Hyper Light Drifter Reviews

Hyper Light Drifter is ranked in the 91st percentile of games scored on OpenCritic.
9 / 10.0
May 11, 2017

Hyper Light Drifter is unique, it highlights the issues of a real person in an abstract way. This game plays very smoothly, and offers stunning visuals and rigid difficulty. Hyper Light Drifter is a lot of fun, and it's beautiful too. It's a memorable experience, and can keep you interested the whole way through.

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Apr 5, 2016

Hyper Light Drifter is an impressive retro inspired 2D action RPG. It's difficult and equally rewarding and no adventure fan should miss out on it.

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9 / 10.0
Apr 5, 2016

Hyper Light Drifter is a great game, but it's not going to be everyone's cup of tea. It's polished to a mirror shine, it's tuned to mechanical harmony, it's gorgeous for the eyes and ears alike, but has a plot that doesn't even try (or even seemingly care) to make sense. It can also be really, really tedious to play through, as it leans heavily on classical, trial-and-error mechanics. It's a rare and beautiful gem that only certain people will find the full, true value in.

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Unscored
Apr 19, 2016

The majesty of Hyper Light Drifter's lonely pilgrimage is worth fighting for

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9.5 / 10.0
Apr 6, 2016

Hyper Light Drifter is an exceptional game. With a beautifully mature pixel art aesthetic, seamless sound design, highly refined, often punishing gameplay, and a unique world full of secrets, it's a fine example of what can be achieved by an indie studio - or any studio, period. The oblique presentation and certain aspects of the gameplay might well drive some gamers away, however.

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4.5 / 5.0
Mar 31, 2016

Sure, The Division is a great game that has hooked millions into its addictive gameplay loop and Far Cry Primal did breathe a bit of fresh air into a stale formula, but 2016 has been off to a strong start as the clear result of its outstanding independent titles.

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8 / 10.0
Apr 11, 2016

A mysterious obtuse premise and frustrating-at-times combat both hinder and bolster the appeal of Hyper Light Drifter. It's not the successor of Zelda but it's still an incredibly well-designed, beautiful action adventure title.

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games(TM)
games™ Team
Top Critic
6 / 10
Jun 7, 2016

Gorgeous, but more frustrating than fun

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9 / 10.0
Apr 18, 2016

Despite Hyper Light Drifter being relatively light in narrative, The combat and exploration, more then make for a fun and rewarding experience.

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9 / 10.0
Aug 10, 2016

Polished, engaging, and tough to beat, Hyper Light Drifter will stoke that part of your brain which can't resist a challenge.

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8 / 10.0
Aug 30, 2016

A perfect example of learning by playing - Hyper Light Drifter offers a unique experience of exploration and discovery in a beautiful world with a well paced challenge, even if you still have no idea what's going on by the end.

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9 / 10
Aug 2, 2016

In another triumph for the humble indie game, Hyper Light Drifter delivers the year’s best action-adventure hybrid so far. It’s best in class on all fronts that count, offering up razor sharp gameplay, an ultra-stylish coat of paint that, when served with a smashing synth, drips an unforgettable atmosphere.

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9 / 10.0
Apr 8, 2016

Cameron Kunzelman tweets at @ckunzelman and writes about games at thiscageisworms.com. His latest game, Epanalepsis, was released on May 21. It's available on Steam.

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Ray Carsillo
Top Critic
5.5 / 10.0
Aug 2, 2016

There's some strong core gameplay to Hyper Light Drifter, but not much else. Unfortunately, no amount of nostalgia is going to make up for that.

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7.8 / 10.0
Apr 29, 2016

Hyper Light Drifter is a fantastic and unique experience that deserves to stand on its own merits, outside of Zelda's shadow.

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7 / 10.0
Apr 5, 2016

Hyper Light Drifter shows a lot of potential thanks to its great combat and solid world building. Where it falls flat is its miserable starting area, boring exploration and inconsequential plot.

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Apr 1, 2016

It leaves the combat to speak for the story and trusts its murderer's row of cool ideas to, well, murder players.

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Apr 2, 2016

Every element of Hyper Light Drifter blends together to form a near perfect action-adventure game that's worthy to stand with the impeccable games it borrows from.

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4.5 / 5.0
Apr 12, 2016

Hyper Light Drifter is a challenging 2D action-RPG experience just waiting for you to jump in and explore. It's not going to guide you by the hand, tone down its difficulty, or even tell you what's going on. That's all for you, as the player, to work out. However, underneath this obscurity and open-ended-ness is some of the most fast-paced and challenging action to come out this year.

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9.5 / 10.0
Aug 3, 2016

The more I think about my time with Hyper Light Drifter, as well as my continued journey in New Game Plus, the more I realize how much I like this game. Every aspect of it contains a high bar of quality. The sound work, composed by Disasterpeace, is subtle, but will crescendo at just the right moments. The graphics are a throwback to a bygone era of gaming, but also effectively convey a real and lived in world rich in mythology and fantastical events. Combat has a solid foundation that it builds upon, and enemies are fun to fight or watch plummet to the abyss below thanks to a disappearing platform. Hyper Light Drifter is a game you should not miss out on.

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