Hyper Light Drifter Image
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Generally favorable reviews - based on 21 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
7.9

Generally favorable reviews- based on 121 Ratings

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  • Summary: Echoes of a dark and violent past resonate throughout a savage land, steeped in treasure and blood. Hyper Light Drifter is an action adventure RPG in the vein of the best 16bit classics, with modernized mechanics and designs on a much grander scale.

    Drifters of this world are the
    Echoes of a dark and violent past resonate throughout a savage land, steeped in treasure and blood. Hyper Light Drifter is an action adventure RPG in the vein of the best 16bit classics, with modernized mechanics and designs on a much grander scale.

    Drifters of this world are the collectors of forgotten knowledge, lost technologies and broken histories. Our Drifter is haunted by an insatiable illness, traveling further into the lands of Buried Time, hoping to discover a way to quiet the vicious disease.
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Hyper Light Drifter On Nintendo Switch Adds New Boomerang Sword
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 21 out of 21
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 21
  3. Negative: 0 out of 21
  1. Sep 18, 2018
    100
    You owe it to yourself to give Hyper Light Drifter a go. It’s an incredible game with a wonderful look and feel to every part of it. It’s beautiful, looking great on the Switch’s screen, and can be surprisingly enveloping as an experience even as you take it to louder, crowded public areas. Every new area and experience was a delight to me, and I kept taking screenshots all the way through. It’s a challenge, but every moment was worth it.
  2. 90
    A masterful and beautiful experience with powerful visuals, transcendent audio, and challenging gameplay.
  3. Sep 9, 2018
    90
    Hyper Light Drifter: Special Edition is a more complete adventure that will captivate us not only due to its art, gameplay and story told by means of images, but also thanks to the deeper, real meaning that comes from projecting the heart disease of its creator.
  4. Oct 5, 2018
    90
    With stunning visuals and music, Hyper Light Drifter: Special Edition is a delight to play - even if it means overcoming overwhelming odds.
  5. Oct 22, 2018
    90
    If you groan every time you see another 2D action-RPG on the Nintendo eShop, don’t be dissuaded by Hyper Light Drifter: Special Edition. While it borrows from the Zelda blueprint and games that have followed, it is packaged so perfectly that it stands above the rest. The depth of its vivid world goes beyond what you see on your screen. There’s more lurking there, and you’ll want to discover it all.
  6. Sep 18, 2018
    87
    Like on the other platforms Hyper Light Drifter on Switch is a visually and mechanically captivating action adventure that you can’t help but admire.
  7. Sep 5, 2018
    80
    Indie games don't get much more memorable than Hyper Light Drifter and this Special Edition acts as a good excuse to finally play it if you haven't already. Just make sure you're ready for an intense challenge before taking the plunge.

See all 21 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 18 out of 33
  2. Negative: 3 out of 33
  1. Sep 6, 2018
    10
    the art, the music, the scenery, the atmosphere, the story : everything is WoW !|
    its racefully paced in combat and its a contemplative
    the art, the music, the scenery, the atmosphere, the story : everything is WoW !|
    its racefully paced in combat and its a contemplative experience when exploring or encounter new things.

    i've never experienced a game that says so much but there is not a single word written in this game. You never read or hear someone speaking to you. You have to figure it out by yourself.
    I have goose bump just writing this short review.
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  2. May 7, 2020
    10
    I am always looking for games to play with my SO (local co-op couch multiplayer) and this was a fun one to play!

    Battles are a mix of
    I am always looking for games to play with my SO (local co-op couch multiplayer) and this was a fun one to play!

    Battles are a mix of Diablo 3, Zelda and Cuphead feelings, music is great, art is really pleasing (we like 16 bits like art more than 8 bit style or 3D-meh graphics like Unravel Two) and it is really cheap on sales.

