Good news everyone, Heart Machine just dropped a surprise announcement of a follow-up game called *Solar Ash Kingdom* ! Here's me breaking down all the hidden details in the trailer and speculating on how it fits into the story of HLD: ruclips.net/video/-IWrmHTdK_M/видео.html
this was honestly the best game i've ever played... i wish i discovered it back when it was on kickstarter so i could back it. anyway thank you, really. oh and are the dirks actually librarian super soldiers ?
My own theory on the dirks is that they were created to protect the immortal cell and that the drifter would have been one. I think this, because in one room of the game you see blue skinned person in those tanks, then you see another blue skinned person, but more buff and after that you see a dirk, which I find rather intresting that there is a progression like that in the room.
The town drunk isn't another drifter, he's just the same species as our drifter. The pink knight drifter is possibly another species, and was also contacted by Anubis. You can see other blue skinned people frozen in crystals seemingly fighting on the same side as the titan.
@@randll That's just not what it looks like in the crystal forest. Blue-skin military is plainly arrayed in a firing line opposed to a raccoon firing line, casualties visible on both sides. The dead titan is on the blue-skin side of the battle, facing the raccoon line, with none of the blue-skins right beside the titan even looking in its direction. It also apears the blue-skins were about to execute a flanking maneuver on the raccoon line right at the moment the titan was destroyed by the raccoon artillery, and inadvertently caused the sudden crystalization of everyone in the region.
CognizantCheddar i wish i understood because the titans seemingly came out of thin air (unleashed by judgement) but u can see the southern city building a titan...
Not if you see it like T.S. Elliot: "We shall not cease from exploration / And the end of all our exploring / Will be to arrive where we started / And know the place for the first time." The Drifter was granted a final vision of what he had fought for in its ideal state before finally drifting on.
*SPOILERS BTW* After beating the game I knew I wasn't fully aware of the story and watching this video made the game 100x cooler... those Titan corpses man, I had chills when I walked by them in the game. edit: I just realized that after the final fight when he's walking with 'Anubis' every time I tried to do a 'drift' he would cough up blood... I was so sad when I came to the realization that my guy wasn't gonna make it after the entire journey I had gone through with him and after the death of Pink Drifter. With a heavy heart, I will say this game is definitely one of the best indie games I've ever played.
1: thanks for reminding me about this game and its beauty, it's been a year and probably more since I've played it and it brought up some fond memories. 2: I will try playing Kentucky Route Zero because you compared them and it's also got good reviews. Thanks for this comment!
I had some suspicions but I did feel a bit confused about the ending and how it led to the destruction of everything. I mostly also felt sad, because I like the interpretation that he came to the Land of Light to find a cure (immortality) for an illness he already had a lot better than the Drifter just being harmed by Judgment alone. I wanted him to live.
@@hoodlum4511 Furi, Dark souls, Rayman and Now Hyper light drifter. I never expected hyper light drifter to be this good and gameplay was just amazing. Best part was, no cutscenes, no dialogues, no giant open world with thousands of trees and random Encounters, this game basically had no crappy filler which made this game even greater. After playing horrible clunky witcher 3, I appreciate this game even more.
This brought chills to my spine... the allegorical nature of this game is... breath taking. Such a powerful entity setting the wheels in motion to destroy itself rather than to possibly succumb to the corruption invading it. The world was destroyed once by it's blessed power gone wrong... And the Drifters death at the end; All things must pass and be reborn anew. The drifter struggled through their adversity to the limit of their skill, knowing what awaits us all in the end, even the greatest of us. The Immortal Cell... dies, just as the Drifter does, but with a greater awareness of the world that will be reborn... showcasing the best of both characters. The Creation of a New World for those that will continue the journey, thanks to the player who pushed their limits to turn the wheels in motion. It speaks volumes, the best that we can do in this life.
My theory was that the protagonist was one of the remaining immortals linked to the wellspring, which is why his condition worsened as judgement corrupted the cell. He dies in the end because he had to destroy the source of his immortality.
I got the impression that at the very end Anubis was guiding the drifter to the afterlife as a sort of 'thank you' gift to him. Anubis clearly wanted the drifter to perform the tasks, and after the Cell was destroyed Anubis could have just the drifter be buried alive, but that's no way to guide someone to the afterlife, now is it? And as the drifter passes away Anubis can be seen watching over them before going away, back to the Immortal cell. I also wonder if the pink energy was itself a corrupted form of energy... it always seems to have a relationship with Judgement. Also - at 7:30 you mention Judgement clouding the vision Anubis is trying to share. I don't see it that way, I thought it was Anubis that was straight up telling the Drifter the story about what happened to the Immortal Cell - it was glowing white and pure (like Anubis' halo) at first, but then became infected, and that's screwing everything up. The Drifter's illness may also be part of the contamination coming from Judgement as well...
If the Drifter is reborn why would the game emphasize his dead, static body (which you can revisit whenever you want by reloading the end-game data) and not show any form of new life around it?
I love how this seemingly cutesy game shows straight up genocide in the east portion of the map. Otter people were strung up and flayed Ramsay Snow style. Dark shit man, dark shit.
I always thought of "judgment" as a manifestation of the Drifter's fear of death, not as some sort of devil creature. Judgement, to me, was a symbol of death and the "judgement" you receive from God in the afterlife. When the drifter fought judgement, and the moments leading up to that, his brain was starting to decompose and he had more weird hallucinations. When he defeated judgement, all he really did was conquer his fear of death, dying a peaceful death. I don't really have any evidence to back this up, but it's how I like to interpet it. Cool video though.
Your theory may be solid though. Because after the Drifter stabs Judgement, the screen hard cuts to him stabbing the cell. Therefore possibly implying it was all in his head.
