The gaming industry has made a strong shift towards “casual” games lately – titles that don’t require that much skill from their players and sometimes even “hold the hand” of the person behind the keyboard. And while this has had a huge positive impact on the popularity of gaming as a hobby, it has come at a price – many old-school gamers are disappointed with the current state of the industry and the general lack of any properly challenging titles.
Because of this, a release like “Hyper Light Drifter” is always a refreshing sight, and it didn’t take long for the game to get noticed. Both gamers as well as professional critics have been very fond of what the title has to offer, and even though its difficulty might be a little over the top for some, others have found the game’s style a refreshing change.
The game requires a lot of repetition – those who’ve played titles like “Dark Souls” will find themselves right at home retrying a segment over and over again until they get it right. There are no cheats, no obvious easy tricks to glide through the levels, a player has to really put their reflexes to good use if they want to succeed here.
It’s not just about the challenge imposed by gameplay mechanics though – the game has been described as somewhat confusing in its style, prompting players to always wonder what’s going on around them and how to interpret the events of the game’s world. Everything is depicted with a hint of surrealism, and it can take a while to get used to this style of presentation. Many agree that the developers have outdone themselves in this regard, and the artistic component of “Hyper Light Drifter” frequently gets pointed out in a positive context.
Animation plays a vital role in the game too, and the developers obviously realized that well enough when they came up with their art style. Some critics have pointed out that screenshots of this game don’t really do it justice, as they can never depict the amazing, lively way in which everything comes together.
Not everyone has been so positively charged about the game though. Some players claim to outright not “get it”, despite giving it a chance – a reaction which is completely expected for a title like this. It’s not the first time we’ve seen such a response to a more art-heavy game, as for example Phil Fish’s “Fez” was also a highly polarizing release. The game managed to attract a large following of fans, but there are also plenty of people who claim that it was pretentious and not deserving of its fame.
It didn’t take long for gamers to start releasing compilations of tips and guides for “Hyper Light Drifter”, addressing some of the more difficult components of the game. There is a lot of useful information out there for those feeling stuck, and there are entire communities of fans ready to help each other out with special bits of advice.
But in the end, this is the kind of game that’s best played without outside assistance. Experiencing the journey of “Hyper Light Drifter” by oneself is something highly recommended for gamers who’ve been feeling bored with the overall state of the industry lately, and it’s advised that players seek external help only if they’re feeling truly stuck. But even then, it can often pay off to explore a bit more and poke around for a potential solution before giving up and heading to the Internet.