Hyper Light Drifter is a game that's design is all around mystery and secrets.

It is kind of like if Link to the Past was a fast action dystopian sci fi game. The mechanics of HLD make use of the players wonder of the world to make them search out for its secrets, and provides rewards for this curiosity, and challenge. The game also provides itself at a difficulty at which the player's discovery of items unlocks new ways to approach more challenges in the game. It also speaks clearly to the player what will happen when you do something, and sets goals to you through visuals of what order in which the player does things, giving full freedom to what the player can choose as direction to play in. This game is also forgiving with death, which is a good feature considering how difficult the game can be at times for inexperienced players, while also allowing more advanced players to choose tougher challenges if they please through even intenser challenges, that are not necessary to complete the game. As through which, the sense of accomplishment is always present due to the varying visuals and challenges with each area presenting something different at good pacing. The most letdown part of the game play is backtracking through areas to get an item you couldn't get before (mainly because of a specific gun you need to open the path), and key cards that are strangely placed.
Sadly as well, this game suffers a bit in controls relating to the main mechanic/selling point of the game, drifting. While it works a lot of the time, it personally frustrates me in the following two scenarios:
1. Using chain dashing in areas you will get hurt in, making a mistake, then having to try again.
2. Trying to dash by an enemy, it not working or you getting stuck on the enemy, then dying (especially with west boss).
During the northern area, it is also quite annoying to deal with the purple magic squares that the bird wizards summon in front of the player. During the area's boss, it is also annoying to deal with those when summoned because of the strange hitboxes it has, and it doesn't feel just or correct when the player is hit or not hit.
Besides those three gameplay mechanics, the options for the player to use during fighting and in gameplay give the player many options to choose in tackling problems, and the difficulty the player can face with an area can help decide what upgrades the players will want to choose for themselves, with all being available from the start, which is a great design choice.

The graphics and visuals are what really makes the game stand out, the graphics tend to focus on squares and diamonds which are big themes throughout the game (as if this world is just leitmotif), and only suffer a bit from it as some visuals can be confusing to the player sometimes, such as not being able to tell the player if it's a wall or floor, or if there is a secret nearby. The camera angles also can be a little bit ugh at sometimes, as some secrets are too well hidden so that the player wouldn't even know something is there without a guide.

The soundtrack is flawless though, it perfectly adapts the player to be in the world presented. Not much will be covered here due to spoilers, but the way the instruments and melodies are used in every part of the soundtrack help speak the story to the player, and lets the player decide what they think is going on, which boosts player immersion and investment immensely. It also cleverly uses specific melodies at the right times to link certain themes together, and it is most prominently used during the end scene and credits of the game which is the work of a genius.

Overall, the game is definitely worth playing, and offers just enough challenge for the newest of players, and should be played with the notion to learn from what you experience and find, as it will make a better player out of those that play it.

Hyper Light Drifter is a game that's design is all around mystery and secrets. It is kind of like if Link to the Past was a fast action dystopian sci fi game. The mechanics of HLD make use of the players wonder of the world to make them search out for its secrets, and provides rewards for this curiosity, and challenge. The game also provides itself at a difficulty at which the player's discovery of items unlocks new ways to approach more challenges in the game. It also speaks clearly to the player what will happen when you do something, and sets goals to you through visuals of what order in which the player does things, giving full freedom to what the player can choose as direction to play in. This game is also forgiving with death, which is a good feature considering how difficult the game can be at times for inexperienced players, while also allowing more advanced players to choose tougher challenges if they please through even intenser challenges, that are not necessary to complete the game. As through which, the sense of accomplishment is always present due to the varying visuals and challenges with each area presenting something different at good pacing. The most letdown part of the game play is backtracking through areas to get an item you couldn't get before (mainly because of a specific gun you need to open the path), and key cards that are strangely placed. Sadly as well, this game suffers a bit in controls relating to the main mechanic/selling point of the game, drifting. While it works a lot of the time, it personally frustrates me in the following two scenarios: 1. Using chain dashing in areas you will get hurt in, making a mistake, then having to try again. 2. Trying to dash by an enemy, it not working or you getting stuck on the enemy, then dying (especially with west boss). During the [spoiler]northern area[/spoiler], it is also quite annoying to deal with the [spoiler]purple magic squares that the bird wizards summon in front of the player[/spoiler]. During the area's boss, it is also annoying to deal with those when summoned because of the strange hitboxes it has, and it doesn't feel just or correct when the player is hit or not hit. Besides those three gameplay mechanics, the options for the player to use during fighting and in gameplay give the player many options to choose in tackling problems, and the difficulty the player can face with an area can help decide what upgrades the players will want to choose for themselves, with all being available from the start, which is a great design choice. The graphics and visuals are what really makes the game stand out, the graphics tend to focus on squares and diamonds which are big themes throughout the game (as if this world is just leitmotif), and only suffer a bit from it as some visuals can be confusing to the player sometimes, such as not being able to tell the player if it's a wall or floor, or if there is a secret nearby. The camera angles also can be a little bit ugh at sometimes, as some secrets are too well hidden so that the player wouldn't even know something is there without a guide. The soundtrack is flawless though, it perfectly adapts the player to be in the world presented. Not much will be covered here due to spoilers, but the way the instruments and melodies are used in every part of the soundtrack help speak the story to the player, and lets the player decide what they think is going on, which boosts player immersion and investment immensely. It also cleverly uses specific melodies at the right times to link certain themes together, and it is most prominently used during the end scene and credits of the game which is the work of a genius. Overall, the game is definitely worth playing, and offers just enough challenge for the newest of players, and should be played with the notion to learn from what you experience and find, as it will make a better player out of those that play it.