Hyper Light Drifter (PC) - Review
by VGChartz Staff , posted on 02 April 2016 / 10,807 Views
Disclaimer: I backed Hyper Light Drifter on Kickstarter during its initial fundraising campaign and pledged $25.
It’s finally here! Two and a half years after I contributed $25.00 to its Kickstarter campaign, Hyper Light Drifter is finally a real product that backers and non-backers alike can enjoy, but beyond the gorgeous pixel art is there really much of a game to uncover? Yes, and yes again - more of one than I actually expected.
The stunning aesthetics are a brilliant starting point for your journey into the universe of Hyper Light Drifter. Indeed, it was the project's wonderful pixel art that intrigued me enough to back the game in the first place, and the reality is (almost) every bit as good as those first glimpses backers were given at the tail end of 2013.
The world is beautifully animated and this gives the impression of a real, tangible place. At least, that is, when the animations work. On more than one ocassion I would come across things that wouldn't animate properly, and this left them feeling lifeless and dead. These moments are a jarring blot on an otherwise beautiful game, but thankfully they're few and far between.
If Hyper Light Drifter's art style drew you in then the gameplay should be enough to make you stay. Hyper Light Drifter is a rogue-lite dungeon crawler akin to top-down The Legend of Zelda games of yesteryear. It pursues the standard rogue-lite dungeon crawler formula almost to a fault at times, with each area of the world featuring multiple collectibles and puzzles which must be overcome in order to trigger a climactic boss fight.
Each area is unique both in look and feel, from the mountainous Northern region to the lake section that dominates the right hand side of the map. The changing geography also brings with it different challenges - so the mountainous area boasts more platforming sequences as you traverse vast canyons, while the lake area places greater emphasis on player agility.
The changes in tone that accompany progression through Hyper Light Drifter help make the game feel moodier and more engaging. While the game world is often portrayed as desolate and full of death, the impact my actions had on the world's few remaining inhabitants made me excited to return to the fray after stepping away from the game for a time.
Combat is hugely challenging and rewarding. A single press of the X button on a standard Xbox 360/Xbox One controller causes you to slash, the A button allows you to dash, and the right trigger shoots your gun in the direction you’re facing. These basic abilities are quickly expanded upon via the purchase of upgrades and discovery of weapon pick-ups throughout the world, but the core combat loop is generally consistent throughout; all enemies have a set attack pattern and it’s up to you to dodge in and out of attacks whilst also dealing damage whenever an opportunity to attack presents itself.
This methodical combat system takes some getting used to, especially when you encounter boss fights which take the mechanic to its extreme. You’ll likely die over and over, at least to start with, because you'll push your luck too far. But when you do finally succeed in defeating a tough enemy the sense of relief and achievement is sublime. In many respects Hyper Light Drifter is reminiscent of the Souls series, where combat is often cerebral and intensely challenging but never unfair.
The expansive game world and large number of collectibles also ensures you have plenty of reasons to keep diving back into areas you’ve already explored. Scattered throughout the world are yellow upgrade blocks that, once collected, allow you to purchase upgrades back at the stores in town. These upgrades can range from the rather trivial (an extra health potion slot), to the downright essential (dodge mechanic reflects projectiles at enemies), and regardless of how good you are at the game's combat mechanics you’re still going to want to explore areas for secrets and upgrades.
As much as I enjoyed Hyper Light Drifter, there were some annoyances to be experienced over the course of the game's five to six hour campaign. The checkpoint system, for example, is very finicky. All too often I would completely clear out a room of enemies, proceed to the next area, die, and then find that the last checkpoint was actually the last room but one, resulting in a lot of repetition and wasted time.
Then there’s the sometimes dodgy (no pun intended) invincibility time, whereby enemies can knock you over and will continue to deal damage without you being able to respond/dodge at all. This doesn't happen too often at the start of the game but as you progress and encounter tougher enemies and bosses it becomes a real nightmare to deal with.
The soundtrack is also disappointing. It’s made by Disasterpeace, the one-man band that will be familiar to players of dozens of games, including Fez, Mini Metro, The Floor is Jelly, Shoot Many Robots, and more. Those games boasted great soundtracks, but Hyper Light Drifter's feels obscure and muted, so much so that it's barely noticeable most of the time.
These relatively minor qualms aside, Hyper Light Drifter is excellent. Its brilliance goes well beyond its brazen art style and extends to a challenging but highly rewarding combat system. Add the two together and they combine to make Hyper Light Drifter one of the best indie titles of the year so far.
This review is based on a digital copy of Hyper Light Drifter for the PC
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I'm having a pretty good time with it. It's a pitty the game is locked to 30fps with a lot of stuttering. Also is really hard at times, borderline fustrating, but I'm enjoying it a lot anyways, good gameplay and awesome artstyle.
I was going to write about this in my review, but eventually you get used to the fps lock, and could even argue it's more for the aesthetics rather than the gameplay itself (I know I know 60fps would have been better for fighting, I'm the kind of person that buys everything on PC to definitely get a locked 60 in other games, but I feel you could argue it adds to the "retro" look and feel here).
I can accept 30fps but I also have stuttering, the framerate is sometimes dancing between 29 - 32. That's annoying specially on a game with this kind of combat, they should fix that. But is still great.
I'm going to assume that at some point someone out there will come up with some sort of mod or way to bypass the lock, there is usually someone that figures that out eventually.
Just waiting on Dtoid and PCG's review, so far it looks like it's worth me picking up.
Hoping this comes to PSN eventually...but hell, I may just play it on PC anyway, because I'm so stoked for it
Posted today on their Kickstarter page:
"PS4 and Xbox One are actively being worked on by the fantastic Aaron Melcher. These will be out as soon as possible (likely this summer). We want to make sure they're in great working shape, and timing on release is dependent upon how quickly any kinks can be ironed out between the different hardware and the more ambiguous submission process with Sony and MS."
Beautiful game
Essay Pro