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The [Hyper Light Drifter] is on a CO-OP mission

DrakeDrake Edgelord TrashBelow the ecliptic plane.Registered User regular
edited May 2016 in Games and Technology
Hyper Light Drifter is a difficult action game set in a mysterious and gorgeous sci fi world.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWufEJ1Ava0

How about that music?

The combat is very deliberate and enemy encounters are thoughtfully designed. The words Dark Souls will probably get thrown around a lot when people talk about this game, as well as Zelda and Metroid. And it is difficult, but not punishingly so. You don't lose anything on death except for a bit of progress, as the game autosaves conveniently and often.

The world is a world of mystery. There is no text aside from a minimal amount necessary for interface prompts. Decaying titans litter the landscape with rusting artillery pieces and crumbling buildings. NPCs you encounter in the ruins and camps communicate their story through series of beautifully rendered scenes. There is much left to the imagination as you build an impression of the world. There are also secrets littered all over the place. It's up to you to discover how everything works, from currency and upgrading your equipment to unlocking inaccessible areas.

This is a pretty good game and I think it'll have a lot to talk about. Don't forget to use the spoiler tags!

Drake on
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Posts

  • Wraith260Wraith260 Happiest Goomba! Registered User regular
    this really looks stunning and its great to see it finally being released. hopefully the console versions wont be too far behind the PC release.

  • DrakeDrake Edgelord Trash Below the ecliptic plane.Registered User regular
    It's a real breath of fresh air. The combat is really satisfying. You feel like a complete badass after every encounter. And there is so much nuance, and everything is animated so well.

    And man it's just gorgeous. And every pixel and animation is loaded with meaning. It's pretty great to get something that lives up to its promise for once.

  • Ed GrubermanEd Gruberman Registered User regular
    This looks amazing. The only reason I don't have it yet is because I can't play it right away but it's pretty much at the top of "next game to buy". Do you think it's going to end up generating world lore discussions similar to the way dark souls does?

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  • IoloIolo iolo Registered User regular
    Cross-postin'

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  • Wraith260Wraith260 Happiest Goomba! Registered User regular
    am watching Jim Sterling's early impressions vid for this and it just looks so atmospheric. definitely seems like something that will draw you in.

  • DrakeDrake Edgelord Trash Below the ecliptic plane.Registered User regular
    edited April 2016
    This looks amazing. The only reason I don't have it yet is because I can't play it right away but it's pretty much at the top of "next game to buy". Do you think it's going to end up generating world lore discussions similar to the way dark souls does?

    Yeah I think so, given the nature of the presentation. There's obviously a history behind the world and the protagonist has a central role in it, the opening of the game gives you a glimpse of the events. Some of that is in the launch trailer. And pretty much everywhere you go you see the remnants of what came before. On top of that a lot of the NPCs have their own stories to tell, which seem to be rooted in the aftermath of the events that shattered the previous civilization and left everyone living in its ruins.

    Drake on
  • LeumasWhiteLeumasWhite New ZealandRegistered User regular
    The presentation is gorgeous, but yeah, it is quite hard. Even pretty early, it's throwing you into fights that I'd consider late-game Zelda material, and it only gets worse from there. I hate you, exploding flask frogs.

    QPPHj1J.jpg
  • metaghostmetaghost An intriguing odor A delicate touchRegistered User regular
    I'm pretty far along and still haven't figured out some stuff, like what I'm achieving when I activate the hidden stone tablets.

    Also, dash-chaining is tough as hell out in the wild, sometimes frustratingly so.

    But yeah, presentation is great, music is great, combat is great, and the shotgun is oh so satisfying.

  • DrakeDrake Edgelord Trash Below the ecliptic plane.Registered User regular
    The direction you start out in is related to the difficulty apparently. I went east first and got a few triangles. North seems to be easier than that, with more health pack caches in more obvious places and so on. Still some pretty tricky secrets. One required a leap of faith, so now I'm going to start looking for more areas where that sort of thing may be repeated.

    And yeah, the stone tablets are a complete mystery to me right now. As are the locked doors with the key on them.

  • DartboyDartboy Registered User regular
    This is super rad.

    Though does anyone else have the problem where the steam screenshot key doesn't seem to be doing anything? I can still call up the steam interface, but f12 isn't taking pictures.

    Which is a pity, because pretty much any given screen grab would make an excellent desktop wallpaper.

  • DrakeDrake Edgelord Trash Below the ecliptic plane.Registered User regular
    It's a known issue. I hope it's fixed soon because this is a real screenshotable game.

  • surrealitychecksurrealitycheck lonely, but not unloved dreaming of faulty keys and latchesRegistered User regular
    el musico is dank. rich vreeland d o I n g I t b o y s

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  • metaghostmetaghost An intriguing odor A delicate touchRegistered User regular
    Drake wrote: »
    The direction you start out in is related to the difficulty apparently. I went east first and got a few triangles. North seems to be easier than that, with more health pack caches in more obvious places and so on.

    I'm pretty sure the homeboy who saves you at the start tells you to go North when you wake up, so I think it's supposed to be the first zone, but obviously it's not entirely clear when the images are trying to tell you.

