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Author Topic: Hyper Light Drifter  (Read 1640 times)

Jopax

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Hyper Light Drifter
« on: April 01, 2016, 06:50:47 am »

So I searched for a thread on this and it appears I made one when the game was on KS three years ago.

So let's not necro that and instead start fresh.

What is it?

Well it's a pixelart top down exploration RPG in the style of Zelda. Now, while I'm slightly sick and tired of all the pixealrt games that have come out in the past few years (the style has seriously been worked to death imho) I'm giving this one a pass because it's so god damn well done and beautiful that I'm having trouble being annoyed at it.

Oh yeah, there's a release trailer too.

I haven't played it just yet, but I should within the next couple of days, so expect a writeup of sorts.
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Vilanat

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Re: Hyper Light Drifter
« Reply #1 on: April 01, 2016, 07:47:52 am »

When a game manages to inspire a trend of art style even before it gets released, it says something really good about the game.

I'll await your gamey verdict though, since i am not a huge action games fan and buying it for the art alone is not something i'll do while at full price.
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Nighthawk

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Re: Hyper Light Drifter
« Reply #2 on: April 01, 2016, 08:53:16 am »

It looks pretty solid from the trailer, but whether the gameplay holds up under close inspection remains to be seen. I, too, will be eagerly awaiting firsthand opinions from a Bay12er.
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Drakale

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Re: Hyper Light Drifter
« Reply #3 on: April 01, 2016, 09:05:53 am »

Played it a bit.

The game is fairly solid, I would say it's similar to nuclear throne in controls and gameplay style. The actual game world is more of a Zelda/Castlevania style of progression. There are upgrades to buy and lots of hidden passages/secrets.

Difficulty is pretty good, again similar to nuclear throne, but it's not a permadeath game(thankfully).

Big fan of the animated sequences, really nice. The in game sprite are good but can get confusing, especially with the omnipresent screen-shake. I really wish there was a way to tone it down, there is a particular boss where it's especially annoying.

I had a few bugs where I could walk through walls and get stuck in terrain, also one crash. Other than that no real problem.

I like it and it's definitely worth the price imo.
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ZeroGravitas

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Re: Hyper Light Drifter
« Reply #4 on: April 01, 2016, 09:16:50 am »

When a game manages to inspire a trend of art style even before it gets released, it says something really good about the game.

Or maybe just the game's art style...?

It does look gorgeous and I'm looking forward to playing it. So many games, so little time... still haven't even gotten to Nuclear Throne, now that someone mentions it.
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Jopax

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Re: Hyper Light Drifter
« Reply #5 on: April 01, 2016, 09:33:10 am »

I too gave it a quick whirl. Played about 30 minutes maybe. The combat is fun for the most part, lots of cool dodging and zipping around, using the sword to charge up the gun. Can't wait to see some more weapons and stuff. I also love both the music and the sense of exploration and discovery, almost no text or speech is present and as you travel around the area it really does feel like a very rich world and you're just barely scracthing the surface.

That said, I have a few nitpicks, mainly the way the aim seems to be off when using the mouse. The gun doesn't actually fire at the cursor but slightly above it, which can be annoying until you learn to compensate for it. Also I'd love it if the dashing was done in the direction of movement, not towards your cursor, since I keep dying stupid deaths by dashing into melee range instead of away from it when trying to gun down some of the more annoying enemies (those fucking shroom ninjas are assholes).

But yeah, so far so good, will post as I get into it more.
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sambojin

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Re: Hyper Light Drifter
« Reply #6 on: April 01, 2016, 04:22:15 pm »

Here's about a 40min Let's Play by Sleep Cycles (who does plenty of Nuclear Throne as well). It gives you a good idea of what the game is about, with a bit of faffing around in between, and quite a few deaths.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zG9RZ-gFGCQ
« Last Edit: April 01, 2016, 04:24:01 pm by sambojin »
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sambojin

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Re: Hyper Light Drifter
« Reply #7 on: April 01, 2016, 08:08:04 pm »

Broken good (infinite 1-frame auto-aim shooting attacks), or broken bad (yes, you can walk on water, but you can't interact with switches/elevators either)?
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Frumple

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Re: Hyper Light Drifter
« Reply #8 on: April 01, 2016, 09:15:08 pm »

Checking a few vids... actually kinda' turned off by the art style, which makes the praise for it kinda' odd t'me. Mostly because I'm mildly fed up with the style itself, I think -- it's been around a lot over the last few years*, and it's always felt just kinda'... messy, to me. Distracting, hard to notice things, etc., etc. Could mostly handle risk of rain, but that was honestly because most of the scenery wasn't destructible. Not a dealbreaker, but I'd definitely prefer something more Secret of Mana instead of galaga bukkake or whatever they're calling this stuff.

Gameplay itself also looks kinda' floaty, and the melee emphasis seems... unpleasant. I wouldn't say it's bad without trying it, but the LPs and whatnot have definitely turned me away from wanting to get the game.

S'almost unfortunate, as I can definitely see why people would like it, too. Just not for me, heh.

*Hell, longer than that -- I think the earliest I can recall that was meaningfully well known was probably Flashback, back in '92. Somewhat different in regards to scenery, but how it handled characters and movement were damn close, imo. Lot of the even older stuff -- atari and whatnot -- seems to be pretty obvious influences, too. It just wasn't used quite as often back then as it seems to be now. I guess things have come full circle -- what was once a system limitation is now a stylistic affectation...
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Folly

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Re: Hyper Light Drifter
« Reply #9 on: April 01, 2016, 11:41:01 pm »

Added to my steam wishlist, where it will sit for a few months or years until it goes on sale and I impulse buy, so it can sit in my library with all the other retro games that I'm saving for a rainy day that will probably never come.
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