Hyper Light Drifter

 Switch
User Score
7.9

Generally favorable reviews- based on 121 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 84 out of 121
  2. Mixed: 24 out of 121
  3. Negative: 13 out of 121

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  1. PurpleBiscuitz
    Sep 14, 2018
    7
    To start off the art and atmosphere of this game is fantastic. You traverse through a world filled with new items and enemies to discover and the lack of hand holding really pushes the atmosphere and amplifies the feeling of discovering something new. However, where this game really falls short is its difficulty. I love challenging games, but Hyper Light Drifters challenge seems to beTo start off the art and atmosphere of this game is fantastic. You traverse through a world filled with new items and enemies to discover and the lack of hand holding really pushes the atmosphere and amplifies the feeling of discovering something new. However, where this game really falls short is its difficulty. I love challenging games, but Hyper Light Drifters challenge seems to be artificial and unfair. There were many points in the game where i had no idea why i died or what i died too which was really frustrating after dying multiple times on a given area having no idea what to do differently. After being hit you character is also stunned for a short period by certain attacks leaving him opened to get pummeled and essentially die in one hit. This type of difficulty is only made worse by the lack of tools you have to make quick in puts. After attacking with your sword, your character has serious lag before being able to attack or dash out of the way of an incoming attack. Furthermore, the difficulty spikes seem completely random. The first part of the game can contain areas much more difficult than the proceeding areas. It feels random whether the next room or boss will be difficult or not. (spoilers) An example of this is that the first boss of the game was very challenging compared to the second boss of the game which can easily be beaten on the first attempt. Overall, the atmosphere and theme of the game saves it from its lack of fair, fast paced gameplay… Expand
  2. Sunshadow87
    Jun 14, 2020
    7
    Estamos 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,Estamos 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...    … Expand
  3. Daisuk
    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. 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 justI 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
  4. fhaaruk
    Jun 28, 2020
    7
    Overall, it's a great 2D Action-RPG game with very fitting soundtracks and art-style, and it runs great on Switch. I give it 7 points, but I would like to point out I have given 10p only 1-2 games in my life (not necessarily on metacritic) so overall, it is a great game and arguably worth your time if you are into this genre.

    So, Truly, the art is amazing in this game, the dark and    Overall, it's a great 2D Action-RPG game with very fitting soundtracks and art-style, and it runs great on Switch. I give it 7 points, but I would like to point out I have given 10p only 1-2 games in my life (not necessarily on metacritic) so overall, it is a great game and arguably worth your time if you are into this genre.