  • DrakeDrake Edgelord Trash Below the ecliptic plane.Registered User regular
    I tend to wander around like a fool with the sun in his eyes in these kinds of games. And I'm pretty overjoyed that the basic kit you start with is enough to get you through. Sure I died a lot not going north off the bat but it got me into some real fundamentals with the combat system.

    I wonder if a no upgrade run is possible?

  • cooljammer00cooljammer00 Hey Small Christmas-Man!Registered User regular
    Drake wrote: »
    The direction you start out in is related to the difficulty apparently. I went east first and got a few triangles. North seems to be easier than that, with more health pack caches in more obvious places and so on. Still some pretty tricky secrets. One required a leap of faith, so now I'm going to start looking for more areas where that sort of thing may be repeated.

    And yeah, the stone tablets are a complete mystery to me right now. As are the locked doors with the key on them.

    So is the difficulty actually spelled out for you, or is it like Dark Souls where one path kills you and the other path kills you more, so you know which one to avoid for now?

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  • metaghostmetaghost An intriguing odor A delicate touchRegistered User regular
    So is the difficulty actually spelled out for you, or is it like Dark Souls where one path kills you and the other path kills you more, so you know which one to avoid for now?

    I'd say they're roughly equal, with each of the initial three directions (you can't go South) presenting different tactical challenges.

  • ZenitramZenitram Registered User regular
    The three quadrants seem to be about equal in difficulty, but some seem to have more alternate routes than others (that are locked until you upgrade stuff).

  • GnomeTankGnomeTank What the what? Portland, OregonRegistered User regular
    Had this on my radar for a while and picked it up last night. Really great so far. I wish it did a tiny, tiny bit more explaining than it does, especially on the RPG systems (like the yellow upgrades, whatever those do)...but I see what the developer was going for and people smarter than I will have it figured out and wiki-ized soon enough.

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  • FencingsaxFencingsax It is difficult to get a man to understand, when his salary depends upon his not understanding GNU Terry PratchettRegistered User regular
    The yellow squares are just currency.

    Yeah, this game is awesome, even if I have not fogured out how to get past certain blocks or locked doors. (Are the red blocks enemies in the area?)

  • metaghostmetaghost An intriguing odor A delicate touchRegistered User regular
    edited April 2016
    Fencingsax wrote: »
    The yellow squares are just currency.

    Yeah, this game is awesome, even if I have not fogured out how to get past certain blocks or locked doors. (Are the red blocks enemies in the area?)

    RE: Doors and how to open them:
    Blocks that have a directional arrow require you to have activated the obelisk in the quadrant matching the direction of the arrow (i.e. arrow pointing left requires western obelisk).

    Key doors require you to have found keys equal to the number of red keys on that door. (Keys are very well hidden.)

    Triangle doors require you to have found that many triangles in that quadrant. (8 per quadrant.)

    metaghost on
  • DrakeDrake Edgelord Trash Below the ecliptic plane.Registered User regular
    Can we keep solutions like this in spoiler tags please? At least for the time being?

  • metaghostmetaghost An intriguing odor A delicate touchRegistered User regular
    Sorry, didn't seem that spoilerish.

  • Sir FabulousSir Fabulous Malevolent Squid God Registered User regular
    This game is good and fun.
    I feel like I've been finding tons of secrets but I'm sure there are lots I'm missing.

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  • AvalonGuardAvalonGuard Registered User regular
    edited April 2016
    This game is good and fun.
    I feel like I've been finding tons of secrets but I'm sure there are lots I'm missing.

    If you're anything like me

    Yeah. Yeah.
    el musico is dank. rich vreeland d o I n g I t b o y s

    I can't get enough of it. The adaptive stuff is so, so good; you come across something incredible and the music builds on top of itself and hoo boy. I'm getting the soundtrack the moment it's released.

    AvalonGuard on
  • DrakeDrake Edgelord Trash Below the ecliptic plane.Registered User regular
    metaghost wrote: »
    Sorry, didn't seem that spoilerish.

    I didn't think it was a huge deal, but joy of discovery and all that you know. Err on the side of caution and courtesy?

  • ZenitramZenitram Registered User regular
    Any idea how long this game is? I've put about 2.5 hours into it and I feel like I'm already a good chunk through it.

  • DrakeDrake Edgelord Trash Below the ecliptic plane.Registered User regular
    No idea. I've seen some people say it's possible to make a run in something like 6 to 8 hours. I guess that's if you are really good at this sort of thing and don't stop to smell the flowers. I wonder if that means skipping optional content?

    I'm about six hours in and I've found five triangles, three up north and two to the east. I'm dicking around out west now, peeking in all the nooks and crannies for cash. I'm not really a fast gamer, especially on a first run.

  • Alucard6986Alucard6986 xbox: Ubeltanzer swtor: UbelRegistered User regular
    edited April 2016
    Zenitram wrote: »
    Any idea how long this game is? I've put about 2.5 hours into it and I feel like I'm already a good chunk through it.

    It's pretty short. I finished it in 2 days, or so.

    It's just the 4 areas and then
    a singular final boss fight
    and then that's it.

    I did not 100%.

