Hyper Light Drifter

Set adrift on lights bliss

So often nowadays are games released with information about their story, characters and world that players can quite easily glean out everything they need to know based on a couple of trailers. There are some exceptions to this rule however and Hyper Light Drifter numbers amongst them.

Information in Hyper Light Drifter is impossible to glean out. Everything you see has to be whittled down to speculation, you have to decide what exactly is happening and why your mission is important with very little to go on. Like a fine piece of art, you have to step back to appreciate the work and beauty that has gone into a game such as Hyper Light Drifter, for it is part of a rejuvenated effort by developers to bring back that nostalgic 2D sprite generation that many of us remember.

Hyper Light Drifter is a game of nostalgia then. For it is a loving and dedicated tribute to an age of gaming that is far behind us now and in a world of blockbusters and triple A games, this bright spark of difference seeks to stand out like a splash of red on a canvas of white.

The Drifter

Only known as a drifter to the people of the world your task, vague though it is, is to explore regions around the small city to fight powerful bosses and unlock, presumably, the cure to a disease, which ravages the main character.

The vagueness of your task is obvious from the moment you begin HLD, there is no hand holding here, no leading you by the nose. You are thrust into a merciless pixelated world and given no choice but to fight and that is where HLD shines.

Encounters often force you into inescapable situations, usually blocking off your exit, enemies spawn in and the numerous enemy A.I. means that you have to fight with precision and some tactical planning i.e. When should I use a health pack? Is there a particular gun that can deal with these guys easier? I have three evade steps how should I use them?

The difficulty of HLD’s battles is akin to Dark Souls. Each movement must be sparring, an overly zealous attack pattern from you can spell certain doom and leaving one enemy even by himself is not wise. Its these things that players remember from similar older games where learning a bosses battle pattern was a matter of trail and error and not a quick Google or YouTube search.

But it is these things, frustrating though they may be, which define HLD as a loving tribute to older generations. The bosses of the game attack in patterns and its up to you to discover their weakness, plan you own attacks and use no small amount of luck to survive encounters. Each is unique and proves themselves capable in a number of different ways. The puzzles of the game also require a similar level of dedication, dashing at the right moment to pass over a spiked path that, moments before, skewered enemies to the ceiling.

Of the most important part of Hyper Light Drifter is found in its music. A soundtrack that accurately compliments the surroundings of the game world, the tempo changing in places to emphasize a change in the environment a new enemy type showing up or a boss entering the fray. Its uncommon in games nowadays for music to so properly fit a scene, sometimes games go out of their way to point out this difference by being not so subtle and adding in music that doesn’t gel with the situation. HLD sews the music in with its environment’s making the whole experience cohesive and natural.    

Enter The World

Information is given to you in the form of npc’s showing you particular pictures either of the bosses of the area your in or of the events that lead them to the city. They don’t speak or they do in a sense but its intelligible, in this game pictures really do tell a thousand words.

Finding bits, the currency by which you either purchase items or abilities, is a matter of scouring each area with a fine tooth comb; sometimes making you dash over an invisible floor panel that can lead you to another room or a piece of scenery hiding a hidden path. The risk is in the reward. What you chose to use those bits for however is a troublesome exercise as you have so very few to play around with and all the while you have the inevitable task of seeking out more once you’ve spent them.

The npc’s don’t leave much of an impression upon you aside from maybe the second drifter who appears at points, proving himself an adroit warrior and giving you hints on where to go next.

The scenery of HLD gives hints to the past while also being exceptionally well crafted. Each point of the map coloured differently, a herculean corpse sprawled out across the landscape providing a glimpse into a much older massacre at the hands of an unknown force. Its these things that give the barest glimpses of what Hyper Light Drifter hides expertly, a story untold a mystery unsolved. Only we are left to piece it together in our own way.

The drifter can be changed as well finding costume sets that alter the appearance of his cloak, sword and companion, allowing you to change one piece of equipment while leaving the others the same. But finding these costumes is another part of HLD’s difficulty, each one proving as much or even more of a challenge than the bosses you face.

Sometimes its difficult to take in the shear beauty of HLD seeing as there is always so much going on but in those moments when you do you can truly see the love of a generation raised on snes come to life around you.

The Answer

Hyper Light Drifter stands out firmly showing its strengths and weakness in equal measure because it can afford to. The ultimate ending of the game leaves a lot unanswered, including the fate of our hero. Its telling that he is afflicted with a disease as Alex Preston, the developer, was born with heart problems (hence the studio name Heart Machine) so this is very much a personal story for both of them.

The ambiguity of the game though is what drives it forward, the want for you to know more even if its only a small bit of information is what makes the game enjoyable in the first place. The knowledge of finding a path, that sense of direction where other players will get lost these things define Hyper Light Drifter cementing it as a true throwback to older games and almost certainly will become an indie classic.