In my eyes that makes a lot of sense.Especially because the main creator of the game has a life threatening heart disease ( which , besides the unbelievable fantastic OST, is the main reason, why its such an emotional experience playing it) .This Game is just golden art.Period.:)
late to the party, but something else to back this up, we see the pink drifter talking about this massive centerpede looking thing with a similar pink diamond eye like judgement has ( 8:28 in this video ). This could be the pink drifters own version of Judgment he sees
+Local Content That always looked like candy to me. You can apparently feed some of the animals that stuff, so I assume it's some sort of snack food or something?
it would be really cool to make a DLC about another drifter from the past that was really close to destroy the living cell but he died OR another drifter from the future that helps the other people establish peace between them
goddamn.. i always picked up some bits and pieces, but hearing the extra lore from the creators and stuff really brings it all together... this is such a beautiful story. it’s one of my favorite games and hearing your interpretation made me just... tear up. the story is so sad and beautiful
I agree with this whole ''genetical modification'' theory. While exploring the underground labs in the southern desert you see this giant heart beating in a jar. In the background you are able to take a look at a titan which is surrounded by scaffolding and has a hole with several red strings coming out where his heart used to be. So this makes me think, that the Southern race made genetical experiments with titan dna, which also means that the rifle shooting creatures, robots, cyklope creatures and melee creatures (sry couldnt think of a better name for them) are actually made by titan dna. So maybe the titan apocalypse occured after one race managed to power their own titans and attacking the other races. You see members of a drifter like race fighting alongside the titan against the raccoon people, so maybe it wasn't the titans against one race, but one race and some reactivated titans against the others. Another evidence for this is the fact, that you only find ''weapon factorys'' in the south, which also seems to have taken very little damage on the outside against the other regions. Inside the labs you are able to find the remains of members of different races, which perhaps served as experimental ressources against their wills (war prisoners?). But speaking by the broken glass tubes and agressive mutants in the underground labs at some point their technologie turned against them, eventually leading to theit extinction. (sry for my english its not my native language and this was a very long comment :) )
This is a fascinating analysis of a fascinating game. I just finished a playthrough (literally 20 minutes ago), and was looking for answers that I just could not come up with myself. I will link this video in the final episode of the playthrough, as I think it seems like the most likely explanation that I´ve heard to date. Very well done, thank you for that!
Der Jens Unless thats what made it so atmospheric. There being no story line, just great art and them making it in a way so there isn't a story but could be interpreted as if there must be a really in depth story yet really isn't.
There is also a theory that the "Blue-Skinned Race" was artificially created soldiers of the Librarians. You find many Blues trapped in green crystal, or dead, and maybe also in other conditions. Some people also theorize the Drifter may have made himself immortal once, and another says he, and other Blues, have an expiration day. But man, do I love your interpretation!
Okay. I'm going to share my thoughts. My interpretation of the story. Keep in mind, I actually saw your video before playing the game. And I didn't mind spoilers. Primarily because there are impressionist paintings and THIS is an impressionist video game. Probably the first of its kind. Anyways the Timeline Begins: How did you get the Monoliths translated? I mean, I collected them all and all I got was a stupid outfit. Totally not worth my time. Anyhoo.The Librarians. I believe they were once humans. The Drifter is human. And although he has blue skin, keep in mind that the Librarians have master Biotechnology. They mastered it all the way to the point to where they've practically brought the entire planet to life. In the game you find its eyes, you find its heart, you even do battle with its mind, and you interact with its life-blood, the pink eplosive substance... well, sometimes explosive. I'm sure there's part of this immortal machine that was designed to turn some of the pink liquid into something explosive. Alot of the reason why the Pink liquid is used as a power source is because of the heart of the machine, and yes, it's a giant bio mechanical heart in a test tube, pumping the pink liquid. It resides in the southern region where the Local Lizard people don't dare to go ever again. And much like how we collect energy from a dam, energy is collected from the heart. An imortal machine. And yes, the Librarians made the Titans. But it's also my belief that they augmented all life on the planet. Giving lesser creatures powerful cognative capabilities. SOME even transcended with the Librarians. ANCIENT HISTORY: You start this part out by mentioning the "extinction of the fifth Librarian Race"... I don't think they went extinct. They ARE Anubis. You Transcend a whole race of beings into a digital archive and, in the end, you'll have one singular mind. All the many voices of individuality will eventually settle into one voice. One mind. But there's one problem. Although this mind is massively powerful, it's also fundamentally insane. And in the end, Anubis wants to die. And the only way to do that is by destroying the mind of the machine. The Immortal Cell. The Librarians DID wind up using the Immortal Cell. There's all sorts of bodies in test tubes through the Southern region. Any number of them could be Librarian. Although they have made themselves immortal in a Transcended state. Their ability to fabricate a human being, after the Titan Wars, and the massive explosion at the begining of the game, is found lacking. Their fabricated humans have blue skin and are all fatally cursed with a heart condition. A heart condition that is remedied quite a bit with biological technology, but subconscious insanity in the Anubis mind make it so that the newly created humans hallucinate and will suffer heart problems frequently, especially when collecting Pieces of Judgement Modules. The insanity subconsciously causes heart failure and hallucinations, not wanting you to succeed. Because ultimately, the story is about suicide. Your drifter is connected to Anubis, but his mind is a save state prior to Ascention. You keep referring to Anubis as a "Jackal God"... She is NO god. The quote: "Harnessing a great wellspring, a perfect immortal cell was crafted to be imbued with all sentient life. A noble goal, though such power terrified others. And brought ruin, as its purpose was transmogrified. The Abhorrent cell still festers deep in the chambers of this world" The Cell is the Transcended human race in a massive super computer, thinking all the things necessary to keep the planets heart beating and etc. But the trauma of transcendance caused insanity. While the whole point of a living planet and Transended men was supposed to bring a wonderful wellspring of life and prosperity, the Titans didn't wind up doing manual labour, the insanity took over and it attacked those that were still mortal, with bodies. After much of the world was broken on the worlds surface, so much so that most of the old world was burried deep under ground (where the immortal cell is), And the people on the surface had no idea where the technology came from or even how to use most of it. The Transcended Anubis decided that in order to prevent anything like the Titan wars from ever happening again, she needs to print out as many Drifters as she can afford to destroy the insanity... Even if that means Anubis has to die. The Wellspring, the floating crown looming above the city. It dicipates at the end of the game. That's the death of Transcended humaity, Anubis. The Insanity is based on the Tarrot card "Judgement" or "Rebirth". Think about it. It all fits. The "Kings of each Kingdom, the Crystal King, The Frog King, The Bird Pope, they've all been highly augmented with Biotechnology. But over the centuries, they've all been driven mad. In the South, it's not that there's a king there. It's more that you're fighting parts of Judgement that have been able to form tangible bodies that are 90-100% robotic, preventing issues like heart problems. Judgement WANTS to make another Titan Wars or anything like it. And that's what you put an end to when you go there. HOWEVER Judgement WANTS to