Hyper Light Drifter Review

First off, what a mistake I have made by not playing Hyper Light Drifter until 2022. Hyper Light Drifter came out in 2016 from Heart Machine, a small indie studio from the LA that consisted of around 15 people at the time of the games release.

What I didn’t realize was until now thanks to the new docu-series from Noclip is that Heart Machine is a breath of fresh air in an industry that can be toxic and unsustainable. Heart Machine was also founded by Alx Preston who was born with a heart condition that has required open heart surgery at a young age. Rather than focus on limitation, Alx has tried to embrace every single day and the people that he has surrounded himself with at Heart Machine are a very diverse and passionate group that want to enjoy life but make some cool games in the process. Here is our six year late review of Hyper Light Drifter

Not Your Average Drifter

Playing Hyper Light Drifter in 2022, you can see the influence that the game has had on the industry. Hades for example not only has a similar dash and attack mechanic but it also at the beginning of each run you can look out into the deep depths to get a sense of scale from the edge of a cliff. In Death’s Door you need to attack close range to fill your long range energy meter, and in Tunic you find yourself a stranger in a foreign land with symbols and language that you don’t understand. Hyper Light Drifter predates all of these games and features all of these elements.

What hooks me in the most about Hyper Light Drifter is how much it feels like a perfect blend of Zelda and Metroid. Never judge a book by its cover because even though it may look like an action adventure style game, it feels much more like Metroid than anything else. The world is foreign, the atmosphere is desolate, and you feel isolated. Continuing down the Metroid path, HLD features no dialogue or even one written word

You find yourself in the middle of this unknown world and it becomes clear quickly that you need to find four parts of something, which is unmistakenly a representation of the four chambers of a heart.

The balance of the information the game relays to you is through audio, which is spearheaded by an amazing soundtrack that keeps exploring fun but also lets you know when you are in the right area or going in the right direction. The audio also has the power to elevate story moments by knowing when to turn the music completely off, leaving only silence that is broken by the wind and footsteps.

Movement is the beating heart of HLD with a warp ability and with a less than perfect execution of this ability, the game wouldn’t work, especially with the level design where you constantly find yourself trying to warp from one tight platform area to the next. Luckily, HLD has a sticky system built in that will stop you from going over the edge when your close but only for a moment, continue to approach the edge without caution and you will go over. It also has sticky system built in when warping to small platforms, eliminating a lot of frustration without removing the challenge.

Heart Attack-tical

It may appear to be a very hack and slash type game but combat is much more tactical. Your main attack is melee with your energy sword, but attacking from your sword you also gain bullets for your ranged weapon, that begins as a basic pistol but get upgraded throughout, which creates an interesting dynamic between deciding when to get in close and when to attack from a distance. Rely too much on long range and you will be forced to get up close and personal.

The 16 bit pixel art style feels inspired but there are a few areas that feel limited by this choice. These are rare occurrences but sometimes when you are looking for hidden paths or the right direction to go it can be slightly difficult. There can also sometimes be enemies that are hidden under the brush giving you zero ability to see them.

Usually, it’s just one hit from your health but sometimes thats all you have left which can lead to frustration because you had no opportunity to defend yourself. Luckily, there is a great checkpoint system that starts you fairly close to where you died with no penalty.

At first, HLD doesn’t click right away. You arent sure where you should be going first and what exactly you are looking for, but the farther your journey takes you the harder the game becomes to put down. Creating a world like HLD that makes you want to explore every nook and cranny is a testament to Heart Machine and their skill because this is all done without a single line of dialogue or even a single written word.

Hyper Light Breaker

As the credits rolled, the feeling that remained was that this world is once that is begging to be explored and that is exactly what Heart Machine will do with Hyper Light Breaker, which is due out in 2023.