Thirith on 31/3/2016 at 15:07

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[video=youtube;nWufEJ1Ava0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWufEJ1Ava0[/video]

Has anyone already checked out Hyper Light Drifter, a 2D action RPG resulting from a Kickstarter back in 2013 that came out today? RPS has some first impressions (https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2016/03/31/hyper-light-drifter-impressions) here, though they don't say much about the game yet, since John ran into a major difficulty spike. I've yet to see any actual reviews, but I'm very curious about the game, not least because I absolutely love the evocative pixel art aesthetic. (Below by Capybara Games seems to be going in similar directions and looks even prettier.)

So, those of you who are already playing, let us know what the game is like, 'kay?

Aja on 31/3/2016 at 22:14

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Also curious about this. I try not to buy games unless I intend to play them immediately, so I'll probably let this one sit for a while, but I'd still like to know what others are thinking about it.

Sulphur on 1/4/2016 at 04:45

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Aesthetically, tonally, it's pretty amazing. The narrative features no text or intelligible speech, so it leaves you to infer the story from the visuals, which are lovely and atmospheric. Disasterpeace does a great job again with the score - less It Follows and more, as Renz says, Fez-like.

I have multiple bones to pick with the controls though. Everything has a slight delay to it - healing, dash recovery, aiming your gun. This means that every action needs to be deliberate, which is a little difficult when you're getting cheesed by three enemies that charge into you and each charge can take half your health bar off in one shot. I understand the reason for making it this way, because it fits the context: the Drifter is dying of terminal illness, so he can't just zap everything around him like a 9-year old who snorted a packet of pixie sticks. But that doesn't stop it from feeling like you're getting hit because the game isn't being responsive enough to your input. Also, a few select times I was charged into and slapped into a pool of water, which, since the Drifter can't swim, means he warps back to shore while taking one point of damage, but since there are no recovery/invincibility frames, he's almost immediately collided into by another numpty and dies.

The other thing is, when you enter aim mode by pressing the left trigger, you aim with the left stick. Which is weird, because I'm used to aiming with the right stick from most of the games I've played, and there's a simple reason for this: the left stick is always for moving. That's an implicit pact in game design. The amount of dissonance this causes makes me avoid using the gun often, which of course makes the game harder for me.

This is a slight bit of a shame because I love the combat otherwise: the animation is gorgeous, and encounters feel solid and tactile. I like the game well enough to brave through anyway, but the stuff above needs to be addressed in some fashion, IMO.

Sulphur on 1/4/2016 at 06:18

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My instinct is to use the gun from far away and at an angle, because if they're right up next to me I generally slash and dash away.

Sulphur on 1/4/2016 at 07:10

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Haven't got any upgrades yet, so things should get a little better when I get more options. Tried shooting them in the face point blank like you said, and yes, that works well enough, but it'll need me to recalibrate my play style. I generally used the gun from at range to start or finish things, and I still think it'd be useful to be able to aim without being confused by it.