die. And the only way to convince Anubis to kill Judgement/Anubis/Suicide is to hurt the mortal beings on the planet surface. The Frog People, I think, LOST their lands and with there being no place willing to take in refugees after the Titan Wars, the Frog people have been forcing their way into the Otters territories, Killing their king, and hijacking the land for themselves. And why not? They were only following orders from their King. Who hears he voice of Judgement in his biotech brain. The Hierophant listened to Judgement in a different way. He was always prideful and circulated an extremist religious cult. Not all bird people believe in the new cult. It is possible that the Hierophant believes that infanticide of their next generation is the only way for the next generation to have the wisdom to survive in the future, because it requires the current generation to be older and wiser by the time that they have their first borns. Some can be seen in the town, that don't. And the man that survived the Genocide at 6:00 is NOT the only person that survives the Genocide. When you go into the Hidden Monolith room (the Tutorial section of the game... when you get there later on in the Northern Region.) you can use a teleporter. It takes you into the town and you see a very large female bird giving loving care to an egg. The game starts with Anubis embuing her newest creation with all the necessary information he needs to know about the world and his condition. The Pink Drifter, drifter can't combat the Insane mind of Judgment, the split personality of Anubis. Every time he gets a Module of Judgement, his condition gets worse and worse. So he finds SOME of the Modules but he doesn't retrieve them. He knows that if he suffers another heart attack caused by the Module, it'd be his last. But YOU, having been recently printed, you can retrieve the remainder. The pink dies in the South. As he dies, he's speaking to Anubis. His life is flashing before his eyes. And Anubis is there, Anubis gives him an image of a world closer to peace and prosperity, because of the Pink Drifter's efforts. He made the world a better place. The Main Character decends down into the the final chamber, where thousands of years ago, there was a city full of sky scrapers that have long since been mostly burried. When he finds the Mind of the world, the Immortal Cell, The drifter has one hell of a heart attack, and yet he manages to persist past the pain in his heart and the hallucinations and destroys the Cell. The irony is that Judgment is chaotic. And although it wants to die, it also has the lizard brain survival instinct. It both does and doesn't want to die. It's a mind full of rage and torment and it wants to spread that rage and torment and inflict it forever, for as long as it lives. And... it thought it'd grudgingly live forever. And when posed with the threat of death, it selfishly chooses life, to continue the torment on the world. Anubis and Judgment, now dying after the cell has recieved a fatal blow... Judgement gives up. Accepts the death. But Anubis escourts the Drifter to a location down stairs with a similar statue to the first statue/sight the Drifter saw. Anubis retreats back into her thoughts one last time. And the crown-like wellspring -- the Transcendance of Man is slowly obliterated. But in Anubis's final thoughts, she sends you one last thought which is a "thank you" and gives the dying drifter an image of a better world. A world the Drifter made possible. The Drifter dies before Anubis does, surrounded in the beautiful imagery Anubis left for him. Sorry that my thoughts are so scatter brained. But those are my thoughts. I have work EARLY in the morning and it's coming up on 12:30 AM. I played 28 hours of this game this weekend. Pretty much got everything in the game. 100% completion. I LOVE this game. It's amazing. And I didn't want to end my weekend without letting you know my thoughts.
Congrats and Bravo Heart Machine and Local Content! What a truly touching and wonderful game and story. As soon as you touched on the ending and made me realize that The jackal god gave the hero the imagination to die in the world that he saved instead of the reality of dying a dark, crumbling cave all alone made me tear up. A bitter sweet ending and a emotional and profound conclusion to this epic story.
Wholly admire your ability to analyse the game in such a detailed and sensical manner. It makes pefect sense when you explain it, but throughout the game I had zero idea what was happening, I just minced bad guys for two weeks. As long as that wee village is safe and their people are happy now that's the main thing. RIP Drifter, I guess that wasn't just a bad cut.
As HLD easily being my all time favourite game, your video has helped me learn so so so much more about wtf was actually going on and brings a weird sense of closure and resolution to everything I felt, learnt and experienced while playing this game. While HLD was Alex Preston and Heart Machines' labour of love in its highest form, I feel that same sense of conviction and devotion to the game through this video. From the art style to Disasterpeace's sublime score (The Gauntlet being an absolute marvel and masterpiece (sic) of emotional expression) this game and its world mean more to me than any other form of art ever could. Many thanks to you for succinctly and thoughtfully giving us fans this video that helps us make sense of so much that we may have missed in the adrenaline rush of embodying the Drifter through our playthroughs. Long live such Indie phenomenons and as a die-hard fan of the medium of video games, one can only hope that the AAA games industry will one day bring as much 'HEART' (sic) to main stream gaming as this small, indie upstart of a studio (Heart Machine) crammed into what can only be described as one of the most sublime experience of gaming I have ever had. These platitudes to their work ring hollow without the context and knowledge that your video adds to everything HLD, at least to this hopeless, blinded fanboy. May the passion of you and such creators (like Heart Machine, Disasterpiece and you) forever be remembered as testament to what Video Games can actually mean to the Human Experience. From the deepest depths of my heart , thank you to Anyone who played a creative, explanatory (academic) and experiential (read played) role in the all things Hyper Light Drifter. HLD is the highest blessing and boon to us mere mortals.
I just replayed the Special Edition on Switch. Revisiting the lore beforehand really enriched the experience, but watching this breakdown made me only want to jump back in again to find more details. Really makes me appreciate the game even further. This is an incredible analysis and makes a lot of sense, but still leaves a lot open to interpretation.
Do you think it's possible the statue you die at and the statue at the beginning of the game are related? Maybe the main character is stuck in some sort of loop? I feel like the main character was "imbued with immortality" and it's the immortal cell that's keeping him alive. The immortal cell was created from the essence of Anubis, you can see it in Anubis's pink eyes that the pink essence and her are connected. Since this corrupted immortal cell is created from Anubis and it's what gives you immortality, this also gives you a connection to Anubis. Anubis is trying to free itself from it's enslavement that harvests the pink essence, the enslavement symbolized by the Halo that is stuck around it's head that vanishes once you destroy the immortal cell and the fact the immortal cell is the exact same shape. I think this symbolized that Anubis is in some way shackled or enslaved by the immortal cell. Her only way of freeing herself from this is by guiding the beings imbued with the immortal cell to destroy it, but Judgement is fighting against those visions to keep them from doing so. It's also possible there's some form of time travel if it's not immortality, which would be supported in the looping of the end of the game to the beginning and the fact that whenever you die you magically reawaken where you were a moment ago. But that could just tie into the immortality, the idea makes more sense in regards to time travel and also explains how the main character has been around for so long. Lastly maybe the statue head that you begin and end the game next to are actually statues of Anubis's head, as the world theylive in may have worshiped Anubis and it would make sense that since the immortal cell was created from the essence of Anubis, the "spring" of her essence would be located within the earth at her statue, and maybe in resting next to the statue of Anubis, the main character was "chosen" by Anubis and granted the visions. Those are my theories. I know it's open to interpretation but I feel there are some holes in the widely accepted story that my theories may have addressed.