    So,
    Truly, the art is amazing in this game, the dark and depressing colours really reflect the shape of the 'infected' world. The sharp edges of the scenery really gives you that industrial, future vibes, and the soundtrack perfectly compliments it.
    The game mechanics is really simple, which is a little shame. You only have 4 main abilities: dash, slash, shoot and heal (and another utility can be bought but not necessary). Luckily, we can upgrade these skills with the coins we gather from the maps. They are fun to look for first, but after some time becomes tedious, but the game can finished without these upgrades. Though I wish we could have more weapons to switch at any given time instead of two, it still feels fun to dash and slash enemies. The game puts emphasis on the importance of using dash, a skill need to be mastered in order to dodge enemy, especially bosses' abilities. It is fun to dodge enemy bullets, shoot them down and slash them with the sword, roughly speaking the gameplay is very enjoyable but has its faults.
    Honestly, many times I felt it was a little chunky, the enemies' abilities' and their characters' hitboxes do not always feel smooth. Many times I tried dashing right next to the boss, but the hitbox was wider than the pixels given to it, so instead I dashed into it. Also the fact that you can't instant heal, regardless of pressing heal, regardless of the ANIMATION, you still need 0,5 second for game to register the HP, which is extremely frustrating at times. For these reasons, I deducted 1 point. The aiming also doesn't feel like an even 360 scope, but like jumping every 30 degrees. Maybe that's because of some technical limitation, I don't know. Nonetheless, annoying.
    I deducted another point because of the game's story. Despite playing 5-6 hours, I honestly don't know what's the story about. There is 0 text in the game, let alone voice. I kind of guess what it is about, but many times the game just felt 'empty', like I was just going from A to B just because, and not because I need to save the world or whatever the goal of the hero is? Can someone explain the beginning to me, hello?
    One last problem I have is the extreme amount of hidden stuff. I do love easter eggs, and looking after things, searching items. However, this game hides so many things it becomes tiring, and makes me anxious whether I missed something or not. So many things to go for back and forth, checking the same area for hours. It just artificially makes the game twice as long while not adding many content. However, for me this is only worth -0,5 points as it is totally optional, so the other part comes from the map, crucial for discovering such hidden gems.
    I cannot emphasise how stupid and annoying it is that the MAP DOES NOT SHOW WHERE YOU ARE. Yes. It updates every section (usually composed of 4-5 parts) and just shows you in the middle of it. It is okay when you are just rushing through a part, but when it comes too looking for something it irritating. Handling the map is another nightmare, how roads and places connect is hard to figure out, and you can't put pins on gates that require keys to open (to come back later because you don't have enough keys). Because of this, I just gave up on collecting stuff about half game, and decided just to do the 'main' story. Super tiresome how I can't put marks on the map..
    One last thing to add: game does not explain anything. As I said, you are just given very few instructions in the beginning, and from that you have to figure out every trick yourself. From some this can be fun, for me, it was just eh. There are some tricks I only figured out at the main boss of the game..
    I give it 7 points, but I would like to point out I have given 10 only 1-2 games in my life (not necessarily on metacritic) so overall, it is a great game and arguably worth your time if you are into this genre. Have fun and thanks for reading!    … Expand
  5. djdnauk
    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, 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
  6. kraftw33rk
    Feb 10, 2019
    6
    Ich find’s sehr gut, aber viiiel zu schwer. Zumindest die Bosskämpfe. Schaffe nichtmal den Ersten. Vermutlich hätte ich erst mehr tests lesen sollen, aber ich denke meins wird nie fertig gespielt und ich habe Geld versenkt. Habe keine Zeit für 200 Versuche
  7. EdwardG
    Dec 24, 2020
    6
    Beautiful pixel art with excellent use of colour and a captivating, calming ambient soundtrack give Hyper Light Drifter it's identity. Without a clear narrative, they're what I'll remember most from my playthrough.

    The game plays pretty nicely - the combat is solid and you progress through the world naturally. Exploration is rewarded and although none of the mechanics are spelt out to    Beautiful pixel art with excellent use of colour and a captivating, calming ambient soundtrack give Hyper Light Drifter it's identity. Without a clear narrative, they're what I'll remember most from my playthrough.

    The game plays pretty nicely - the combat is solid and you progress through the world naturally. Exploration is rewarded and although none of the mechanics are spelt out to you, nothing is too hard to pick up. This freedom matched the mood of the game really well. If anything though, the gameplay on the whole is a bit basic. It's fun, but not exceptional.

    My main gripe with Hyper Light Drifter is that I wish the narrative was more clear. The story, told without words, just felt a bit lacking to me. The world is so atmospheric that the absence of a strong plot is a bit disappointing. That said, I can see the appeal this story might have to some people. It's a personal tale inspired by the developer's struggles with heart disease, and I can see it affecting a lot of people more deeply than it did me. I didn't connect with it as much as I'd hoped because of how cryptic it all was. I only pieced the story together after the fact after reading up on it.

    By the end of the game I was left feeling underwhelmed. My initial wonder at the game's beautiful visuals and music wasn't enough to grip me, and as none of its other elements entirely clicked with me, I have to reflect that in my score.