    Alucard6986 on
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  • AvalonGuardAvalonGuard Registered User regular
    edited April 2016
    By contrast, I'm 10 hours in and trying to go for as close to a full clear as I can and I still have another session or two to go.

    AvalonGuard on
  • metaghostmetaghost An intriguing odor A delicate touchRegistered User regular
    Yeah, I'm ~9 hours and have a healthy amount of stuff to find.

    "Sidequest" spoiler:
    The "Dash-Chain" trials are sort of obnoxious; not sure I can stomach zipping around that room to do 500 consecutive dashes.

  • McGibsMcGibs TorontoRegistered User regular
    edited April 2016
    An hour or so in, and man I'm really hating these crusher blocks. Rest of the combat, world exploration, everything else is great. But seriously fuck insta-death timing puzzles. Hell, even falling off ledges just takes a health. Why can't I just take a hit and get warped back to the beginning of the puzzle? Nope... You gotta go repeat this 5 minute fight arena every time.

    McGibs on
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  • LeumasWhiteLeumasWhite New ZealandRegistered User regular
    There's a dodge upgrade that makes that area much less painful, at least.

    QPPHj1J.jpg
  • AnzekayAnzekay Registered User regular
    I figured out what those stone tablets are for...
    CfBVyRnVIAAtwKY.jpg:large
    In the North section I found a way to the tutorial area, and if you keep going past where you collapse during the tutorial you find your way here. There's also a few squares and a teleporter that connects this room permanently back to town.

  • Ninja Snarl PNinja Snarl P My helmet is my burden. Ninja Snarl: Gone, but not forgotten.Registered User regular
    Picked up the game and I'm digging it, but I cannot fathom why they bothered even putting the chain dash in the game and then made it borderline totally useless for anything outside of the challenge room for it (which has a challenge with a totally fucking absurd goal of 1000 successful chain dashes, without a single mistake, in a room far too tiny for something like that). Even went digging through the game files to see if there was a way to force the timing of the chain dash to at least be constant, because then it would at least be useful.

    If I can get up to 400-something chain dashes, but actually using it in combat works less than half the time at best, it's a shit ability with garbage design.

  • mere_immortalmere_immortal So tasty!Registered User regular
    The yellow pips you pick up, does it become obvious what they are for or is it a bit secrety?

    Just done the west boss (I think), enjoying it a lot.

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  • AnzekayAnzekay Registered User regular
    edited April 2016
    Picked up the game and I'm digging it, but I cannot fathom why they bothered even putting the chain dash in the game and then made it borderline totally useless for anything outside of the challenge room for it (which has a challenge with a totally fucking absurd goal of 1000 successful chain dashes, without a single mistake, in a room far too tiny for something like that). Even went digging through the game files to see if there was a way to force the timing of the chain dash to at least be constant, because then it would at least be useful.

    If I can get up to 400-something chain dashes, but actually using it in combat works less than half the time at best, it's a shit ability with garbage design.

    The chain dash is used for much more than just the challenge room at the town. There's numerous puzzles which require you to use the chain dash with some deftness in order to cross otherwise impassable walkways.

    As for the challenge room... At 100 (or 200, I forget) you get an extra square, and at 800 you get the cool blue/purple colour scheme clothes. The timing of it, as far as I know, seems to be quite constant. I had to set up an internal metronome to pass the challenge.

    I know this because... Well...
    CfA_iUZUEAE5fml.jpg:large

    Anzekay on
  • metaghostmetaghost An intriguing odor A delicate touchRegistered User regular
    The yellow pips you pick up, does it become obvious what they are for or is it a bit secrety?

    Just done the west boss (I think), enjoying it a lot.

    They're Currency/EXP; there are vendors back in town that sell upgrades for 2 or 3 chits (4 pips to a chit).

  • chuck steakchuck steak Registered User regular
    I'm having a really hard time with the first boss (the guy with the square spell thing that follows you). Getting him to half health is rough, and then he kicks it up a notch and I get destroyed. I'm even entering the fight with full health and 3 potions. Should I maybe go upgrade something? I haven't upgraded anything yet.

    Amazing game though. Some of the cutscenes are downright haunting, especially with some good headphones cranked up.

  • AnzekayAnzekay Registered User regular
    I'm having a really hard time with the first boss (the guy with the square spell thing that follows you). Getting him to half health is rough, and then he kicks it up a notch and I get destroyed. I'm even entering the fight with full health and 3 potions. Should I maybe go upgrade something? I haven't upgraded anything yet.

    Amazing game though. Some of the cutscenes are downright haunting, especially with some good headphones cranked up.

    If you really really struggle with him, there's... something you can get from beating the East boss which I found super useful against the bird boss. You can actually do any of the first 3 bosses in any order, if you like.

  • mere_immortalmere_immortal So tasty!Registered User regular
    metaghost wrote: »
    The yellow pips you pick up, does it become obvious what they are for or is it a bit secrety?

    Just done the west boss (I think), enjoying it a lot.

    They're Currency/EXP; there are vendors back in town that sell upgrades for 2 or 3 chits (4 pips to a chit).

    Ah, should have explored the town more!

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