On one hand I really do understand people who decide to watch let's plays as a way to familiarize themselves with a game. But HLD is one of those games that, to me, proves that it takes one very important element from exepriencing those games - personal experience. And it's a thing that some games, like Hyper Light Drifter, Rain World, Pathologic or Outer Wilds, heavily rely on. People who played those games (or at least experienced them along with their friends) and people who watched someone else play them are going to have much different impressions from them, because there IS a difference between seeing a video of someone go on a road trip and being a part of that road trip yourself.
I’m playing it for the first time right now and having a hard time enjoying it. I have so many questions about the world, mechanics, characters, and environments but so few answers and it’s really frustrating.
It's such a treat any time I come across a video-maker that gives me a new appreciation for stories and storytelling. I never could quite get into the game when I initially tried it, but stuff like this helps me recognize just how brilliant and powerful it is. I respect any game that isn't willing to compromise on how it wants to tell its own story, particularly when it manages to succeed so readily at what it sets out to do. Very much looking forwards to more stuff from you. Your analysis style resonates with me exceptionally well, and I feel does a great job going beyond just "this game is good/bad" or "here's the main themes of this particular story." Keep up the great work!
I felt similarly when I played Rain World the first time. I was so enthralled with all the terrains and it was all so beautiful and mysterious. What you said about the adventure truly being your own is why I love games like hyper light drifter and rain world. I have so many moments I will remember forever.
I love Hyper Light Drifter. It’s one of my favorite games ever, and I think what you said in this video is why it still resonates with me to this day. My personal experience with the game, with the silent narration the game tells to the music and environment working so well to make every moment feel like it’s your moment is fantastic… The combat is also fun.
My experience with HLD was sorta different. I didn't make as many connections as you did, nor did characters like Anubis, the Drifter or Guardian really click for me like Solaire, Quirrel, Frisk, or other analogues That said, it was definitely memorable and stylish
This video really did genuinely provoked some interesting thoughts, I think I might try the game myself and make sense of it too funny enough that's what compelled me to finish rain world, trying to make sense of everything, even something as small as "How did rain become this harsh?" made me wanna know amazing analysis, will buy hyper light drifter soon (HOPEfully)
Great video! I think you expressed the feeling of experiencing story through gameplay and exploration very well. It's something that's present in all my favourite games but I hadn't realised why they resonated with me as much as they did.
i had fun with HLD, but the ending left me a bit disappointed, like the drifter searches for a cure only to die unceremoniously after killing judgement, and i wasn't even sure what judgement's role in the story was? still a good video as always, always interesting to see discussions about stories in games
HLD is a game about acceptance. to accept that this uncurable disease WILL kill you someday, and judgement is just the personification of that fear of a looming death. when the drifter kills judgement, he comes to terms with his disease and dies peacefully, accepting his fate.
Zingus, if you love this game I highly recommend playing Tunic. I would say they’re sister-games: very similar in some ways and distinct in others. Those distinction crest vastly different experiences but still enjoyable nonetheless!
This game is a masterpiece. I plan on making videogames. The art style and silent narrative inspires me very much, and I want to try to implement them in my first game. It will be at the beginning of my in-depth world that will continue to be expanded on until it ends. I have been taking classes for all areas of game design and I am currently cooking a story for it. Thanks to Hyper Light Drifter and many other games, books, movies, and art that inspire me, I have been able to do something that I will love for the rest of my life.
I love hyper light drifter so much, but to me I can never play it again. Learning the story, seeing the people, and discovering the history of the world with the impeccable soundtrack fucked me up too much. Now I genuinely cannot listen to the soundtrack without getting close to tears because the melancholy I feel from this game is so deep and intense that I get chills down my entire body. To me, this is why I like solar ash. Even if I think hyper light drifter is a better game, I like solar ash more because it fucked me up just the right amount. Thank you for this wonderful video essay.
i haven't seen anyone try to do it but hyper light drifter solar ash and hyper light breaker all take place in the same universe now breaker hasn't released yet but j wonder if anyone could make a timeline for the hyper light series also fun fact if the drifter nicknamed blu by the developers and now in breaker there's a race named blu the drifter has a tail and cat like ears
I love HLD, but I strongly believe that exploration is potentially an impossible burden of frustration to overcome for some. Main point of criticism is easily the map...that thing shows points of interests, and nothing more. The passageways and streets are incredibly difficult to read and/or understand. Another point of criticism is the graphical aspect being not for everyone, as many people lose a lot of their perception of space in this style.
I’ve never played this game, but a lot of the visuals and you talking about the atmosphere really reminded me of FEZ. In FEZ there are technically a lot of words, however a lot of them are in a different language that you can’t understand. It forces you to travel through unique landscapes that often tell a story of an ancient civilization, you don’t even need to translate the words to know that. It has really good environmental storytelling and a really good sense of atmosphere
after not liking demon turf anywhere near as much as i hoped, this is gonna be the next one i try. (just bought it, late may '23) i was going to make this a coment gushing about rain world on a technical and artistic level, watching to the end before writing it, but then you mentioned it already. to this day, it's quite possibly my favorite game ever, and the only one i got a borderline religious experience from. not just from the gameplay kicking my teeth in to my questionable delight, but also the amazing community, bound together by sharing that same experience i've had, all in their own ways. and now, with the downpour DLC released, it has far outgrown any ambitions videocult had for the initial release.
I can see the game have touched u the same way it touched me...I am more inclined for the audio and OST, but really feel like the game sets an abysmal level of lore depth without saying a word, if u ask me what I drifter was, I can imagine an entire group of ruin explorers with the objective of discovering and unearthing past secrets, with each there own fight style based around the Hard Shifting Light, and people say that is a Lightsaber, but its really not that...its a totally different thing, it behaves absolutely differently from a lightsaber and u can feel that in combat. I wish I had the time to write a whole saga based on the drifters lore, a dark version.
I know I'm quite late but personally the protagonist really reminds me of Ashiitaka from princess mononoke. From his katana like sword and cloak and masked face similar to Ashiitaka's appearance while traveling even to both of them suffering from some kind of curse leading slowly to their death, because of this i always assumed that Drifter is also trying to find a cure to his sickness while i played the game myself.
It’s a real treat to have a video bring up Yume Nikki, just surprising when it happens. I laughed when he said “dozens of fangames, if not hundreds” when there’s over 500 on the wiki alone, who knows how many actually exist. The sheer number of fangames is never really talked about and I think it’s hilarious Also shouts out to a fellow fangame dev 🤝
It would be very funny if there was a version of this video without voiceover, just to prove a point lmao I don't think silent narratives work as well for me because the majority of games have already taught me to brush off details because they don't usually have any meaning behind them outside of being game mechanics, or it's something vague that relates nothing to the actuall narrative/journey.
great video thus far! just a minor correction about the guardian, they actually use they/them pronouns (as confirmed by the devs), since you used he/him for them I thought you should know :)