    Recommended!
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  3. Nov 11, 2018
    9
    Reverb duck, original version was 30fps on all platforms... now theyve been updated and the worst drops on switch are 40-50fps, which is FINE,Reverb duck, original version was 30fps on all platforms... now theyve been updated and the worst drops on switch are 40-50fps, which is FINE, the game basically runs just as well on switch as anything else but its portable too... switch is the best platform to play this game on for that reason Expand
  4. Jan 20, 2021
    8
    Definitely worth playing. It has a great artistic direction, a marvelous soundtrack made by Disasterpeace and a nice challenge.

    The weak
    Definitely worth playing. It has a great artistic direction, a marvelous soundtrack made by Disasterpeace and a nice challenge.

    The weak points would be that it's not perfectly balance. Some parts are harder that they should be just because your character doesn't respond as quickly as necessary, and there was some moments where the props were really in the way during a heat fight. They should have put a invincibility second or two after being hit, because for the final boss you just constantly get one-hit killed with some attack, because your character never has the time to recover from an attack before another one is made. Which is too bad because there are some great fighting moments too. Fortunately, it's forgiving and you just start the battle again, no need to go all the way back from the save point like in Hollow Knight, which was for me so **** frustrating.

    Also, graphically, even if it's beautiful, it can be sometimes confusing. I wasn't sure all the time where I could go on a platform or not, or if there was some secret things to find since they don't pop out even a little in the environment. And since there are a lot of things and secrets to be discovered (some of them are pretty much essential to the game), it would have been nice for them to be a little bit clearer. But it does reward you for exploration, which is nice.

