Hyper Light Drifter is a breathtaking game that draws heavily from gaming's most prominent pioneers without relying too heavily on their influence. It is an eclectic masterpiece that feels more like an experience than a video game.

Heart Machine delivers a masterpiece, an impressive mixture of style and gameplay. Hyper Light Drifter is one of the best action game we have ever played, and showcases a complex and enchanting pixel art. It brings you into a silent and distant world, it tests your ability with a deep an fast paced gameplay; it's the rightful heir of '90s bidimensional adventures.

Even without the luminous pixel art to continue, there's always an impetus to investigate further. [June 2016, p.116]

A beautiful and challenging game with a fun and engaging combat system and a world worth exploring (even if doing so could be a bit frustrating).

Difficult and frustrating at first, later amazingly satisfying action RPG for demanding audience. Bite your lip, gaze upon its beautiful graphics and have a satisfying feeling of accomplishment offered only by few games.

Quotation forthcoming.

If you can get past its very obvious downsides and need to play a challenging, even a bit frustrating game, there's no dilemma that Hyper Light Drifter is for you. Yet, we remain sad that we didn't get to play the fantastic game which this one could have been had it spent more time in development. Maybe in the sequel.