Hyper Light Drifter

 Xbox One
Metascore
76

Generally favorable reviews - based on 8 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 8
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 8
  3. Negative: 0 out of 8
  1. Official Xbox Magazine UK
    Sep 26, 2016
    70
    A dreamy, trippy, cryptic punishing journey. Leads by the nose, not by the hand. [Oct 2016, p.98]
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  2. GameSpew
    Aug 4, 2016
    60
    The trouble with Hyper Light Drifter is that it’s frequently just too obscure and too difficult to truly enjoy.
  3. High-Def Digest
    Aug 18, 2016
    50
    I can see why some people like Hyper Light Drifter. Its combination of nostalgia, pretty pixels, and cruel gameplay are an intoxicating drug to some. I'm not one of those people, unfortunately. As I played I felt like the annoying moviegoing companion, always asking for an explanation of events onscreen from fellow viewers also watching for the first time, equally mystified.

Awards & Rankings

79
#79 Best Xbox One Game of 2016

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
6.4

Mixed or average reviews- based on 29 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 15 out of 29
  2. Mixed: 7 out of 29
  3. Negative: 7 out of 29
  1. Bertoflyingfox
    Jul 28, 2016
    7
    While this game has great combat and visual storytelling, some parts of it are flawed.

    It's a 2d top-down Dark Souls-like with a small    While this game has great combat and visual storytelling, some parts of it are flawed.

    It's a 2d top-down Dark Souls-like with a small sprinkle of metroidvania. The thing is, DS-likes do better as full 3D games or side-scrollers. Because of this, having to find your way around HLD is a pain.
    Hidden areas consist of far off platforms or barely noticeable doors at the far bottom of the screen. I spent more time walking towards the edge of each panel to see if it ended there or if it continued to another section of the map.

    The map is too vague to consider this a metroidvania and instead ends up feeling more like Castlevania2 with very obtuse design and villager word bubbles.

    My least enjoyable part of the game is the upgrade scheme. It favors upgrading specific things first, which works against the feeling of expanding your character how you want. A lot of these upgrades should be hidden items or end boss rewards.

    Again, great combat and visual storytelling, but they went too far in trying to mimic Dark Souls.    … Full Review »
  2. Broyax
    Aug 25, 2019
    0
    L'étron du jour est un indé 2D 16 couleurs... aux couleurs extrêmement criardes, une agression permanente pour la rétine ! il afficheL'étron du jour est un indé 2D 16 couleurs... aux couleurs extrêmement criardes, une agression permanente pour la rétine ! il affiche éhontément son mauvais goût à tous les étages avec son pixel larve dégueulasse (pléonasme !).

    La 2D ici non pas latérale mais aérienne est évidemment sujette à caution et à confusion alors qu'on tente de se diriger dans des sales nveaux de merde qui explosent de mauvais goût (encore) à chaque fois : c'est une prouesse de faire un truc aussi moche, à croire qu'ils l'ont fait exprès. Ce qui ne m'étonnerait pas.

    Le petit bonhomme doit se soigner régulièrement parce qu'il pisse du sang rose fuschia et que ça n'a pas l'air d'aller : je crois qu'il se fait chier à mort, ceci expliquant cela. Donc on erre sans but, essayant de deviner un chemin parmi cette colique graphique avec son épée et son pistolet.

    A noter néanmoins la musique ambient-electro pas désagréable ma foi, ce qui surprend dans une merde pareille. J'espère que l'auteur est allé bosser ailleurs, il mérite sans doute mieux que de travailler sur une crevure d'indé périmé qui pue de la gueule.    … Full Review »
  3. ZXSth
    Apr 2, 2019
    6
    I've seen this game (closer to when it came out, at least) getting quite a bit of praise. In hindsight, this praise seems largely undue to meI've seen this game (closer to when it came out, at least) getting quite a bit of praise. In hindsight, this praise seems largely undue to me - maybe there's something nostalgic here that I just didn't get, but I simply didn't find myself enjoying this game.

    Often, many games are praised for using environmental storytelling - conveying what is happening vaguely through a lack of verbal exposition. As someone who isn't a fan of that method of storytelling (whether in Hyper Light Drifter, Hollow Knight or in any game that tells its story with little or no exposition), it simply didn't grasp me here. The lack of any form of exposition at all leaves me desiring a bit more than what I got. To me, the vagueness seems intentional, but that doesn't necessarily make it something I value. While telling the story through detailed pictures is a nice alternative, I find the pixelated art style entirely pandering and off-putting.

    In many elements, I'd call this game a harder, less majestic (for lack of better terms) and more action-packed version of A Link To The Past. I did enjoy some of the 2D Zelda-esque combat - dashing about and slashing enemies is fairly fun, but I din't find it engaging enough to fight enemies solely for the hell of it. No fault to the game here, however - combat works exactly as intended, and it works well.

    Despite the solid combat mechanics, however, this game just feels underwhelming to me. The game feels as though it is pandering to al the twenty- and thirty-somethings who are looking for a modern game with classic twists. However, this is not the direction I had hoped that idea would go in, and due to that problem, the game lost interest for me after 10 or so hours. It is rare I don't finish a game, but to Hyper Light Drifter's credit, I think that has much to do with my subjective dislike of the game. It simply isn't for me - while I am confused by people who enjoy the game, I wouldn't hold it against them.    … Full Review »
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