    All in all, a great and unique indie game that you need to try at least once. Just know that's it's challenging, but I've seen much harder and unfair. The uniqueness of the game really stands out and it should be known more (kinda like Katana Zero)"
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  5. Jun 14, 2020
    7
    Estamos ante un juego de exploración-acción con un bello apartado artístico, una historia bellamente contada usando solo lenguaje visual, yEstamos ante un juego de exploración-acción con un bello apartado artístico, una historia bellamente contada usando solo lenguaje visual, y una banda sonora ambiental muy acertada que ayuda a la inmersión. Los movimientos de nuestro personaje también son precisos, fáciles de entender y difíciles de dominar, con personalidad propia. Los entornos que recorremos a su vez tienen vida propia, contando parte de la historia simplemente por estar ahí.
    Sin embargo, dicho todo lo positivo, el juego presenta tres "pecados" que influyen directamente en la experiencia que lo hacen desmerecer de una mejor nota, y que cada cual debe valorar si puede pasar por alto o no para un juego que es genial por lo demás.
    1º- El primero de los fallos del juego es un fallo que recae específicamente sobre esta versión o cualquiera de las de otras consolas, pero seguramente no en la de PC. El problema nace del control. No hay en principio ningún problema en jugar con un mando a este juego, los controles son intuitivos y responden bien. Sin embargo, hay cierto reto del juego que consiste en conseguir encadenar sprints 800 veces en la tienda de mejoras del mismo que se nota que no fue diseñado para ser realizado con un control... para encadenar sprints debes pulsar el botón en el momento justo (la ventana para hacerlo es muy pequeña) y al mismo tiempo cambiar la dirección en la que sprintas. El problema es que si al hacer esto chocas contra una pared la cadena se corta inmediatamente, y el espacio para hacer esto en la tienda no es lo bastante grande verticalmente para no acabar chocando al mover el stick un poco demasiado arriba o demasiado abajo dada la sensibilidad de esto. Esta locura de reto esta claramente pensada más para ser realizada con un teclado donde el control del cambio de dirección puede ser más preciso, e incluso así si buscáis en foros al respecto, los jugadores de PC usan un autoclick con timer para realizar esto... En consola no es imposible, pero es directamente una locura. Es solo un reto sí, y la recompensa es menor (un traje y un gearbit) pero el problema es, dada la naturaleza del juego, si no vas a conseguir esto, no vas a conseguir el 100%... así pues, ¿acaso merece la pena conseguir el 100% del resto del juego? Esto puede parecer una tontería, pero la sensación que deja para el sentido de completar el juego para el jugador es muy deprimente, y lo peor es que se retroalimenta con el siguiente aspecto negativo.
    2º- Revisitar las areas no es divertido... como he dicho este es un juego de exploración, y muchos de los elementos están bien ocultos en los escenarios. Poco a poco aprenderás a reconocer los lugares donde hay cosas escondidas, y técnicamente puedes acceder a todo lo que encuentras en un área a excepción de los pilares que solo pueden ser activados con un arma específica (se puede conseguir pronto si eliges el camino adecuado al comienzo...) o las puertas cerradas con tarjetas llave. Sin embargo, volver a un área anterior para buscar lo que no encontraste inicialmente o abrir las puertas que antes no podías no es divertido, ya que, aunque existen mejoras para nuestro personaje que iremos comprando, estas radican en aportar nuevas formas de movimiento, llevar más botiquines o la capacidad de desviar las balas entre otros... pero no hacen más poderoso a nuestro personaje ni le permiten acabar antes las batallas, por lo que al volver a recorrer el terreno ya andado, especialmente cuando la distancia es grande es realmente aburrido, y no es difícil que mueras más veces que al explorar la zona por primera vez al querer ir directo al grano. Esto hubiera sido fácilmente solucionado sin alterar la mejora del personaje, simplemente poniendo un teletransporte más en cada área, y reduciendo la distancia a volver a caminar... francamente esto es un mal diseño.
    3º- Y lo último... es un problema con la "complete edition". Resulta rídiculo, pero la manera en la que están montados los extras de la edición especial, le restan al juego normal si eres como yo y te gusta explorarlo todo... El área opcional aunque esta oculta, si exploras más o menos todo bien acabaras accediendo a ella antes de la 4º zona... este área es la más desafiante del juego en cuanto combate, y tiene un boss que es una versión mejorada del boss de la 4º zona... básicamente completar esto y luego entrar en la 4º zona convierte todo este cuarto final del juego en... decepcionante y anticlimático. No estoy a favor de "contra menos contenido mejor" ni mucho menos, pero esto debiera haber sido llevado mejor...
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  6. May 26, 2020
    6
    I really wanted to like this game, as the music score and graphics are nothing short of breathtaking - but I just felt lost in this game. YouI really wanted to like this game, as the music score and graphics are nothing short of breathtaking - but I just felt lost in this game. You pick something up - what is it? No idea! The game does not feature any text or speech, so you simply have to figure it out. What button combo to press to use it? No clue. Where to go? No real idea. I only played this game for a few hours, but just couldn't get into it. Expand
  7. Dec 17, 2018
    0
    Waste of time. Just play Dark Souls for 8 more hours.

    Tip to indie action developers: reward better but less dodges. Reward skilled risk
    Waste of time. Just play Dark Souls for 8 more hours.

    Tip to indie action developers: reward better but less dodges. Reward skilled risk play rather than safer play. Reward fast fingers not exploitable tricks.

    Enemies and bosses are wayyyy to fast compared to player. I want to heal while shooting while healing while mending I want to do everything at the same time. I can't you can only do 1 action at a time and it takes blooody years. I mean by the time the player drinks a potion I might as well have read a shakespeare play.

    Bosses have the same problem a lot of indie bosses have: they're dodge DDR bosses. Dodge dodge dodge dodge dodge dodge dodge dodge dodge dodge dodge dodge 1 single attack wheel another 50 hours of dodging until it's safe to attack again. No don't do this, because then you literally BORE the player to death. Make bosses pacing slower and reward good dodges not reward more dodges by allowing consistent in-between attack strategies. If boss does X and my only option is to press the dodge button, remove X from the game and redesign go back to the drawing board.

    Many indie actions have this problem, so shouldn't be too hard to HSD alone. Fix it and improve this is not good enough.
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See all 33 User Reviews