Hyper Light Drifter (2016)

Usually, when I am really interested in the game, I try to go to the end, no matter how difficult it is. And even if it is simply not suitable for gameplay and difficulties, I try to achieve the ending, so that it can proudly put on a shelf of complex games. But I understand that you can tell about an interesting product, even having a loss behind your back and without reaching your own to the end. Having been brewing for a long time in an interesting mysterious lore, juicy graphics and bewitching battles I can evaluate the cons and pros and pros. And undoubtedly, to recommend this game to you, since it will definitely become for someone beloved or just entertaining experience.

This gaming adventure will be unforgettable, even if you drop the game by the results. Awesome and juicy pixel art, a well-suitable and atmospheric soundtrack, fascinating complex battles and non-trivial ambiguous narrative. Here are just some advantages for which you can immerse yourself with your head in the game.

Yes, significant disadvantages and inconvenience in passage can be pushed away from the complete completion of the game, like me. However, at the same time, one can appreciate an interesting story, which I really want to figure out. And who knows, maybe you can understand the mysterious encrypted letters on monoliths, which are as old as this fantasy world.

Today I suggest you plunge into a destroyed post -apocalyptic world, full of danger, puzzles and many secret roads that you can independently explore in the role of an nameless tramp, whose heart is uneven, but bravely beats in your chest.

"Hyper Light Drifter" – two -dimensional game in the genre Action/RPG, which was developed and published by the studio Heart Machine March 31, 2016. In general, the game was planned 2 years earlier, however, due to health problems of the main developer and a large number of improvements, the premiere had to be postponed. The creator of the game himself is very interesting. Let’s get acquainted with him in the next block of the article.

From the first minutes, the game attracts attention with its very high-quality pixel art and cat-scenes, made in the spirit of 8- and 16-bit virtual adventures, mysterious narrative without words and atmospheric deep soundtrack. It will also be quite difficult game experience, so if you are not ready to clean one location several times in a row or waste time to find a new loophole on the map, perhaps the game will seem to you boring. In turn, you will not feel that she behaves with you dishonestly. There are no invincible bosses or impassable locations with awards made only to tease players. Everything is passable, just for this you need a little more patience and enthusiasm.

Despite the high complexity of the passage, an interesting main character with a direct allusion on the life story of the main creator, as well as a collapsing post -apocalyptic world, gives you an intrigue in you. You will definitely want to at least wander along a variety of locations and enjoy the atmosphere of the riddle of this world. Why is it destroyed? What is the main character looking here? What will its confrontation with the ancient evil lead and what the end this world awaits the end? The most interesting thing is that the game itself gives few answers to questions, or they are too blurry or not particularly informative. Until now, players in guides and video reviews interpret the plot differently and decipher the keys and riddles, which can be missed at the first passage. But maybe you can find a logical justification, because the ending of the game itself is ambiguous and only asks more intriguing questions.

Critics and reviewers of different game publishers accepted the game very positively. Highly appreciated by visual, musical accompaniment, worked out game world. They also praised the difficult passage and a variety of combat tactics, as it all makes the player think non -standard and use completely different and sometimes unexpected strategies in order to eventually achieve victory. For example, an American site with game licenses Polygon He called the game "Extremely complicated", claiming that she is “It requires the player what few games dare to ask for."

Of course, significant disadvantages that can inhibit the passage, but about them later. Even despite them, the game is recommended and called extremely high -quality.

Let’s get acquainted a little closer to the history of creating the game and the main developer who put in it a hidden subtext and literally a piece of his life in the main character.

The history of the creation

Alex Preston – The creator of the https://froggybet-casino.uk/mobile-app/ game scooped inspiration not only from classic The Legend of Zelda: A Link To the Past And Diablo, In order to combine an interesting and extensive study of the world using a player of various combat strategies, but also from his difficult physiological state. From birth, a men have a heavy ailment – a heart disease that can put a cross on a full -fledged life of a person. The author of the game shares that in early childhood he has already undergone an open heart, and at the moment he was installed a pacemaker. He also has violations of the digestive and endocrine system, is forced to observe a strict diet with daily medication.

In his twitter account, the developer openly shares details from his difficult life, despite this, he does not lose heart, because he is supported by his family, and enthusiasm is a work in which he can embody his fears and experiences.

Inspiration from its own difficult state is already noticeable in the name of his studio – "Heart Machine", as well as in the main character of his brainchild, who arrived in the destroyed world not so much to look for rare artifacts and study it, but how much to find a cure for his illness. After all, throughout the story, the hero periodically coughs blood, falls into fainting and sees hallucinations.

However, all this, of course, without tracking the game in the early stages of development and familiarization with the history of the throne simply in the narrative cannot be tracked. But the parallel itself is impressive, although some called this pressure on pity and attracting attention to the game only due to a sad story.

Alex worked as an animator for several years, and already in 2013 I decided to seriously take up Hyper Light Drifter. To do this, he collects not the latter in his team in the game industry: a programmer Boeu Blyite, creating a game Samurai Gunn And the musician Richard Vriland, better known under the pseudonym Disasterpeace, Soundtrack for the game Fez.

