If you want to see more reviews of great indie games, please consider backing this project.Inspired by The Legend of Zelda: A Link to The Past and other SNES classics, Alex Preston and his crew over at Heart Machine set out to create an experience that harkens back to an era of gaming long past. You should do that.Īll Buried Treasure articles are funded by Patreon backers. And it’s available to wishlist right now. The demo is free, and both good and big enough that I’d have been delighted to have paid. Sure, it’ll remind you of Hyper Light Drifter and Songbringer, but think about it: it’s another game like those amazing games you loved! Except weirder, and with far better writing. But for those who struggle, know that even I could do it. Others will finish it first time without losing health and think me a fool. So it’s about finding that balance in any particular encounter.īoss fights are surprisingly fair! I worried I wouldn’t get past the second one for a bit, but walked away and came back, and worked out my way through it. Empty your ammo at a baddie and you’re slower to get away.

If you dash about too much, you won’t have any bullets to fire at the end of it. It’s basically a universal resource, excepting health, and managing it is a big part of the action.

Stamina also doubles up for ammo, peculiarly, but effectively. This goes very fast when dashing, but allows for more interesting escapes – especially in boss fights – than just zip-zip-zipping, while of course the latter is possible too. Instead of being a split-second move, it’s instead a metered action, letting you rush at incredible speeds until your stamina is exhausted. There’s also a dash that’s more interesting than others. I especially love the spindly scribbly appearance of the main character, and the animation for the swift, satisfying movements. During this lengthy demo, there is an impressively large three-stage puzzle that requires thinking about this, returning to previously inaccessible areas, etc. What needs what is yours to fathom, and their introduction suggests some Metroidy vibes might be to come in the larger game. During the demo you’ll pick up three weapons on top of your original melee slash, each very, very different to use. Nothing quite makes sense, your interactions with everyone are eloquent but barely intelligible, and accidentally hit a purple bush with your weapon and you’ll temporarily be thrown into a dizzying drug-fuelled confusion.Ĭombat is tough, fast, and requiring calculation. The whole world feels wrong, unsettling, helped by an excellent soundtrack and even better sound effects. But beyond that, there’s a great deal of pleasure in trying to fathom what this world is, why it’s like this, and – you know – why there’s a 50 metre high deadly kitten burrowing through the surrounding desert. According to the game’s description, you’re an “old killer”, although clearly whatever sets that up isn’t part of the game yet. Very little is explained at the start, including who you are, and why everyone in the large building you’re in is talking like a malfunctioning robot. Where the aforementioned aim for a more bucolic feel, Resolutiion pitches for somewhere far more abnormal, post-apocalyptic tone, but if the apocalypse made everything go really weird. And respond to that with a big fat “HOORAY!”, because if only more games looked this beautiful.

Let’s get it out the way: yes, the art is absolutely, undeniably, utterly inspired by Hyper Light Drifter.

Hyper light drifter demo