Hyper Light Drifter is the gaming equivalent of skydiving blindfolded. You don’t know where you are, what you are doing, or what is going to happen to you, but you have a hell of a ride. Take that feeling, then subtract the fear of imminent death. That is how I felt playing Hyper Light Drifter.

Developer: Abylight

Publisher: Abylight

10 Hours Played // Game Self-Purchased // Price: $19.99

Disclaimer: I love 2D Zelda and am dying for a Switch version to be announced!

A Story Telling Conundrum

Hyper Light Drifter is a loooooong name, so from this point, ‘HLD’ is going to be how I refer to it; I ain’t got time for these big titles! Anyway, moving on, HLD is a really confusing game – to understand that is, not to play. Would you expect any less from a game with no text outside of its title screen? The only text that exists in HLD is in the titles and main menu. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, although it bugged me a little.

I love a game which has a rich story, and I don’t want to be spoon fed it. However, if I have to watch a series of Youtube videos to have a simple understanding of what is going on, I can’t get on board. And when there is no in-game dialogue offered, in any form, it takes a lot of thought to understand what is going on. This is, I assume, an artistic choice by the developers, but I wish that the story was better explained within the game itself.

These might just be the only words you see in this game. A big 5 words!

Although the story is certainly confusing, the basic premise is that you are a ‘drifter’, a character who has access to what is, essentially, a fricking lightsaber! On the other hand, a mysterious being has afflicted you with an illness. You journey is to not only cure yourself but kill ‘Judgement’ and save the world. I kept this vague purely to avoid anything spoilery, because this is a story you will want to discover and learn about yourself.

Upon further research into the story, I found out something truly incredible. Alex Preston, a developer of the game, based this tale upon himself. Alex suffers from, in his own words, ‘“congenital heart disease”(Source). When you take this into consideration, you realize that Hyper Light Drifter is more than a game; it is truly a piece of art. Telling such a tale via a game? I applaud the team behind this game. I know I have already said this, but I just would have loved to have been able to see this story more clearly! It is my biggest issue with the game.

I have no idea what the hell is going on in this game. Looks good though!

The NPCs ‘talk’ via images of events, which is an awesome idea! On the other hand, discoverable tablets litter the game world, and can only be understood via out of game translation. Come on, guys?! How was this an idea which ended up in the final game? I get what they were trying to do, and it works . . . somewhat. For me though, it feels like they missed the mark slightly. A great way to solve this would be as simple as translating these tablets in game. Stumbling on them during a playthrough would allow an instant reward in the shape of some story nuggets. Instead, you have to leave the game and go elsewhere if you want to find out what it actually says?!

A game which I think does a tremendous job of subtle storytelling is Hollow Knight. The entire story is within the game, and the player can piece it together. Rather than getting most of it explained to you, you use the game’s world to learn of it. HLD actually employs this, but too much is left to you. Titans are visible in the background, hinting at a pre-game war in the world, but you are never told anything about this. In Hollow Knight, conversing with NPCs allow you to understand what is going on, but you need to go elsewhere to find out the details. This is better than the system employed here , where EVERYTHING is left to you to interpret and discover.

These titans mean something. . . Of course, you don’t get explicitly told what.

Futuristic Link With a Gun!

I don’t want to give the wrong impression about HLD. I mean, what is the most important part of a game? Aside from its icon (I do appreciate a good icon), of course, it is how the damn thing plays. Now here is a place I can let loose ‘Happy Tom’ again. Hot damn, HLD feels sooooo awesome to play! I felt like Link with a lightsaber, a pistol, and a shotgun. And trust me folks, that is one hell of a great way to feel. The dashing mechanic? Aside from infuriating me for the first 2 hours (I sucked at chaining them), it feels incredible in combat. Throw me a horde any day of the week, if I can dash, I can smash!

