. Lastly, finding the hidden Stone Monuments will help you understand the events a bit explaining bits of them. All in all, there's a lot to do in game world.
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| The game is filled with secrets to uncover. |
PRESENTATION- Along with Unravel, Hyper Light Drifter is one of the most visually appealing indie games of the year. There are many stunning scenes the game. Hyper Light Drifter's 16-bit visuals of the game are vibrant and full of neatly made animations. As for the soundtrack, it's alright. Nothing really catched my attention but does pack some good tracks that nail the suspenseful atmosphere of the game.
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| Hyper Light Drifter holds a solid presentation. |
OVERALL- I've had a blast playing Hyper Light Drifter. I liked the vague, ambiguous story, enjoyed the challenging faced-paced gameplay, and loved the 16 bit-inspired visuals of the game. It's by far my favorite indie game of the year and that's saying a lot since we had a lot of great indie games. If you're looking for an old-school game that packs style and challenge, then I'd recommend Hyper Light Drifter.
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