    Don't let my review dissuade you from trying the game though. I can see it's appeal, and it has a very distinct tone that might be just what you're looking for. Hyper Light Drifter offers a dark, moody, melancholic world, solid gameplay, and a show, don't tell story that's bound to resonate with some players.    … Expand
  8. giannis2001
    Aug 25, 2020
    6
    It's not that good as I expected.The controls and movement of player feels kinda weird and sluggish and not good in general. The story is a mess too. I recommend it on sale, it's average in my opinion.
  9. onehitok
    Jul 18, 2021
    7
    I would've given this game a 10/10 if the game explain what the **** is going on.
  10. Hazman
    Mar 9, 2022
    7
    The Graphics and score are amazing, however it just didn't click with me. i often felt lost and didn't know what i was doing. if you want to try it out go for it, it just wasn't the game for me
  11. Hugolas
    Nov 28, 2020
    2
    Visually stunning, music is awesome but the game play is terrible. One of the worst dashes I've ever tried. It's inconsistent in general. Sad, it could have been a great game but the lazy fight controls make it unplayable.
  12. Ryu_san
    Aug 4, 2021
    6
    Lack of guidance and bosses that feel very repetitive are let downs. It's a game known for excellence retro inspired graphics and atmosphere. But I felt a guide was necessary to enjoy this game to the fullest, eg to find the extra costumes, which just feels a flaw in the game design. It's worth playing but lacks replay value.
  13. Gloone
    Dec 1, 2018
    8
    A nice, very polished game.

    The gameplay is a very satisfying mix of exploration and combat. In addition to a sword and various guns and grenades, you have a dash move, which makes combat quite interesting. For example, having a shotgun gets a lot more fun when you can dash right up to an enemy before shooting them. There are lots of cleverly hidden areas which mean that travelling the    A nice, very polished game.

    The gameplay is a very satisfying mix of exploration and combat. In addition to a sword and various guns and grenades, you have a dash move, which makes combat quite interesting. For example, having a shotgun gets a lot more fun when you can dash right up to an enemy before shooting them. There are lots of cleverly hidden areas which mean that travelling the overworld and dungeons is never boring. Finding these rewards you with various ability upgrades that keep the game fresh throughout.

    On a small number of occasions the combat felt frustratingly sluggish. I'm not sure if this was because of the console struggling, or if that's just how it is. This is rare though. I disagree that the game is particularly hard. It's challenging enough to be entertaining, but it isn't punishing, and it doesn't feel unfair.

    Something to make the game easier to 100% in the final stages would have been welcome. Instead, all you can do is retread the entire game world trying to find secrets you missed, which is tedious, and I don't think there's any final reward for doing it. In the end I didn't try to 100% the game, and I don't recommend anybody else does.

    The art and music are great. There are barely any words or dialogue in the game; the story is all visual, and as a result is impressionistic and ambiguous. Apart from some minor confusions, it's an effective approach.

    Overall, certainly recommended.    … Expand
  14. legrandmawak
    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 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    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.    … Expand
  15. Stowbot
    Nov 2, 2018
    10
    This game is powerful in almost all areas. The combat, art, music, and visual storytelling are just amazing. Most people may not agree with the wordless storytelling. In fact, it can kind of be troubling as to figuring out what certain upgrades do when a player wants to purchase one as it is all done with visuals. But to some, it's great to just let your imagination fill in the blanks.This game is powerful in almost all areas. The combat, art, music, and visual storytelling are just amazing. Most people may not agree with the wordless storytelling. In fact, it can kind of be troubling as to figuring out what certain upgrades do when a player wants to purchase one as it is all done with visuals. But to some, it's great to just let your imagination fill in the blanks. As for the music I can say without a single doubt that this is disasterpeace's best work. The synthy tracks just add to the layer of mystery surrounding this destroyed sci-fi world. All in all, it is a definite buy!… Expand
  16. bl1rt
    Dec 29, 2018
    7
    I liked the atmosphere of Hyper Light Drifter a lot, and it is amazing how the games manages to tell its story in images only.
    Unfortunately, the controls are a bit clunky, forcing timeouts on the player after screwing up a move, which often leads to additional damage. This makes the game noticeably harder than it needs to be, and it does not pay off.
    I still like the game a lot though
  17. Meeleepit
    Jun 15, 2020
    8
    Only got this game recently due to people stating it is beyond difficult.

