Hyper light drifter review polygon upgrade#

This is due to a lack of finding the requisite scenarios that prepare you for them, or finding enough upgrades to make the battle less difficult. It's only the aforementioned 'open-world' that creates these 'unfair' type of encounters. For many bosses, patience is all but necessary for success and in many instances defeating them can be extremely difficult without some of the preferred upgrades. That is where the comparisons stop however as Hyper Light Drifter's combat isn't nearly as technical. Similarly like Dark Souls, learning enemies' attack patterns is equally important. In this sense it can be compared to the dodging in games such as the Dark Souls series.

Hyper light drifter review polygon upgrade#

Because physical attacks cannot be blocked (projectiles can be with an upgrade combined with a timed sword-swing), dashing is the way out of trouble, but also the means to initiating an attack. Hyper Light Drifter's dash is inarguably the most important ability to master. Dashing is the best defense and a highly important means of traversal. Hyper Light Drifter's main mechanics are a slashing sword, a sidearm and the ability to dash. Fortunately the controls are extremely tight, matching the fast-twitch button presses needed to be successful. It's not only the difficulty of individual enemies but it's the quantity of them all attacking during the same encounter that tests your abilities. Because of the mostly open exploration in Hyper Light Drifter, you will encounter areas with exponential increases in difficulty. It is possible to complete Hyper Light Drifter without ever upgrading your character or learning new skills, but even with doing so, the game can be extremely difficult.

It ends up being mostly inconsequential, the world and design are the real story here, and its exploration and unveiling is satisfying enough even if it's only small part of the total experience. Little plot is better than a terrible one. It's in this that Hyper Light Drifter doesn't inundate the player with needless narrative and instead leaves it up to interpretation. This is actually a fine way to present the game, as the influences of the 8 and 16-bit eras had mostly forgettable story telling. The world itself however is beautifully designed and it's the nuances it possesses that act as little breadcrumbs, and only that, hinting at a past world. What's not quite clear is what happened to the world and what part the Drifter plays in it. Throughout the world there are remnants of technology which the Drifter can utilize for upgrades and new abilities. This Drifter's struggle mirrors the one fought by Hyper Light Drifter's creator, Alex Preston who has a congential heart disorder.

The general idea is that your character is a 'Drifter' through this broken down world, trying to discover a cure to his terminal illness. The storytelling is very abstract in how it is presented. There is no dialog and during a playthrough you're not even guaranteed to uncover the subtle plot elements hidden throughout the world. Cutscenes are minimal and feature abstract visuals with little animation accompanied by music. Hyper Light Drifter's story is not easily discernible.