Hyper Light Drifter 2016

Is it still worth playing?

Heart Machine's 2D action role playing game, released in 2016, with pixel art in which characters and background elements are hand animated. You control the Drifter, who has access to long forgotten technology and suffers from an unspecified illness, in a vast, ruined world with lethal dangers. Combat has a blade, a pistol that fires energy blasts, a dash and a dodge, against enemies with melee and ranged attacks and varied behaviors. You explore branching paths and secrets, with light puzzle solving and platforming, and can upgrade weapons and gain new skills and equipment. There is little or no text, so the story is told through the world itself. It is easy to pick up and difficult to master, with numerous enemies and lethal hazards. A world told without words still asks you to piece it together as you go.