WHY DO I FEEL LIKE I AM THE ONLY PERSON EVER TALKING ABOUT THE GAME.

As far as I understand this game is a crowdfunded project and the main guy behind it apparently suffered from various heart conditions, which is why the studio is called Heart Machine and why the heart is such a heavily featured motive in the game.

I just love this game. I love how, after a brief tutorial, the game throws you into this stunningly beautiful pixel art world and from that point onwards refuses to communicate with you with words, instead using pictures. I love how you are left to your own devices and have to learn on your own what to do and how to play. But I also love how this game succeeds at teaching you this by intuitive means. For example: you quickly learn that large square with another smaller square inside of it means "secret" or "hidden passage". The game doesn't tell you that, you yourself learned that intuitively by observing the world around you. Satisfaction.

The story is likewise only communicated to the player through pictures and the exposition/beginning cut scene at the start of the game. Although you likely won't understand the entire extent of the story, you'll still get the most important points.

I also really love the gameplay. The combat system is really well balanced, with a nice mix of melee-sword and ranged-gun options to choose from to stylishly dispose of your enemies. These options work best if used in tandem to extent sword combos by switching to your gun and vice-versa.

I often read people complaining about how the late game rooms get really difficult. I'd actually argue the opposite. If you fully master the combat system and unlock the better guns and abilities, you will quickly notice how easy the game can get with you just mowing through even the tankiest enemies. This requires quick thinking and appropriate execution. But the result, if you pull it off, is so satisfying, making this aspect of the game one of the strongest and most captivating. Also, if you die you respawn closeby only ten seconds later. So no frustration there.

The environment is littered with smaller and bigger secrets. Exploration is really worth it and almost every secret is marked with a small symbol marking most secret passages. The sheer number of secrets also had the side effect of me becoming paranoid whenever there wasn't a secret. I also checked every wall just in case. This is why I don't trust walls anymore (although Dark Souls did it's part too). The gearbits you find throughout your exploration are used to purchase abillities and weapon upgrades. But in comparison to most games, these upgrades are really really useful and make the game a lot easier. This compels you to go out of your way and go exploring.

In conclusion: play Hyper Light Drifter.
If you already have: recommend it to your friends or use CIA torture techniques to force them.

❤️/5 for a game I backlogged for over two years. Looking forward to playing Solar Ash and Hyper Light Breaker.