Fez

Samurai Gunn

Preston also created on the crowdfunding platform Kickstarter Boarding campaign for $ 27,000 for game development. The campaign turned out to be successful, the required amount was collected in the first day, and in order to encourage additional contributions, Preston added additional modes of the game, a larger number of bosses and characters, as well as release on a wide variety of consoles, in addition to the PC.

But in September 2016 The developer announced that for some reasons, the development team had to refuse to detect the game on the platform Wii U And PlayStation Vita. In return, he invited participants in the crowdfunding campaign to activate the game for other gaming systems as compensation, or make a refund. Alex Preston explained such a failure by the fact that the game would have to be rewritten from scratch. He was also worried about his own health and still made a choice in favor of treatment.

I am pleased that in such a situation where sometimes Napoleonic plans are not possible, the developer not only chooses his and so shaky condition, but also honestly tells the sponsors about the causes and offers solving the problem.

As you can see, the developer himself is very interesting. It is nice to see how a person even having serious health problems does not despair, but draws ideas and inspiration from his state to share the history of life through the game. Many people with similar experiences can find their reflection and motivation to continue the struggle for life, as well as the main nameless hero in a torn cloak and with an unshakable goal.

The structure of the game and the plot

The game begins with the show like sleep of the main face: the ancient monoliths, dotted with inscriptions, rush in front of the player; aggressively tuned titans that carry the world only destruction and death; The nameless hero himself, drowning in blood and losing a fight with unknown creatures. All this looks either as a terrible omen, or showing the events of the past, which is also not at all clear and not rosy.

The first playable location is a small camp of our tramp or Drifter, By the name of the game. Background and the surroundings are already amazing in their scale, grandeur. A small fire is diluted on the ledge, from which the hero can sit and bask. Below everything is flooded with water, and in the distance you can see the arches and rocks protruding from the water surface. Near the bonfire an incomprehensible building resembling an ancient idol. The rain covers the review, and the noise of the wind is perfectly blocked by a game soundtrack. It is in such a picturesque area that the tramp wokes up from sleep and does not stand on its feet.

From now on, the player will not be explained anything. Neither the background, nor a description of the world, nor even the name of the character, it can be called – a drifter, or a vagabond. And most importantly, when passing there will be no goals or an approximate direction – consider the whole world before the player, although it can be seen that it is touched and on the verge of destruction. The maximum on the map is given only approximate points where you can go and where the bosses are located. But, firstly, this practically does not help with orientation, and secondly, it makes some sense only when the drift reaches the nearest village, from where it will subsequently build the routes of its research expeditions.

At the very beginning, you can go intuitively, on the way, killing the first enemies with an energy sword and starting to plunge into the basics of local battles and elegant maneuvering. Near the hero all the time an incomprehensible small creature flies – our assistant. Who he is and how long it travels with the drifter is unknown, but he gives some tips how to get around this or that obstacle.

The goal of the drifter to the player at the first passage is completely not clear, as well as its origin. We see that he can sometimes feel bad, coughing with blood, while strong obstacles shake the game screen. It becomes more understandable when the player comes to a small settlement with peaceful NPS of different types. Here you can buy and pump skills, and also this place is the main point of teleportation, where you can quickly run away and completely restore health. This is very useful when you understand that you are no longer exporting in battle and you need to urgently regroup or pump skills in order to try to re -defeat the monster.

The first thing that catches the eye at the entrance to the village is an extensive scorched plateau in the middle of green grass in the form of a rhombus, each end of which is significantly pulsed. Definitely, something is missing here. Local residents will be ready to share short stories in the form of several pictures about the events of the past. But neither of them nor out of illegible speech of creatures is practically nothing clear. Only the map shows that the world consists of four zones, each of which has its own boss and energy blocks that need to be activated to fill the voids on the plateau in the center of the village. Why this is also not clear, but this is the superficial goal of the player. And here the freedom of choice is already given. It doesn’t matter which way the player will go in the first place, because the order here does not play a role at all.

It is also interesting that the game sectors are destroyed villages with aggressive inhabitants and monsters that remained in them, who immediately rush to the player. But in our main refuge, many similar species are quite calmly interacting with each other. At every new point, one of the local “tells” the story of the brutal attack of another settlement with the destruction of civilians. These pieces of mosaics, although very difficult, can be collected in a single story. But since the game is simply saturated with symbolism and ciphers, it will not be easy to do. A huge number of hiding places with local currency for buying skills are scattered across the map, as well as the place of finding the energy blocks themselves, which must be activated to promote the plot.

The main task of the player, which is quite obvious on the one hand to launch all power units, defeat the bosses and clash with the final evil in a fierce battle. But on the other hand, whether the player will be able to understand and accept such an ending is another question.

That I really liked it is that the ENT players are served and very veiled – through symbols and visual series – and so colorful and attractive. With the help of the design of the local and general style, interest in independent study is only heated. I can say from myself that apparently, such a genre does not quite suit me. Not really for me so open and free from the rules of the game, they say, do what you want, go wherever you want, go through the plot as you want. However, I can’t deny that such a presentation of basic actions perfectly develops the player’s memory and his ability to independently think up to the desired path of the plot.