    Seriously it was not that difficult and immensely fun to play. The pixel art is stunning.
    Seriously enjoyed this game. Definitely worth the play.
  18. JoeyPL5
    Nov 16, 2021
    9
    Even if it isn't the most fun game, it is so striking and unique that it's impossible to forget playing it.
  19. capedavenger
    Oct 7, 2018
    10
    Wow, what a great game. I was a little afraid that it's one of those "Hipster graphic look" games that don't amount to much of a game, but I was wrong. Great gameplay, great graphics, interesting worlds to explore... I love the "no words" approach, it doesn't make things easier, but hey...makes it all the more mysterious. Love it!
  20. AllySky
    May 22, 2019
    5
    Hyper light drifter is visually amazing, and has a above par combat system. However that combat system requires you to be perfect or rely on sheer luck, making it a terrible game to pick up after leaving it for a month or so. Besides that there is just nothing else, an eerie ambiance considered to be its musical soundtrack and story is slapped onto a set of images, beyond this it does aHyper light drifter is visually amazing, and has a above par combat system. However that combat system requires you to be perfect or rely on sheer luck, making it a terrible game to pick up after leaving it for a month or so. Besides that there is just nothing else, an eerie ambiance considered to be its musical soundtrack and story is slapped onto a set of images, beyond this it does a poor job at keeping me interested in the game.… Expand
  21. hypernewbie
    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 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    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.    … Expand
  22. ReverbDuck
    Sep 16, 2018
    3
    I really love this game - I played through the whole thing on PS4 and was excited to try the Switch version as it was advertised (and often reviewed) as smooth 60FPS. This is very much not the case. Even walking around with no enemies on the screen is slightly jerky and in combat with lots going on the slowdowns are awful. I'm very disappointed. I've tried restarting my Switch as someI really love this game - I played through the whole thing on PS4 and was excited to try the Switch version as it was advertised (and often reviewed) as smooth 60FPS. This is very much not the case. Even walking around with no enemies on the screen is slightly jerky and in combat with lots going on the slowdowns are awful. I'm very disappointed. I've tried restarting my Switch as some have mentioned but it made no difference. I find it very odd that some people report no slowdowns at all and a lot of other people say it's stuttering all over the place. I would avoid this version.… Expand
  23. battleTerror
    Jun 22, 2019
    9
    Really good game. Very good combat mechanics and loads of atmospheric exploration to be had.

    The game looks striking and kind of bizarre. I loved the Boss fights and the game is quite hard too. Looks and plays great on the Switch and is perfect for portable play. Check it out!
  24. LordOMO
    May 28, 2020
    9
    Hyper Light Drifter is a fantastic game, albeit a little rough around the edges. One thing everyone looking to play this game should know is that it is a very "mysterious" game: It's heavy on exploration and there is zero text or speech except for a short tutorial in the beginning. In that way it is quite similar to Dark Souls which also has this mysterious vibe to it and rewards playersHyper Light Drifter is a fantastic game, albeit a little rough around the edges. One thing everyone looking to play this game should know is that it is a very "mysterious" game: It's heavy on exploration and there is zero text or speech except for a short tutorial in the beginning. In that way it is quite similar to Dark Souls which also has this mysterious vibe to it and rewards players who explore levels carefully. Also similar to Dark Souls is that combat is quite methodical eventhough it is much quicker in Hyper Light Drifter. As the player you have to pay attention to the enemy attack patterns and react accordingly otherwise you will die in a matter of seconds. With bosses or multiple enemy encounters this leads to a careful dance of dodge and attack while keeping other enemies at bay with guns.
    Successfull combat encounters and exploring the levels will reward you with green healthpacks and yellow "upgrade points" which you can spend on vendors for various upgrades.

