Hyper Light Drifter

[Metro]

7 hours to complete? Bundle fodder.

 

[toro]

Finished it. Took me 13h.

From which the last boss took me 2h. And probably another 2h for backtracking. The game is very hard with KB + M (at least the last boss). You have to synchronize your character movement/actions with the mouse cursor (which is next to invisible).

Found a lot of secrets but I gave up in the end and I just wanted to finish the game (I started losing attention while backtracking for secrets).

Anyway, the game is good. Abilities and gear upgrades are really important and they allow for different tactical approaches in battles. Surprising for such a "shallow" game.

On the other hand NG+ is retarded. The player only has 2 squares of health. In most cases that means death in one hit (there are fights with 10+ opponents and one will hit you somehow). I'm not aware of other differences.

In the end I'm not sure that is worth the full price, depends on your mood. But the game and the KS campaign are a success. Kudos to the devs.

 

[Ent]

2 hp? wut? Man all I want from a new game + mode is all my equipment and possibly harder encounters. I do agree that the combat gets really good once you unlock some moves especially when you get into using thrusts to bounce enemies of walls and each other and using animation cancelling with gunplay.

 

[toro]

2 hp? wut? Man all I want from a new game + mode is all my equipment and possibly harder encounters. I do agree that the combat gets really good once you unlock some moves especially when you get into using thrusts to bounce enemies of walls and each other and using animation cancelling with gunplay.

Yeah. The game is basically the same in ng+.

More info from reddit:
"The black outfit is forced on you for ng+;"
"You have all movement and sword upgrades, but need to buy the others."

Edit: There are a couple of bosses which do 2 squares damage. So, NG+ is kind of lame.

 

[Hobo Elf]

The reaction to this game is a lot more negative than what I had thought it would be. I hear there's a lot of disappointment going around, especially at the lack of any of the stretch goals being implemented, or any of the backer boss fights being included. I had a feeling that the game was going to be unfinished when they announced that they were dropping the RPG mechanics because "it didn't fit the game". The reasoning seemed kinda flimsy and the true reason was probably because they didn't want to spend time balancing the game.

 

[Villagkouras]

Just started it. I don't mind pixel art generally, but here the graphics could have been better/clearer. Like Titan Souls for example.

 

[toro]

The reaction to this game is a lot more negative than what I had thought it would be. I hear there's a lot of disappointment going around, especially at the lack of any of the stretch goals being implemented, or any of the backer boss fights being included. I had a feeling that the game was going to be unfinished when they announced that they were dropping the RPG mechanics because "it didn't fit the game". The reasoning seemed kinda flimsy and the true reason was probably because they didn't want to spend time balancing the game.

The main story might be unfinished but I wouldn't know because I did not understand it.

However the game doesn't feel unfinished and the combat is balanced. Honestly, the complains are unfounded.

The devs probably spent the KS money and they had to release something. Of course, they cut some content.

 

[pakoito]

Aren't you sure those boss fights aren't behind any of the locked doors? So far I've found a couple. Exploration by wallhugging is okay, but there are also a couple of hidden switches, platforms, and drops you have to look out for. It's not the first time I believe I'm taking a detour for a merchant and end up in an area with one of the triangles.

 

[toro]

Aren't you sure those boss fights aren't behind any of the locked doors? So far I've found a couple. Exploration by wallhugging is okay, but there are also a couple of hidden switches, platforms, and drops you have to look out for. It's not the first time I believe I'm taking a detour for a merchant and end up in an area with one of the triangles.

A couple of bosses are hidden or optional.

Spoiler

I killed 3 (East, West and North) + 4 in South + 1 final boss which is like 8 bosses.

I just checked wiki and it seems I missed one in the North part. He is also hidden behind a door.

 

[DwarvenFood]

Any chance on more content being released later on ? That, and sucky KB controls are kind of preventing my purchase. Otherwise I'll just wait for a proper sale.