Very impressive analysis! I'm so impressed. Finished the game last night and I think I'll play it again very soon after seeing your video. I'd like to play through the game with your interpretation in mind.
I just finished this game and it is so amazing. I love it's visuals and music and the great depth of mystery that surrounds it's world. Thank you for making this video to help put some of the pieces together! It makes me appreciate this game even more. Cheers.
I just finished the game with full completion and near zero understanding of the actual plot. I greatly appreciated this analysis and it made the game much profound for me. Thanks!
I loved your interpretation...I just played through and beat on iOS and I really, really enjoyed the game despite not understanding the story at all other than the obvious fallen civilizations which you pointed out that I gathered from the picture backstories in the game. But I never really understood the opening or ending so thanks for filling those gaps in. It makes me appreciate this masterpiece even more.
Great video man, I think your theory has a lot of validity to it. This has made my new game + that much more interesting thinking about these details and caused me to read even farther into the lore by just playing. So thank you man! Awesome work!
I tried my best to find out what I can about the story without watching lore videos or reading the wiki but after finishing the game for the 3rd time I still couldn't put my finger on the whole cell thing or what happened to the giants, Thank you very much for the great video It helped me out a lot, Keep up the great work.
Just a correction, there are two bird survivors from the north tribe, the one up on the mountains and the other one is in a secret area on the north side of town that you can access through a hidden path on the north area. You can even see him on the right side of the temple, hatching eggs, on the first image bubble that pops when you talk to the bird on the north.
Nah I don't think the wellspring mentioned by the monoliths refers to a god. I think it just refers to hyperlight(the pink stuff that powers all the old machinery) As we can see from the bird cultists and cannibal frogs, it's a dangerous and volitile substance. The only people in the game seen using it extensively who aren't mutants or lunatics are the drifters who all suffer from some mysterious withering ailment. Kinda reminds me of phazon from the metroid prime games, which is of course a caricature real-life radioactive substances. The devs were heavily inspired by Miyazaki's Nausicaa mangas and borrow the concepts of the Titans(God-Warriors), Jackal entity(the Master of the Garden) and the Cell(The Master of the Crypt) directly from it. On her journey, Nausicaa fights with a sword, confronts one of the God-Warriors, learns the truth about the old world from an ancient library, struggles with radiation poisoning, and defeats a god-like biological supercomputer entombed within a technological ruin. Pretty familiar stuff. According to the monoliths, the Cell was created to change all sentient life, which I think is exactly what it did. This would explain why advanced users of the old technology such as the drifters are able to fall under it's influence even centuries after the fall of the civilization that created it. The drifter sees two versions of the Cell in his visions: One in which it is dark and fractured and another in which it is white and radiant like a diamond. He's also pursued by two hallucinations: Judgement and the Jackal entity. I believe these represent two conflicting aspects of the Cell: The Cell as it was intended and the Cell's corrupted state. The Master of the Crypt in Nausicaa was created to ensure humanity's survival but becomes twisted and destructive in pursuit of its goal. Those who worship it and accept it's power are warped and mutated by it.
and the cell is representing the heart here. Which is a symbol of life. And in the case of the creator of the game also have these two conflicting aspects since it makes him live and gives him everything and can also make him die and lose everything.
That was great man, I haven't played the game yet because waiting for the ps4 release but was really curious about the lore as watching videos I couldn't figure what was going on, but hearing your take on it was awesome and had me wanting to tear up by the end.
Great job! I really appreciated the game but, althought finding almost every secret, i didn't understand completely the role of the "square of light". Thanks for what you've done :D
I cried at the end of it because I played this and was putting it together like that but didn't cry because I had fun dying and now you have completed the emotion I felt while finishing the game.
That was amazing, bravo. One thing I noticed was that every time you died in the game, you woke up laying in the same exact position you fell. My interpretation of that, was that every time you 'died'. It wasn't actually you dying, all it was, was him passing out from his infliction, and while unconscious. Having visions of himself dying, just like the many visions he has of himself dying in his fight with Judgement. I think the Drifter has an ability to see into the future, showing him all the possible ways he could have died. Which explains why he is able to survive so many battles. This would mean, that the drifter is constantly plagued with visions of his own death as he travels the world. The amount of times you died in the game, would be the amount of visions he's had to suffer through.
I've been meaning to read the thread on reddit about the backstory. There's just so much text... Have you read them? Or maybe wrote one? Might be worth linking in the description. Good video, what you say makes a lot of sense.
I think I must've read all of them while I was researching this so I'll just link the sub in general, it could do with being less dead. Believe it or not your videos were the biggest influence on this because they actively made the game better for me. I thought I'd done everything worth doing and then after seeing all the stuff you'd found that I hadn't it doubled my play time, so thanks for that.
+Tterraj42 Hey there I'm probably the author of the reddit thread "with so much text" (Javerlin). I've watched your videos and am very thankful for the all secrets ones. If you have any ideas or questions there are lots of people on the steam forums or redit who'd be happy to discuss things.
oh hi! I uh, still haven't read that wall of text yet... but I will! Glad the videos helped :) Once I go over what you and everyone has compiled, I'll see if I have any left over ideas or questions to contribute :)
Wow man... Your interpretacion was so good. I didn't get my own theory but, this so good. All match and has sense. Nice work buddy, i hope maybe I'll have my own theory and, is so beaty that this Chacal allows Drifter see the world at its best view... Maybe that's will give him peace at the end of his journey...
Man! your video is awesome! I believe that the birdman in the north rescued two orphan eggs if you watch at 10:37 looks like two children are inside the tent , you can see art of their body and beaks.
Thank you for explaining it to me as I was still left in the dark to what had transpire in the game even when I finish it! I know it's still a theory but I see it as canon for now.
Coming back to this in 2020, I'm praying that Solar Ash will be a lot like this. I know that it has voices and thus it loses its unique storytelling. But ever since I played HLD back in 2017 I haven't found a game that has had me as enticed to have more. I'm actually going to be paying for some art to get done so that I can brand my channels around a HLD theme to really show my support for the franchise and all that it has done for me.
@@KenseVT i didnt say that it did or would, all i said is i saw the trailer and it was different in the way its perpspective for the player was presented.. Dont get defensive lol
@@never4getjanuary6th51 Why would you assume I'm being defensive... You're the one that started your message off with "Well for starters" and then talked about the gameplay differences when I posted a lore-related comment on a lore video.
