Hyper Light Drifter manages to condense solid gameplay and fast paced combat into a neat 8 – 10-hour package (add a couple more if your fussed about finding all the hidden outfits and extras), delivering a solid, streamlined and enjoyable action-RPG experience, definitely one that shouldn’t be missed.The Joint Aerosol- Monsoon Experiment: A New Challenge to Monsoon Climate ResearchĪerosol and monsoon related droughts and floods are two of the most serious environmental hazards confronting more than 60% of the population of the world living in the Asian monsoon countries. What information there is to be gleaned from the well-directed cut scenes is enough to entertain, while a suitably atmospheric accompanying score is a more than worthy replacement for words in most cases, helping to deliver some powerful imagery. All that’s clear is that things are not right in the land, and you as the player are the person to set things straight, despite battling an unnamed illness. This may be a deal breaker for some, but personally it’s nice to see a game for once not undoing its own sense of mystery and intrigue by explaining things too much. Knowing the game works as a metaphor for creator Alex Preston’s heart condition does add depth to proceedings, and gives the seemingly un-killable shadow-creature haunting the footsteps of the protagonist more sombre undertones - but as far as the in-game story goes, it’s open to interpretation.
As was mentioned earlier, Hyper Light Drifter is decidedly lacking in the script department. Much like boss fights, coming out on top in these moments can be very rewarding, and the game does well to make you feel like a proper bad-ass thanks to a nice little animation after victory.
Taking on the game’s standard enemies is by no means less enjoyable, although sometimes things can get a little overwhelming when you encounter the horde mode like set pieces and the screen is filled with multiple enemies at once, each launching a variety of attacks. Whittling down the sizeable health bars and eventually landing the final blow after a particularly gruelling fight is very satisfying, and makes all the failed endeavours leading up to victory feel worthwhile. Some were markedly easier to beat than others, but for the most part it’ll take more than a few attempts in order to learn each bosses’ attacks and how best to counter them. Approaching each fight for the first time is exciting, but is best treated as more of a recon than a serious attempt to emerge victorious. If you become tired of the flooded lands to the east and its ninja star throwing, giant frog occupiers, then you can always head north to a more mountainous land for some battles with vulture creatures. Maybe it’s my poor navigational skills, but finding the last elusive module was often just a case of wandering around in the hope I would eventually stumble upon it.īeing able tackle the lands in any order you wish helps keep things from growing stale or repetitive, however. The vague map isn’t much help, and as a result it’s easy to end up going in circles, which can quickly get frustrating. Some modules require convoluted journeys in order to locate them, leading you through dungeon-like underground sections made of multiple levels. Fittingly for a title that brings up memories of early Zelda games, all the action takes place from a top down perspective. Visually, the game manages to feel paradoxically both futuristic and old-timey at once, with the architecture, weapons and clothing a bit of a mash-up between Destiny, Princess Mononoke and Star Wars.Įxploring the game’s open world is also evocative of A link to the Past the landscapes, map layout and central town all reminiscent of Nintendo’s classic adventure. There’s even couch co-op for up to two players. That’s not to say the game is lacking in content – far from it – there’s a hidden horde mode to unlock, alternate outfits to find, and the New Game+ mode offered up after completion doubles down on the difficulty by halving your max health, meaning there’s plenty of replay value to be had. There’s no mountains of loot to clog up your inventory, or pages of lore to read up on, there’s not even any dialogue, let alone branching conversation options - and quite frankly, it’s a little refreshing. Hyper Light Drifter is an action-RPG unburdened by tropes of the genre present in many of its AAA brethren.
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