Two years ago when Hyper Light Drifter was announced for PS4 and Vita, I was hyped since I am a sucker for pixel art games. The option to play it on the go made it my most anticipated game. However, as we all know. the Vita and WiiU versions were cancelled, and since I didn’t have a PS4, it’s a game that I stopped paying attention to. Now, ever since the Nintendo Switch was released, we as owners were clamoring for a port. Since the character’s appeared in the party fighting game Brawlout, we wanted it even more. So, logically our request was approved since Hyper Light Drifter is now Nintendo Switch, and I couldn’t be happier because the wait was worth it.
In Hyper Light Drifter Special Edition, we play as the Drifter, a skilled warrior who suffers from a strange disease in a quest for answers (at least I feel this way) in a post apocalyptic world full of mysteries and unique characters. One of the things that surprised me the most is how Hyper Light Drifter tells its story. This is a game that doesn’t have any dialog boxes in any way. Instead, it takes a different approach in story telling. The story is being shown to the player in short cut scenes and pictures that in a way show what happened to the world and why is in its current state. Why is the drifter sick? Who is the black dog, and what is his involvement in the story? What is the meaning of the flashbacks? Those are legitimate questions that you can get answers to as you play through the game.
After being saved by a masked warrior, your adventure starts. In the starter town, you can see all kinds of inhabitants, but you cannot interact with them except for the ones that have speech bubbles. When you do, you can get a snippet of that particular character’s story, all told through images. There are also facilities that you can visit to learn sword skills, dash skills, gun, and drone skills. However, you cannot get them right away since you need a special type of currency: gear bits, which are scattered through the world. These are essential to survive all dangers that lurk in it. Some are dropped by enemies and bosses. Others are hidden. Normally, you need three complete gears to purchase a skill. The gears are made from four gear bits, so you need twelve to get a skill.
Now one thing that shines here is the combat. You use your sword with Y. With B, you do a dash (you are invincible during it, and it can be upgraded). With X, your drone interacts with objects (to get first aid skills, open doors get gear bits). A is for changing weapons (guns). L is for healing. R is for special (bomb). ZL is for aiming, and ZR to shoot. Another novelty is how the guns work. They have limited ammo, so once you use all your shots, it’s over. But when you attack, you can refill the ammo again, so attacking, shooting, and such can be achieved, giving you endless combo potential. The drone is not just for decoration purposes as explained above. It allows you to interact with objects and for healing, but it also gives you hints whenever you are close to a invisible platform. You can go through (you can “jump” through platforms and holes with the dash), so it’s a helpful companion in your adventure.
Graphically, Hyper Light Drifter looks amazing. I really like how detailed everything is. The top down view makes me remember games like A Link to the Past, and like the aforementioned, it is full of secrets and cool things to find. I like how you can encounter skeletons through out the game. It really makes you feel that something terrible happened, and that most of humanity was wiped out.
I like the progression pace, since you need to find certain amount of modules to open the door to get to the boss of each region. From snowy mountains to water palaces, there are a lot of contrasts. I applaud the developers for giving us Switch owners the chance to play this. The bosses are unique and are hard as nails. Just the first one, the Bird King, made me swea,t so if you like challenge you will find it. I also like that in each area you can find a denizen that through images can tell you want happened (the one in the water palace like area made me shiver), so you can get a context of what to do to set things right.
The music is AMAZING! I love how when you are approaching a point of interest (for example, the giant remains hugging the snow mountain), it starts playing louder like to make you aware of where you are. Kind of like “stop and admire this world where you are.” It is something that left a huge impression on me.
In this Special Edition, there are weapons and suits not seen on other versions. These can make the progression a little easier. Since I like challenging games, I personally didn’t use them, but it’s nice that they are there.
Bottom Line: Hyper Light Drifter Special Edition is a superb game that shows that even on this day and age, pixel art is still relevant. The game provides a great battle system, tons of unlockables, and secrets with great music and challenging, but oh so satisfying game play. It is a game that I highly recommend. Honestly, stop wasting time and purchase it. The Drifter Legend is waiting to unfold!
A copy of this game was provided by the developer for this review.