@@KenseVT oh i forgot, we must always stick to the definitive core of the issue. my bad. IU shouldnt have said anything about there being totally different graphics, because that isnt noteworthy distinction or important to anyone in the least. Ill shut up now
I know this video is rather old now, and it was really good, but something I wanted to point out is that at 6:05 you were talking about the Hermit's backstory and that you stated he was the only survivor. On the right side of the image (The one showing the Cultists entering the hatchery) there's another decorative character there. I think that character may be alive and here's the reason why: When you go back to the beginning of the game, where you collapsed on the ground before the pink drifter saved you, you'll notice that you can continue and go inside of a structure. There you find the last monolith with a skeleton next to it. The same one you described in your video. Off to the right of this there's a teleporter pad that will teleport you back to the town where you unlock a new area in there for convenient travel back and forth to the final monolith. Next to the teleporter pad though there's another bird creature that looks A LOT like the one in the image at 6:05 on the right side. I'm not sure if that's the same one or not, but they look very similar.
cried when i finished the game. cried even more from the way you worded how his life ended with anubis rewarding with its fading power in the form of a vision of the world that he saved and thinking about how he might won't even be recognized for saving the world as he died alone in a cavern ;(
Somehow this atmosphere really reminds me of Princess Mononoke's... An unknown form of evil slowly spreading and corrupting the essence of life. ...which is probably a very good metaphor for life as we might experience it.
Can we all agree that the pink drifter was one of the best characters ever made. I know we barely see or interact with him but his story is relatable and his help creates a strong bond with the player as you see him decay yet still try to help. Personally, in the last moments where he died I was almost more sad than when the drifter died and I ended up immediately putting on his set and bow everytime I passed him. I like his character a lot because his motives aren't like ours where we just want to end judgement. He's also there to avenge his family and he also tries to save others from meeting the same fate. In the end he knows he can't make it so he entrusts his purpose, his journey with us and passes on to another life. That kind of tragic story and those types of human motivations are why I feel like his character is really well developed. Wish we get a dlc someday to see his journey and how he was set on this path.
Great video! You mentioned though that there are only 2 other drifters present in the game, but there might be 3 more in the main city. There are 2 characters near the east gate wearing cloaks, one of them is even coughing and wielding a sword. There's another character wearing a white cloak and wielding a sword in the southwest part. Not vert important, but interesting to note.
In my opinion, Judgement’s appearance differs depending on his enemy’s worst fear. When you talk to the pink drifter for the first time, you see a photo of pink being confronted by Judgement in a large, centipede-like form, and not the horned monster that follows us. This infers that the pink drifter’s worst fear is of snakes or bugs, and the regular drifter’s worst fear may be of death, as the form of Judgement that follows him seems to resemble the Grim Reaper.
![[Hyper Light Drifter] Unused Enemies and Bosses](/img/1.gif)
Good news everyone, Heart Machine just dropped a surprise announcement of a follow-up game called *Solar Ash Kingdom* !
Here's me breaking down all the hidden details in the trailer and speculating on how it fits into the story of HLD: ruclips.net/video/-IWrmHTdK_M/видео.html
today i saw a trailer for the first time for the follow up game, Solar Ash Kingdom, and its actually what brought me to this video .. :)
hyper light breaker!!!
That was intense and well done, sir!
+Local Content cool
I want to take this as confirmation that this theory is correct but I'm sure you had other things in mind
you made such a great game.
this was honestly the best game i've ever played... i wish i discovered it back when it was on kickstarter so i could back it. anyway thank you, really.
oh and are the dirks actually librarian super soldiers ?
My own theory on the dirks is that they were created to protect the immortal cell and that the drifter would have been one. I think this, because in one room of the game you see blue skinned person in those tanks, then you see another blue skinned person, but more buff and after that you see a dirk, which I find rather intresting that there is a progression like that in the room.
The town drunk isn't another drifter, he's just the same species as our drifter. The pink knight drifter is possibly another species, and was also contacted by Anubis. You can see other blue skinned people frozen in crystals seemingly fighting on the same side as the titan.
So Drifters are probably a sort of "job" or "culture", and our Drifter is from a near-extinct specie which died in the titan war.
Nice
I reckon they were fighting against the titans.
@@randll That's just not what it looks like in the crystal forest.
Blue-skin military is plainly arrayed in a firing line opposed to a raccoon firing line, casualties visible on both sides. The dead titan is on the blue-skin side of the battle, facing the raccoon line, with none of the blue-skins right beside the titan even looking in its direction. It also apears the blue-skins were about to execute a flanking maneuver on the raccoon line right at the moment the titan was destroyed by the raccoon artillery, and inadvertently caused the sudden crystalization of everyone in the region.
@@CognizantCheddar fascinating.
CognizantCheddar i wish i understood because the titans seemingly came out of thin air (unleashed by judgement) but u can see the southern city building a titan...
That's so sad... the last thing the Drifter thought before he died was where he started...
Not if you see it like T.S. Elliot: "We shall not cease from exploration / And the end of all our exploring / Will be to arrive where we started / And know the place for the first time." The Drifter was granted a final vision of what he had fought for in its ideal state before finally drifting on.
*SPOILERS BTW*
After beating the game I knew I wasn't fully aware of the story and watching this video made the game 100x cooler... those Titan corpses man, I had chills when I walked by them in the game.
edit: I just realized that after the final fight when he's walking with 'Anubis' every time I tried to do a 'drift' he would cough up blood... I was so sad when I came to the realization that my guy wasn't gonna make it after the entire journey I had gone through with him and after the death of Pink Drifter. With a heavy heart, I will say this game is definitely one of the best indie games I've ever played.
1: thanks for reminding me about this game and its beauty, it's been a year and probably more since I've played it and it brought up some fond memories. 2: I will try playing Kentucky Route Zero because you compared them and it's also got good reviews. Thanks for this comment!
Vivante Mixes try transistor also. It's really good.
Agreed. It was so sad . now x1000 after I knew the real meaning
I had some suspicions but I did feel a bit confused about the ending and how it led to the destruction of everything. I mostly also felt sad, because I like the interpretation that he came to the Land of Light to find a cure (immortality) for an illness he already had a lot better than the Drifter just being harmed by Judgment alone. I wanted him to live.
Damnit, this wasn't supposed to make me tear up.
Hyper light drifter, one of the best games ever made.
Your profile picture is off centered
"In the end, it doesn't really matter..." - you know who
Hollow Knight, Hyper Light Drifter and Hotline Miami
Are my three favorite indie games how about you?
