I just started Hyper Light Drifter after getting it cheap from a Humble Monthly a while back, and it's great! I love the look, and I'm a fan of the dash-heavy, crunchy combat with generous amounts of hitstop and screen shake for each impact. What I don't like is the map. Oh god, the map. This is likely to be a matter of opinion in the current era of less is more/minimalist/figure it out yourself games, but I can't stand how worthless the map is.
Map (click for link, it's huge)
The map lets you know how many major collectibles (modules) you've done for a region (8 modules each for East/North/West/South for 32 pieces), and it marks the ones you've already collected on the map. What it doesn't do is tell you anything about which doors you've gone into, elevators you've gone down (neither doors nor elevators are marked), gear bits (upgrade tokens) you have or haven't collected, or anything else. It's exacerbated by the map being split up into two layers - above ground and underground, with numerous elevators connecting the two.
Unfortunately, it's difficult to pinpoint which underground room lies underneath which above ground entrance, and things are exacerbated by the underground areas not being very interconnected, so if you want to get to a certain underground room, you'll have to squint at the map, try to figure out where the elevator corresponds to on ground level, and then take said elevator down. It doesn't help that your collected modules show up on both layers, which makes things even more confusing. The last map to drive me crazy was MMZX, which says something.
Other thoughts:
- It's difficult, and usually in a fair way. I think the controls are tight, but the split second delay between dashing and attacks can be frustrating when you're facing a large group of enemies and you can't sit still at all. The frequent checkpoints and quick reloads are appreciated, as I don't think I would've stuck with it if it had Souls-like drop shit on death.
- Speaking of large groups of enemies, there are some encounters that feel like bullshit when it combines a small arena and a ton of enemies. The lack of i-frames after being hit only compounds things. I feel that the combat is at its best when it gives you room to breath and dash in and out rather than feeling like a ship in a bullet hell shmup.
- The OST, though not especially melodic or memorable (to me, anyway), is perfect for the game's atmosphere. It also gets bonus points for always being on, even through deaths, loading screens, etc.
- It looks /so damn good/ on an OLED
- The Japanese box art by FE Awakening/Fates artist Yusuke Kozaki is god tier
I've only beaten the East boss so far, and I'm looking forward to playing more later!
Map (click for link, it's huge)
The map lets you know how many major collectibles (modules) you've done for a region (8 modules each for East/North/West/South for 32 pieces), and it marks the ones you've already collected on the map. What it doesn't do is tell you anything about which doors you've gone into, elevators you've gone down (neither doors nor elevators are marked), gear bits (upgrade tokens) you have or haven't collected, or anything else. It's exacerbated by the map being split up into two layers - above ground and underground, with numerous elevators connecting the two.
Unfortunately, it's difficult to pinpoint which underground room lies underneath which above ground entrance, and things are exacerbated by the underground areas not being very interconnected, so if you want to get to a certain underground room, you'll have to squint at the map, try to figure out where the elevator corresponds to on ground level, and then take said elevator down. It doesn't help that your collected modules show up on both layers, which makes things even more confusing. The last map to drive me crazy was MMZX, which says something.
Other thoughts:
- It's difficult, and usually in a fair way. I think the controls are tight, but the split second delay between dashing and attacks can be frustrating when you're facing a large group of enemies and you can't sit still at all. The frequent checkpoints and quick reloads are appreciated, as I don't think I would've stuck with it if it had Souls-like drop shit on death.
- Speaking of large groups of enemies, there are some encounters that feel like bullshit when it combines a small arena and a ton of enemies. The lack of i-frames after being hit only compounds things. I feel that the combat is at its best when it gives you room to breath and dash in and out rather than feeling like a ship in a bullet hell shmup.
- The OST, though not especially melodic or memorable (to me, anyway), is perfect for the game's atmosphere. It also gets bonus points for always being on, even through deaths, loading screens, etc.
- It looks /so damn good/ on an OLED
- The Japanese box art by FE Awakening/Fates artist Yusuke Kozaki is god tier
I've only beaten the East boss so far, and I'm looking forward to playing more later!
