Hyper Light Drifter is a gorgeous, trendy hunk of stylish old-school sensibilities mated with the iconic hues of pixelated indie charm. Something as essential as the keys to understanding the story shouldn’t be hidden behind so much busywork. At their worst, you’re required to throw yourself against each and every wall just to alleviate the anxiety you might miss a hidden opening, or path of proximity triggered, invisible platforms. At their best we’re given a clue, like a ledge that seemingly has no other purpose, and keen observation is rewarded. While this genre has a long and proud history of secrets hidden in this fashion, and I did enjoy them at first, the way these story fragments are frustratingly stashed in each of the world’s four regions became increasingly annoying. What few direct answers do exist are trapped inside monoliths hidden in secret coves and behind locked doors.
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Again, I can’t really be sure how it all fits together exactly, because though I have my theories, they’re just interpretations of a stylish, intriguing series of events and images that never fully makes good on its grand setting. I gathered bits and pieces of the story: an apocalypse, an illness, time travel, and a mysterious dog all play a part. Heart Machine's slick fighting systems marry melee slashes and long-ranged firearms with slippery dashes for a simple, potent foundation. For me, all this reinforced the idea of drifting through time and space because for a large part of Hyper Light Drifter I was grasping for a handhold as to what the hell was going on. Its repeating, dreamlike cutscenes are cryptic. Interacting with an NPC conveys information in storyboard-like sequences. Its storytelling is a wordless experience that requires interpretation. It takes a commendable risk with its bold storytelling that intrigues, but doesn’t fully pay off in the end. But most impressively, they’re all optional – to the point where you can finish Hyper Light Drifter’s roughly seven-hour campaign without purchasing any upgrades at all, if you’ve got the raw skill to pull it off.Īnd while I wouldn’t consider Hyper Light Drifter overly hard – I was able to defeat most bosses in on my first or second encounter, with the exception of two disproportionately difficult ones – I would also shy away from calling it a style-over-substance kind of experience. That adds flavor to the combat systems without overcomplicating things. With the exception of a grenade ability, these upgrades don’t introduce completely new mechanics, but instead only add interesting elements to your beginning skills.
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Similarly, you can upgrade your sword to reflect incoming projectiles back at attackers, perform a dash-lunge, or hold your slash for a powerful, charged AOE swipe in the style of The Legend of Zelda: A Link To the Past.
For example, precisely timing your dash allows for another, and another, and another, chaining dashes for as long as you’re able to keep the rhythm without running into anything. That’s built upon through purchasable skills, which give you the option to add complexity where you want it. Developer Heart Machine’s slick fighting systems are equally distilled, marrying melee slashes and long-ranged firearms with slippery dashes for a simple, potent foundation.
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