    I found myself being immediatly enthralled by this game. It's stylish visuals and beautiful dark synth soundtrack set the atmosphere well and progressing to the game was very rewarding.
    However, I already mentioned that the game is a little rough around the edges. I have two main issues with the current state of the game:
    - everything being very cryptic can leave the player confused in the beginning. Thankfully the core gameplay and the progression system of the game is quite simple to understand. But some of the "hints" the game gives you are simply so cryptic that I'm sure a number of players will completely miss them
    - exploring the levels can include a lot of trial and error. There are lots of hidden areas and finding them at times feels like luck since it isn't always communicated which parts of the level you can interact with. Sometimes there are secrets hidden behind what looks like solid walls. In the end this means you have to be prepared to basically run into every suspicious wall and search every cliff for invisible walkways. This can in fact be fun and it feels great to find new hidden secrets during the second or third playthrough. However, if you are NOT into this type of trial and error exploration you will find navigating the levels quite frustrating and you will be at a disadvantage since you'll be missing out on a lot of upgrade points that are hidden away.

    All in all Hyper Light Drifter is a 9/10 experience to me. It's a beautiful game and if you are part of the niche audience that enjoys fast but methodical combat as well as hunting for secrets this is a must have game for you. The only real disappointment is that the game is a little inconsistent in communicating to the player which areas are accessable and which are not, resulting in trial and error.    … Expand
  25. dkmjr
    Mar 8, 2019
    10
    Superb game, passionate soundtrack, and unique style. My only complaint is that it is not longer! I couldn't be more pleased. One of the best on Switch! Can't wait for a sequel (hopefully).
  26. Sijun
    Aug 27, 2019
    10
    As an early bird backer on kickstarter I can't praise this game enough even after 2 years. Once I heard it got released for the Switch I rebuyed it asap and enjoy every second of it. To play this masterpiece in handheld mode is great fun.
    Verdict: worth every single dime!
  27. PewPewMcP
    Nov 15, 2019
    9
    Hyper Light Drifter is a love letter to the first four Legend of Zelda games and a hallmark of the top-down Action RPG genre. In a genre oversaturated with procgen roguelikes/lites, it's stunning to see such a meticulously crafted world, where level design is allowed to truly shine as team Heart Machine fill the world with nooks and crannies bursting with secrets that reward the player forHyper Light Drifter is a love letter to the first four Legend of Zelda games and a hallmark of the top-down Action RPG genre. In a genre oversaturated with procgen roguelikes/lites, it's stunning to see such a meticulously crafted world, where level design is allowed to truly shine as team Heart Machine fill the world with nooks and crannies bursting with secrets that reward the player for spotting their little tells and going off the beaten path. Enemy design is excellent as well, as enemies of all rank are implemented effectively to test the player's grasp of the fluid and dynamic combat. Bosses are a particular treat, forcing you to memorize their patterns in a tough but fair way, and I especially must highlight that death brings you to the last autosave which usually happens when you enter a new map, so you're in this Cuphead-style rhythm against the bosses and tough scenarios where you can jump right back into the fight immediately after failure. The game also allows you to tackle its maps in a fairly nonlinear fashion, a feat which is never easily achieved yet well executed here. Hyper Light Drifter sits amongst the pantheon of indie greats, and more videogames would benefit from taking a little direction from it.… Expand
  28. pacofonix
    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 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!
  29. Tspeed
    Nov 4, 2020
    8
    Didn’t get on with this initially due to the ambiguity of it all. The lack of instructions or explanations left me running in circles not knowing what I was doing. But after getting my head around the pickups and power ups I’ve been having a good time with it. The fighting is good and it’s decently challenging. The graphics are nice although sometimes it’s hard to tell what’s backgroundDidn’t get on with this initially due to the ambiguity of it all. The lack of instructions or explanations left me running in circles not knowing what I was doing. But after getting my head around the pickups and power ups I’ve been having a good time with it. The fighting is good and it’s decently challenging. The graphics are nice although sometimes it’s hard to tell what’s background and what’s floor.… Expand
  30. Gontrand00
    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 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    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)"    … Expand
  31. Rubbish
    Dec 2, 2020
    9
    I love a game with good art direction and boy does this game deliver, it is just so pretty to look at. The atmosphere and environments are incredible.
    The controls feel great and the combat and exploration is very fun.
    The only thing losing it some points is just how un-beginner friendly it is. Some of the items you need to find are super hard to find, many in hidden paths. This game    I love a game with good art direction and boy does this game deliver, it is just so pretty to look at. The atmosphere and environments are incredible.
    The controls feel great and the combat and exploration is very fun.
    The only thing losing it some points is just how un-beginner friendly it is. Some of the items you need to find are super hard to find, many in hidden paths. This game uses no dialogue, it tells you everything visually, which is super cool but can also make it difficult if you aren't used to looking for these visual clues.
    There are a ton of hidden paths, some of which are a little TOO well hidden. Once you know the visual clues to look for it gets a lot easier but some are still very easy to miss. Personally, I went in blind then used guides and walkthrough when I got stuck, I don't mind using guides sometimes so this wasn't too much of a big deal for me.
    If you prefer a game with a more linear progression and don't like grinding to find stuff or using guides, this may not be the game for you, but I've loved it so far.    … Expand
  32. leeuk321
    Apr 14, 2022
    9
    Absolutely fantastic game. I love top-down 2D action RPGs, but the genre is a dying breed, so it's incredibly refreshing when a game developer makes one but also makes one so well. I think that the level of exploration and combat is perfect, both in terms of the amount and the difficulty. Loved the pixel graphics, and I personally thought that the "hands-off" approach in terms ofAbsolutely fantastic game. I love top-down 2D action RPGs, but the genre is a dying breed, so it's incredibly refreshing when a game developer makes one but also makes one so well. I think that the level of exploration and combat is perfect, both in terms of the amount and the difficulty. Loved the pixel graphics, and I personally thought that the "hands-off" approach in terms of storytelling and guidance was really refreshing (so many times a game overloads you with endless fluffed-up story, and holds your hand too much in guiding you along, taking away all the wonder and mystery).

