4.5/5 ★ – RossMc's review of Hyper Light Drifter.

At first I thought I would be bored after 20 minutes of playing, the combat seemed basic and boring and I thought it would be just the same sword and pistol combo the whole time. How wrong I was. The game does an amazing job of revealing things to you over time, but not in a clear way. It relies on the intelligence of the player to figure out what is going on, because nothing is explained other than giving a general direction of where you need to go. But eventually you start figuring out what the main objectives are, where to look to find secrets in the world, and what the items you collect do. There are a handful of collectibles and each one is a mystery until you happen upon an area where its function is made clear. For example, the yellow currencies build up over time, but I did not realize they were used to buy upgrades until returning to the village after the first boss. The exploration is very enjoyable, however I think it becomes a bit too easy to find everything when you realize the trick. Most of the hidden things are just a matter of looking for a symbol on the ground to indicate invisible walkways or a platform out of sight. Although I say that and I missed a bunch of collectibles on my first go through. Also, it would be nice if there was a better in game way to track items found that makes it easy to go through and get the things you missed. The only thing that is marked clearly are the 8 nodes per area. I wish there was a way to easily find where I am missing keys and the yellow gear currency, as well as a way to mark doors that I have not opened, since it can be hard to remember where they are after the fact. The world is also beautifully done in pixel art. Each area has an interesting color palette and regional style that makes them distinct, and they also have unique enemies to each area that provide a steadily increasing challenge that requires you to alter your combat a bit. Finally, the combat feels simple but fun. Each hit with the sword gives a little screen shake and feedback so they feel powerful but quick. The weapons you unlock also give some strategy to how you want to approach fights. I wish there was more upgrades available for them besides bigger ammo capacity though. This ended up being a great surprise and high on my list of the games I've played this year. Among my favorite indies for sure, and I hope I find time for more playthroughs in the future, to collect everything and maybe a speedrun.