@@hoodlum4511 Furi, Dark souls, Rayman and Now Hyper light drifter. I never expected hyper light drifter to be this good and gameplay was just amazing. Best part was, no cutscenes, no dialogues, no giant open world with thousands of trees and random Encounters, this game basically had no crappy filler which made this game even greater. After playing horrible clunky witcher 3, I appreciate this game even more.
made by a guy with a chronic heart disease too, he didn't even know if he'd live long enough to finish it.
This brought chills to my spine... the allegorical nature of this game is... breath taking. Such a powerful entity setting the wheels in motion to destroy itself rather than to possibly succumb to the corruption invading it.
The world was destroyed once by it's blessed power gone wrong... And the Drifters death at the end; All things must pass and be reborn anew. The drifter struggled through their adversity to the limit of their skill, knowing what awaits us all in the end, even the greatest of us.
The Immortal Cell... dies, just as the Drifter does, but with a greater awareness of the world that will be reborn... showcasing the best of both characters. The Creation of a New World for those that will continue the journey, thanks to the player who pushed their limits to turn the wheels in motion.
It speaks volumes, the best that we can do in this life.
My theory was that the protagonist was one of the remaining immortals linked to the wellspring, which is why his condition worsened as judgement corrupted the cell. He dies in the end because he had to destroy the source of his immortality.
That is a valid theory.
That would explain why the drifter is not dieing from his illnes.
this also explains why the Drifter doesn't really "die" in game but respawns all the time.
Then why did the other drifter die?
I always assumed your "deaths" were just dark visions. Notice the way you "wake up" after a death is the same as when you have a sickness vision.
I got the impression that at the very end Anubis was guiding the drifter to the afterlife as a sort of 'thank you' gift to him. Anubis clearly wanted the drifter to perform the tasks, and after the Cell was destroyed Anubis could have just the drifter be buried alive, but that's no way to guide someone to the afterlife, now is it? And as the drifter passes away Anubis can be seen watching over them before going away, back to the Immortal cell.
I also wonder if the pink energy was itself a corrupted form of energy... it always seems to have a relationship with Judgement.
Also - at 7:30 you mention Judgement clouding the vision Anubis is trying to share. I don't see it that way, I thought it was Anubis that was straight up telling the Drifter the story about what happened to the Immortal Cell - it was glowing white and pure (like Anubis' halo) at first, but then became infected, and that's screwing everything up. The Drifter's illness may also be part of the contamination coming from Judgement as well...
I feel that it's not an afterlife the drifter is lead to, but a rebirth into a new life. A cycle that has potentially already occurred.
If the Drifter is reborn why would the game emphasize his dead, static body (which you can revisit whenever you want by reloading the end-game data) and not show any form of new life around it?
I feel the same way. Probably why he's called a "drifter" in he first place.
I like this theory a lot.
I know that I'm 6 years late, but that "pink energy" is what's called the "hyper light".
I love how this seemingly cutesy game shows straight up genocide in the east portion of the map. Otter people were strung up and flayed Ramsay Snow style. Dark shit man, dark shit.
I always thought of "judgment" as a manifestation of the Drifter's fear of death, not as some sort of devil creature. Judgement, to me, was a symbol of death and the "judgement" you receive from God in the afterlife. When the drifter fought judgement, and the moments leading up to that, his brain was starting to decompose and he had more weird hallucinations. When he defeated judgement, all he really did was conquer his fear of death, dying a peaceful death. I don't really have any evidence to back this up, but it's how I like to interpet it. Cool video though.
Your theory may be solid though. Because after the Drifter stabs Judgement, the screen hard cuts to him stabbing the cell. Therefore possibly implying it was all in his head.
In my eyes that makes a lot of sense.Especially because the main creator of the game has a life threatening heart disease ( which , besides the unbelievable fantastic OST, is the main reason, why its such an emotional experience playing it) .This Game is just golden art.Period.:)
late to the party, but something else to back this up, we see the pink drifter talking about this massive centerpede looking thing with a similar pink diamond eye like judgement has ( 8:28 in this video ). This could be the pink drifters own version of Judgment he sees
@@VolcanoHeadProdution so every drifters with the ilness have their own way to see the manifestation of judgment?
"I have no evidence to back this up" should have been a clue.
Bonus mystery: What the hell are the little things the Drifter throws out when you're out of bombs or you switch capes?
Snail snacks! How else would you be able to tame the natural leader?
+Local Content That always looked like candy to me. You can apparently feed some of the animals that stuff, so I assume it's some sort of snack food or something?
+Local Content I thought it was food, or expended energy cartridges for weapons.
+Local Content "Drifter, the candy-bar salesman." Is what always came to my mind.
+Local Content Confetti
it would be really cool to make a DLC about another drifter from the past that was really close to destroy the living cell but he died OR another drifter from the future that helps the other people establish peace between them
+calin gheorghe There is a plan to make a DLC for this game but I dont know what the DLC will be about.
+bomb00000 source?
So, what your saying is a DLC of The Pink Drifter?
as I've just 100%ed New game +, this is very appealing
Coffee Break Hero or a free add on
goddamn.. i always picked up some bits and pieces, but hearing the extra lore from the creators and stuff really brings it all together... this is such a beautiful story. it’s one of my favorite games and hearing your interpretation made me just... tear up. the story is so sad and beautiful
I agree with this whole ''genetical modification'' theory. While exploring the underground labs in the southern desert you see this giant heart beating in a jar. In the background you are able to take a look at a titan which is surrounded by scaffolding and has a hole with several red strings coming out where his heart used to be. So this makes me think, that the Southern race made genetical experiments with titan dna, which also means that the rifle shooting creatures, robots, cyklope creatures and melee creatures (sry couldnt think of a better name for them) are actually made by titan dna. So maybe the titan apocalypse occured after one race managed to power their own titans and attacking the other races. You see members of a drifter like race fighting alongside the titan against the raccoon people, so maybe it wasn't the titans against one race, but one race and some reactivated titans against the others. Another evidence for this is the fact, that you only find ''weapon factorys'' in the south, which also seems to have taken very little damage on the outside against the other regions. Inside the labs you are able to find the remains of members of different races, which perhaps served as experimental ressources against their wills (war prisoners?). But speaking by the broken glass tubes and agressive mutants in the underground labs at some point their technologie turned against them, eventually leading to theit extinction.
(sry for my english its not my native language and this was a very long comment :) )
Groelfberth The pink power source was corrupted so their experiments eventually became corrupted also and turned against them.
This is a fascinating analysis of a fascinating game.
I just finished a playthrough (literally 20 minutes ago), and was looking for answers that I just could not come up with myself.
I will link this video in the final episode of the playthrough, as I think it seems like the most likely explanation that I´ve heard to date.