 

[toro]

Any chance on more content being released later on ? That, and sucky KB controls are kind of preventing my purchase. Otherwise I'll just wait for a proper sale.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1661802484/hyper-light-drifter/posts/1534048

We did miss some things, for different reasons:

• Coop: we made a hard decision very late in production that it was just too unstable to ship with this feature. We plan to tackle this soon, and if we do end up with a great version of it, will release it down the line as a free patch for everyone. It requires a fair amount of play testing and bug fixing that just wasn't possible within our timeline.
• Online Challenge mode: this is nightmare feature to implement. We decided to avoid delaying the game any further and drop any network integration. We feel it was the best call, as we have seen other games get delayed by months for a feature that is not vital to the core experience.

There is no direct confirmation for additional content at this moment.

 

[Ent]

They are adding that co op mode for sure. I think they might also be adding the backer based stuff and additional areas later - but not certain at all. I haven't had a problem with keyboard and mouse - I switched tab and space while configuring my controls and it was so much better for me. The main problem I have control wise is that the reticle to aim the dash and direct my character is too light - I lose track of it in big fights and when the background has a lot of white in it like the northern area.
Also keyboard and mouse controls makes one of the challenges later on trivially easy.

 

[toro]

They are adding that co op mode for sure. I think they might also be adding the backer based stuff and additional areas later - but not certain at all. I haven't had a problem with keyboard and mouse - I switched tab and space while configuring my controls and it was so much better for me. The main problem I have control wise is that the reticle to aim the dash and direct my character is too light - I lose track of it in big fights and when the background has a lot of white in it like the northern area.
Also keyboard and mouse controls makes one of the challenges later on trivially easy.

Yep. That was my issue as well.

 

[pakoito]

Game completed, not in a very completionisty way but I'd gotten like 20/32 crystals.

The game because significantly easier after obtaining a couple of updates to combat and dash I'd initially skipped. Final boss included.

 

[toro]

The story concept was inspired by lead developer Alex Preston's heart disease

 

[Shadowfang]

The story concept was inspired by lead developer Alex Preston's heart disease

He stated during the Kickstarter that there was some parallelism between him and the Drifter.
I guess the NG+ with the 2 health bits are also part of this. A sickness that weakened him and made life challenger but still worth living.
The company name is also heart machine.

I am trying to get everything in this first playthrough and there is something i haven't understood yet.
There are some red pillars, that turn green once you shoot them, and usually unlock a path, but there also others that look more robust, emit a sound when shot but don't switch colours and don't seem to do anything.
Any tips on how i can activate them?

 

[pakoito]

They're sound-activated. Cough very loudly on your computer's microphone.

 

[toro]

The story concept was inspired by lead developer Alex Preston's heart disease

He stated during the Kickstarter that there was some parallelism between him and the Drifter.
I guess the NG+ with the 2 health bits are also part of this. A sickness that weakened him and made life challenger but still worth living.
The company name is also heart machine.

I am trying to get everything in this first playthrough and there is something i haven't understood yet.
There are some red pillars, that turn green once you shoot them, and usually unlock a path, but there also others that look more robust, emit a sound when shot but don't switch colours and don't seem to do anything.
Any tips on how i can activate them?

Shoot them with the laser gun.

 

[toro]

Once you find all the modules from one area you can open a special door which requires all of them.

Let's just say that the fights behind those doors are boss-like.

 

[pakoito]

Is the extra content worth it? I'd rather drop the game now and go back to my other weekend stuff.

 

[Shadowfang]

I doubt it.

I'm starting to hate these dash challenges. Chanining those firsts dashes can sometimes be a nightmare. Sometimes i can do it without a sweat and then others it seems my fingers forgot all about it.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

From a game design perspective, this game is making me think of real-time DROD with twitch gameplay elements thrown in.

Turn-based DROD is enough already, so pass.

 

[pakoito]

What game now?

 

[Cowboy Moment]

Crooked Bee, this seems like it would be right up your alley, given that it's a bit like Swords and Sworcery with much better art and exploration, and with Ys-like combat (though the actual combat design is much worse than the best of Ys). Also no horribly pretentious writing.

 

[Siveon]

What game now?

https://af.gog.com/game/drod_1_2_3?as=1649904300

Puzzle series, that I'm pretty sure Unkillable Cat (or some other Codexer) marathoned through. From the impressions of this thread I don't think HLD is as nearly as long or as puzzle-centric.

But like in DROD the enemies have specific patterns. Which may be the main tie? I'm just spit balling here.