If you have the will to overcome its many trials youвЂ™ll find a rewarding, uncompromising action game. But the unwavering difficulty-especially the bosses-makes it an experience for a very specific type of gamer. And the exhilaration of clearing a dungeon with only a sliver of health left is a feeling worth chasing. Its evocative use of visual storytelling, haunting soundtrack, and fluid combat system will leave you cutting and coughing through its beautifully pixelated playground long after the credits roll. The visual design and music are stunning. Inspired by 16-bit classics of yesteryear, Hyper Light Drifter puts a refreshing spin on the open world exploration genre. The elegant, expressive animation makes fighting and traversing the world a joy.

ThereвЂ™s a lot to love about Hyper Light Drifter. If not, youвЂ™ll almost certainly give up after a few hours. If youвЂ™re the type of gamer who has the fortitude to try things over and over until you master them, Hyper Light Drifter is for you.

Ultimately, how you respond to these difficulty spikes will depend on your temperament. Regular enemies are tough enough, but when youвЂ™re fighting groups of them on top of a boss unleashing waves of increasingly savage attacks, it becomes a real test of endurance. This is a game where enduring persistent failure is the only way to get good, and a lot of people wonвЂ™t have the patience to get through some of its more gruelling battles-particularly the fiendishly difficult boss fights. You have to leave and scour the overworld for more, or somehow scrape through the next room, which is probably teeming with powerful enemies, with a dribble of HP. If youвЂ™re deep in a dungeon and run out of health items, bad luck. But you also find yourself repeating areas, which is when frustration sets in. These sections present an enjoyable challenge, and thereвЂ™s a satisfaction in dancing around a room and killing everything without taking a hit. For example, kill one enemy and a wall that was providing cover from a sniper on the other side of the room will suddenly disappear. Dungeons hide the most satisfying combat in the game, and their layouts change dynamically around you, forcing you to constantly change your tactics.

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