Very well done, thank you for that!
The pink drifter or as I labeled him "Action Jackson"
I called him Xeon. It just felt like a name that would be normal for someone like him in that world.
edgy
I just called him Hero. As in my hero. Damn I was sad when I got to the south
What if heart machine didn't even know and they'll just agree with the best theory
Stellar I don't think it would be easier to create such an atmospheric world without knowing its story...
Der Jens Unless thats what made it so atmospheric. There being no story line, just great art and them making it in a way so there isn't a story but could be interpreted as if there must be a really in depth story yet really isn't.
Stellar with what the Monolith say this is very unlikely.
There is also a theory that the "Blue-Skinned Race" was artificially created soldiers of the Librarians. You find many Blues trapped in green crystal, or dead, and maybe also in other conditions. Some people also theorize the Drifter may have made himself immortal once, and another says he, and other Blues, have an expiration day. But man, do I love your interpretation!
I had to look this up, as a person who never played this game, to do some art for a friend. Now I'm crying like a bitch.
Okay. I'm going to share my thoughts. My interpretation of the story. Keep in mind, I actually saw your video before playing the game. And I didn't mind spoilers. Primarily because there are impressionist paintings and THIS is an impressionist video game. Probably the first of its kind.
Anyways the Timeline Begins: How did you get the Monoliths translated? I mean, I collected them all and all I got was a stupid outfit. Totally not worth my time.
Anyhoo.The Librarians. I believe they were once humans. The Drifter is human. And although he has blue skin, keep in mind that the Librarians have master Biotechnology. They mastered it all the way to the point to where they've practically brought the entire planet to life. In the game you find its eyes, you find its heart, you even do battle with its mind, and you interact with its life-blood, the pink eplosive substance... well, sometimes explosive. I'm sure there's part of this immortal machine that was designed to turn some of the pink liquid into something explosive.
Alot of the reason why the Pink liquid is used as a power source is because of the heart of the machine, and yes, it's a giant bio mechanical heart in a test tube, pumping the pink liquid. It resides in the southern region where the Local Lizard people don't dare to go ever again. And much like how we collect energy from a dam, energy is collected from the heart. An imortal machine.
And yes, the Librarians made the Titans. But it's also my belief that they augmented all life on the planet. Giving lesser creatures powerful cognative capabilities. SOME even transcended with the Librarians.
ANCIENT HISTORY:
You start this part out by mentioning the "extinction of the fifth Librarian Race"...
I don't think they went extinct. They ARE Anubis. You Transcend a whole race of beings into a digital archive and, in the end, you'll have one singular mind. All the many voices of individuality will eventually settle into one voice. One mind. But there's one problem. Although this mind is massively powerful, it's also fundamentally insane. And in the end, Anubis wants to die. And the only way to do that is by destroying the mind of the machine. The Immortal Cell.
The Librarians DID wind up using the Immortal Cell. There's all sorts of bodies in test tubes through the Southern region. Any number of them could be Librarian. Although they have made themselves immortal in a Transcended state. Their ability to fabricate a human being, after the Titan Wars, and the massive explosion at the begining of the game, is found lacking. Their fabricated humans have blue skin and are all fatally cursed with a heart condition. A heart condition that is remedied quite a bit with biological technology, but subconscious insanity in the Anubis mind make it so that the newly created humans hallucinate and will suffer heart problems frequently, especially when collecting Pieces of Judgement Modules. The insanity subconsciously causes heart failure and hallucinations, not wanting you to succeed. Because ultimately, the story is about suicide.
Your drifter is connected to Anubis, but his mind is a save state prior to Ascention.
You keep referring to Anubis as a "Jackal God"... She is NO god.
The quote: "Harnessing a great wellspring, a perfect immortal cell was crafted to be imbued with all sentient life. A noble goal, though such power terrified others. And brought ruin, as its purpose was transmogrified. The Abhorrent cell still festers deep in the chambers of this world"
The Cell is the Transcended human race in a massive super computer, thinking all the things necessary to keep the planets heart beating and etc. But the trauma of transcendance caused insanity. While the whole point of a living planet and Transended men was supposed to bring a wonderful wellspring of life and prosperity, the Titans didn't wind up doing manual labour, the insanity took over and it attacked those that were still mortal, with bodies.
After much of the world was broken on the worlds surface, so much so that most of the old world was burried deep under ground (where the immortal cell is), And the people on the surface had no idea where the technology came from or even how to use most of it. The Transcended Anubis decided that in order to prevent anything like the Titan wars from ever happening again, she needs to print out as many Drifters as she can afford to destroy the insanity... Even if that means Anubis has to die.
The Wellspring, the floating crown looming above the city. It dicipates at the end of the game. That's the death of Transcended humaity, Anubis.
The Insanity is based on the Tarrot card "Judgement" or "Rebirth".
Think about it. It all fits.
The "Kings of each Kingdom, the Crystal King, The Frog King, The Bird Pope, they've all been highly augmented with Biotechnology. But over the centuries, they've all been driven mad. In the South, it's not that there's a king there. It's more that you're fighting parts of Judgement that have been able to form tangible bodies that are 90-100% robotic, preventing issues like heart problems. Judgement WANTS to make another Titan Wars or anything like it. And that's what you put an end to when you go there. HOWEVER Judgement WANTS to die. And the only way to convince Anubis to kill Judgement/Anubis/Suicide is to hurt the mortal beings on the planet surface.
The Frog People, I think, LOST their lands and with there being no place willing to take in refugees after the Titan Wars, the Frog people have been forcing their way into the Otters territories, Killing their king, and hijacking the land for themselves. And why not? They were only following orders from their King. Who hears he voice of Judgement in his biotech brain.
The Hierophant listened to Judgement in a different way. He was always prideful and circulated an extremist religious cult. Not all bird people believe in the new cult. It is possible that the Hierophant believes that infanticide of their next generation is the only way for the next generation to have the wisdom to survive in the future, because it requires the current generation to be older and wiser by the time that they have their first borns. Some can be seen in the town, that don't. And the man that survived the Genocide at 6:00 is NOT the only person that survives the Genocide. When you go into the Hidden Monolith room (the Tutorial section of the game... when you get there later on in the Northern Region.) you can use a teleporter. It takes you into the town and you see a very large female bird giving loving care to an egg.
The game starts with Anubis embuing her newest creation with all the necessary information he needs to know about the world and his condition.