    I only have one main criticism, which takes away from it being a perfect game, which is that the bosses are ridiculously irritating to beat. I don't simply mean difficult, it's more the manner in which they're difficult. Because of the 5-bar health system, which can't be increased throughout the game, you have to constantly nanny the health bar going down and time using a medkit *just right*, so you:

    1) Don't do it prematurely and use one up unnecessarily
    2) Don't wait too late and die
    3) Pick a moment in the fight, taking into account points 1 & 2, to allow for the 2-second heal animation to finish (which can and does get interrupted by the boss, resulting in either dying if the boss gets you before it completes, or getting damaged if it's just after)

    I've found that beating a boss is more about monitoring the health bar about learning how and when to use it, which just isn't a satisfying way of beating a boss. I think that the 5-bar health system is perfect for regular gameplay, because it lends to tactics of using medkits wisely as you navigate through the terrain and dungeons. But, I think for bosses it should act differently, perhaps temporarily taking away one medkit from your arsenal and expanding it to 10 bars. Yes, that'd make it easier to beat bosses, but the developers could balance that by making the bosses stronger and/or their weapons and tactics better. Again, it's not about decreasing the difficulty of the bosses, I just found the type of difficulty irritating (I didn't have that "Yes!" feeling when beating them, just a "Urgh, finally" feeling.

    All of the non-boss stuff I throughly enjoyed, but I just didn't enjoy going up against any of the bosses. Since fighting the bosses only accounts for a small portion of the game, it's still a strong 9/10 from me.    … Expand
  33. TheRadiantMoth
    Oct 23, 2022
    10
    This game is amazing in many ways.

    The only way in which it is really mediocre is story. The story is just told in a pretty vague way and very lacking in detail. This isn't a significant detriment to the game at all though, if anything I kind of like it because it makes the world a bit more mysterious. It's not like you can figure out nothing, you'll be able to get the general idea of    This game is amazing in many ways.

    The only way in which it is really mediocre is story. The story is just told in a pretty vague way and very lacking in detail. This isn't a significant detriment to the game at all though, if anything I kind of like it because it makes the world a bit more mysterious. It's not like you can figure out nothing, you'll be able to get the general idea of what happened in each area and a very vague understanding of the overall plot, but the exact threads connecting the story together are very poorly explained if they are explained at all. But a simple, vague plot is better than a bad, overbearing one.