The system of upgrading your ‘drifter’ is implemented very well. I’ve decided to call him that because we aren’t on first name basis yet. Anyway, you find these gold ‘things’ throughout the world map which allow you to buy a multitude of different abilities for your dash and weaponry. When I was facing the final boss for the 99th time (it’s okay; I’m calm), I felt very remorseful over some of the abilities I avoided in order to buy guns, but such is life. As I sat at my desk, slamming my controller in defeat, I really, really regretted it. Anyway, I think this leads to my next point quite nicely!

Not too many upgrades. But the ones available are good additions to your skill set.

Brutally Brilliant Boss Fights

My personal highlights of HLD were the boss fights. We have had a lot of games with great bosses, recently haven’t we? No sooner had I completed the boss-fest that is Hollow Knight, only for destiny to bring this game to me. Does anyone else even rank top-down boss fights? Well, I do, and HLD sits firmly at the top! There is a big difference between hard fights and good fights. A good boss fight is hard for sure, but not all tricky fights are good. HLD manages to tread the tightrope of frustratingly fun tremendously well.

Like most boss fights the key remains learning patterns and adjusting accordingly. At which point, you trigger the second phase of a fight and get annihilated by a penguin creature, as is the norm. In all seriousness, I actually enjoyed the frustration. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want a game to just be a breeze. I loved the rage!

This entire sequence involved spamming ‘Y’ and swearing. Lots and lots of swearing.

Where am I Exactly?

I’ll tell you what is important in boss fights: being able to reach them. Another area in which I held issue with HLD is its map system. You have access to the entire map immediately, which seems great! In reality though, the map is relatively inaccurate in showing your location. I found this odd. It’s almost as if not having one at all would be a better option. I will again refer to Hollow Knight here because I think its map mechanic is so much better. Having to search for each map in Hollow Knight every time I entered a new zone is an ace mechanic!

In HLD, NPCs in each area show you a few select terminals to collect; why not expand on this? Have this NPC give you the map, but require the player to find them first to understand the terrain. I really feel that this mechanic is half-baked and should have been tweaked before the game launched. To add to this, the map, despite being fully connected, never quite felt that way. I am not sure what it was, but I never felt as if I was in the same ‘kingdom’ throughout my playthrough. This, upon reflection, was a disappointment.

Thoughts on Combat? SUPERB!

When people describe games as ‘Zelda-like’, dungeons filled with puzzles come to mind. In HLD, the biggest puzzle I found was learning the combat itself. More than anyone, I love a gung-ho approach to game combat (you should watch me play Zelda – poor Guardians) but HLD made me sit back and think. Each enemy type is so different in its attack pattern that swinging aimlessly will you get killed again, and again, and again. Some of the combat is trial-and-error based. This is especially true with some of the later enemies, which is a real annoyance.

Generally though, I loved the ability to execute different sequences dependent on the combatants within a room. For some, it was key to get up close and shotgun them. For others, it was all about quick-dashing and swipes. Something I really would have loved here was a wider variety of swords to use. Maybe a heavy sword which dealt more damage but swung slower? I ain’t a developer, but variety is key, and a little can go a long way.

Some of these enemies are wild! And so very strong.

As a package, I really enjoyed my time with Hyper Light Drifter. After waiting so long, the experience was fantastic. It’s a testament to the quality of this game. Although I have many criticisms, it is still a game I loved playing through. Even with the main quest done, there is so much more for me to explore. However, I would love to truly understand what it is I am exploring through in the game itself! This is a game where if you like the look of it, I am sure you will enjoy playing it yourself. It offers great combat, highlighted mostly in its bosses, and has enough in other areas to produce a great experience.

You may think I have spoken a lot about my issues with the game, and I have. I think it says a lot that despite the problems I have, I can wholeheartedly recommend this experience to anyone. It is that good. Get this game; the hype train has a few more tickets left!

Thanks for checking out our review of Hyper Light Drifter. This is 100% a worthy addition to your library. For some more fun games check out our review of The Messenger! To keep the conversation going go follow us on Twitter and join our Discord.