NPCs share their information in the form of pictures, encouraging the player to decipher the meaning. The story is presented in a series of images and starts off with a full pixel art cinematic, something I can’t recall seeing anywhere else recently and it looks fantastic. I’m not sure what to say about the story. While I’m sure these will be patched in future (And may have already), it did impact my play as I died several times as a result of the first bug. During my playtime, I’ve had the screen turn a solid pink as a certain enemy fell off a cliff and the world to go black upon revival in a specific location. Unfortunately, the game still has some bugs. I imagine there will be a great sense of pride for those who love to fully complete a game, and this is definitely one of those titles.

The over-world is absolutely littered with things to find and discover. What I love is the simple ability to warp from any location to one of these zones if you’ve found the warp pad. In the middle of that is the central town where you purchase upgrades and view your progress. The east is an aquatic zone and the south is a desert. To the north is a snowy mountain, to the west a forest. Each one is a drastic shift in colour that makes for a varied experience. The over-world and subterranean dungeons are excellently designed and look amazing.

The music helps to establish the setting and sits in the background rather than be a bombastic addition. While I personally found some tracks were a little whiny and not my cup of tea, they were mostly offset with tracks that I loved. Hyper Light Drifter features a soft synthetic soundtrack that helps to perfectly set the mood and tone. While earlier levels aren’t boring by any means, mini-bosses would have been nice to see. They helped to break up the monotony of the level and add an extra flair of challenge.

The final zone features mini-bosses and that’s something I wish the earlier levels included too. Bosses may seem intimidating at first, but after you learn their attack patterns you can make short work of them. Hyper Light Drifter manages to find that perfect sweet spot of challenging but not overwhelming.

Hyper light drifter walkthrough ps4