    Everything else is incredible.

    The visual style is superb. The pixel art has sort of a cell shaded look to it with very vibrant colors that make the game look both very unique and very beautiful. And the animations are just incredible, of everything from the player character to environments to enemies, which is a big part of why the game looks and feels so good to play.

    The music is very ambient but it fits the gameplay well. It changes dynamically with pretty much everything, like getting to a new room or the next phase of a boss, which makes everything feel much more impactful. I can't say I really "liked" any of the songs but they were all really perfectly atmospheric for the part they take place.

    The combat is the part most people love. And I agree, it's great. All of your abilities flow together perfectly. You can act so quickly from one move to another, combat feels more like a continuous string of inputs than multiple individual inputs. Your three primary actions are sword moves for melee damage and charging guns, dashing for repositioning or dodging, and guns for ranged attacking (or high damage bursts depending on which one you use). The game gives you enough options that you can be incredibly creative with how you approach combat. You can use a highly evasive playstyle, a high damage one, a mix of the two, whatever you want.

    Of course the player is only half of the combat, and the enemies are just as good. There aren't many of them and they all have pretty simple behaviors but the game makes great use of them by combining different enemy types in interesting ways and layouts. Two combat rooms can use the exact same enemies but in completely different ways, meaning you'll need a different strategy for each. It always keeps things fresh and makes each and every encounter a joy to figure out.

    The bosses are especially incredible. Each of them is reasonably challenging, fun and fair while also being extremely challenging with varied and dynamic movesets that really force you to learn them and truly understand each boss.

    My favorite part of the game, and what really blew me away, is the exploration and world design.

    The overall world design is very simple, just a central hub with four areas expanding out in each direction. But what makes the game so great is that the world design within each area is incredible. For starters, each area has a real sense of history and detail to it. Each area has its own story and you can see it in details of the area. For example, the western area was very militaristic, and you can see cannons and armories scattered around many of its ruins. The above ground and underground sections of each area also have very different atmospheres, making each area even more memorable. (Again going back to the western area, the upper levels are a dense forest while below ground are high tech prisons and armories.)

    The way you progress through each area is also great. For one, each feels different. The northern one is mostly linear but gets more open at the end, the western is pretty open overall, the eastern is pretty linear but loops around on itself in interesting ways, and the southern is more like a simple overworld with a series of mini-dungeons. This makes each incredibly memorable. You can also go through each multiple times and find new things each time. I went to the north first, and was delighted to find that I hadn't found even half of the content, secrets, even rooms upon a revisit. This game rewards observation and curiosity amazingly, and you will be rewarded for paying attention. But it isn't necessary which is great for people who just want a general guide through the game- very few things are actually required for the ending, and the game guides you to these, so most of the secrets are great, which I love. They're challenging and rewarding to get for people who want them, and people who don't can skip over.

    So if you want a game that looks beautiful, has amazing atmosphere, feels incredible to play, and has rewarding exploration, definitely try this. It is incredible.    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

13
#13 Best Switch Game of 2018
52
#52 Most Discussed Switch Game of 2018
94
#94 Most Shared Switch Game of 2018

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
88

Generally favorable reviews - based on 21 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 21 out of 21
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 21
  3. Negative: 0 out of 21
  1. Nintendo Force Magazine
    Oct 29, 2018
    95
    A near-perfect dayglow samurai dream. [Issue #36 – November/December 2018, p. 20]
  2. Nintendo Insider
    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.
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  3. TheSixthAxis
    Oct 8, 2018
    90
    Hyper Light Drifter is a jaw-dropping experience no matter the platform you play it on. What started as an engaging masterpiece in 2016 continues to be just as rewarding and worthwhile of a video game in 2018. With the Nintendo Switch you get the valuable bonus of being able to take this journey with you anywhere you want and believe me when I say this is a journey you will not want to step away from once you start it.
    Read full review
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