Still, I left the town and headed eastward, arriving in a watery region with pristine white architecture where samurai frogs had been torturing and beheading a populace of rabbits.Ī small carnivorous plant popped out of the ground and I had my first taste of combat it's relatively simple in terms of mechanics, though punishing. No matter which direction I went in I found the ensuing screen wasn’t where I’d imagined it would be based on the map, particularly when verticality is involved, and coupling this with a game designed around collectibles made for some tedious moments. At ten minutes in, and for the rest of this playthrough, I found it unbearably frustrating trying to place myself on the world map at times.
It’s a show don’t tell game in the strongest sense, with no dialogue and a reliance on evocative, violent imagery to craft purpose and spur you onwards.Īfter this cutscene our nomadic avatar wakes in a town, akin to Pokémon, with shops that you can’t buy anything from (yet) and a world map that leans too far into style – lots of diamonds again – over substance. But it does speak to the presentation of Hyper Light Drifter’s narrative as a whole. Why diamonds are important isn’t really explained during this cutscene, nor does it necessarily need to be. The central hub has a big diamond on the floor, the symbiotic reoccurring end-boss has a diamond on its shadowy head, the core collectables are pink diamonds trapped in containers in the floor. Diamonds are everything to Hyper Light Drifter. It’s during this cutscene we learn the importance of diamonds. The introductory cutscene, much like those aforementioned screenshots, is a thing of pure grace a piece of animation so standout it could be projected onto a cinema screen and result in only a couple of patrons shuffling uncomfortably in their seats. Now out on the Switch, and in the nether-realm of the coronavirus lockdown, I felt it time to give Hyper Light Drifter a look. But since then, it's felt as if few people refer back to Heart Machine’s ambitious debut, at least not the way they do of other indie success stories that year like Firewatch, Stardew Valley and The Witness.
The intricate pixel art and moody, synthwave colour palette are what made the Zelda-inspired adventure stand out during the build to its 2016 release. I challenge anyone to glance at a screenshot of Hyper Light Drifter and not have their curiosity piqued. Only the very best titles will stand up to scrutiny today. Brutal Backlog is a semi-regular feature where the JDR team play through some of the unplayed games on their shelves (both digital and physical), disregarding their age or the technical limitations of their era.
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