The Pink Drifter, drifter can't combat the Insane mind of Judgment, the split personality of Anubis. Every time he gets a Module of Judgement, his condition gets worse and worse. So he finds SOME of the Modules but he doesn't retrieve them. He knows that if he suffers another heart attack caused by the Module, it'd be his last. But YOU, having been recently printed, you can retrieve the remainder.
The pink dies in the South. As he dies, he's speaking to Anubis. His life is flashing before his eyes. And Anubis is there, Anubis gives him an image of a world closer to peace and prosperity, because of the Pink Drifter's efforts. He made the world a better place.
The Main Character decends down into the the final chamber, where thousands of years ago, there was a city full of sky scrapers that have long since been mostly burried. When he finds the Mind of the world, the Immortal Cell, The drifter has one hell of a heart attack, and yet he manages to persist past the pain in his heart and the hallucinations and destroys the Cell.
The irony is that Judgment is chaotic. And although it wants to die, it also has the lizard brain survival instinct. It both does and doesn't want to die. It's a mind full of rage and torment and it wants to spread that rage and torment and inflict it forever, for as long as it lives. And... it thought it'd grudgingly live forever. And when posed with the threat of death, it selfishly chooses life, to continue the torment on the world.
Anubis and Judgment, now dying after the cell has recieved a fatal blow... Judgement gives up. Accepts the death.
But Anubis escourts the Drifter to a location down stairs with a similar statue to the first statue/sight the Drifter saw. Anubis retreats back into her thoughts one last time. And the crown-like wellspring -- the Transcendance of Man is slowly obliterated. But in Anubis's final thoughts, she sends you one last thought which is a "thank you" and gives the dying drifter an image of a better world. A world the Drifter made possible.
The Drifter dies before Anubis does, surrounded in the beautiful imagery Anubis left for him.
Sorry that my thoughts are so scatter brained. But those are my thoughts. I have work EARLY in the morning and it's coming up on 12:30 AM. I played 28 hours of this game this weekend. Pretty much got everything in the game. 100% completion. I LOVE this game. It's amazing. And I didn't want to end my weekend without letting you know my thoughts.
brilliant interpretation. shone more light on the story. that little bit extra I needed to fully understand the lore of this awesome game. thank you
Great interpretation of the story; and epic choice of ED music ;)
I see someone is well versed in deciphering clues and cryptograms.
Congrats and Bravo Heart Machine and Local Content! What a truly touching and wonderful game and story. As soon as you touched on the ending and made me realize that The jackal god gave the hero the imagination to die in the world that he saved instead of the reality of dying a dark, crumbling cave all alone made me tear up. A bitter sweet ending and a emotional and profound conclusion to this epic story.
Wholly admire your ability to analyse the game in such a detailed and sensical manner. It makes pefect sense when you explain it, but throughout the game I had zero idea what was happening, I just minced bad guys for two weeks. As long as that wee village is safe and their people are happy now that's the main thing. RIP Drifter, I guess that wasn't just a bad cut.
This was beautiful; it brought me to tears almost at the end. Thank you. I just finished the game for the first time & I can't stop thinking about it.
This is a beautiful and haunting interpretation. Thank you for putting it together.
As HLD easily being my all time favourite game, your video has helped me learn so so so much more about wtf was actually going on and brings a weird sense of closure and resolution to everything I felt, learnt and experienced while playing this game. While HLD was Alex Preston and Heart Machines' labour of love in its highest form, I feel that same sense of conviction and devotion to the game through this video. From the art style to Disasterpeace's sublime score (The Gauntlet being an absolute marvel and masterpiece (sic) of emotional expression) this game and its world mean more to me than any other form of art ever could. Many thanks to you for succinctly and thoughtfully giving us fans this video that helps us make sense of so much that we may have missed in the adrenaline rush of embodying the Drifter through our playthroughs. Long live such Indie phenomenons and as a die-hard fan of the medium of video games, one can only hope that the AAA games industry will one day bring as much 'HEART' (sic) to main stream gaming as this small, indie upstart of a studio (Heart Machine) crammed into what can only be described as one of the most sublime experience of gaming I have ever had. These platitudes to their work ring hollow without the context and knowledge that your video adds to everything HLD, at least to this hopeless, blinded fanboy. May the passion of you and such creators (like Heart Machine, Disasterpiece and you) forever be remembered as testament to what Video Games can actually mean to the Human Experience. From the deepest depths of my heart , thank you to Anyone who played a creative, explanatory (academic) and experiential (read played) role in the all things Hyper Light Drifter. HLD is the highest blessing and boon to us mere mortals.
really fucking well thought out video man, superb analysis for a game with LITERALLY no words.
Man, that was... Quite a punch to the gut. The reality of what happens in the game that seems to be obscure otherwise is quite astonishing. Well done
I just replayed the Special Edition on Switch. Revisiting the lore beforehand really enriched the experience, but watching this breakdown made me only want to jump back in again to find more details. Really makes me appreciate the game even further. This is an incredible analysis and makes a lot of sense, but still leaves a lot open to interpretation.
Do you think it's possible the statue you die at and the statue at the beginning of the game are related? Maybe the main character is stuck in some sort of loop?
I feel like the main character was "imbued with immortality" and it's the immortal cell that's keeping him alive. The immortal cell was created from the essence of Anubis, you can see it in Anubis's pink eyes that the pink essence and her are connected. Since this corrupted immortal cell is created from Anubis and it's what gives you immortality, this also gives you a connection to Anubis. Anubis is trying to free itself from it's enslavement that harvests the pink essence, the enslavement symbolized by the Halo that is stuck around it's head that vanishes once you destroy the immortal cell and the fact the immortal cell is the exact same shape. I think this symbolized that Anubis is in some way shackled or enslaved by the immortal cell. Her only way of freeing herself from this is by guiding the beings imbued with the immortal cell to destroy it, but Judgement is fighting against those visions to keep them from doing so.
It's also possible there's some form of time travel if it's not immortality, which would be supported in the looping of the end of the game to the beginning and the fact that whenever you die you magically reawaken where you were a moment ago. But that could just tie into the immortality, the idea makes more sense in regards to time travel and also explains how the main character has been around for so long.
Lastly maybe the statue head that you begin and end the game next to are actually statues of Anubis's head, as the world theylive in may have worshiped Anubis and it would make sense that since the immortal cell was created from the essence of Anubis, the "spring" of her essence would be located within the earth at her statue, and maybe in resting next to the statue of Anubis, the main character was "chosen" by Anubis and granted the visions.
Those are my theories. I know it's open to interpretation but I feel there are some holes in the widely accepted story that my theories may have addressed.
Very impressive analysis! I'm so impressed. Finished the game last night and I think I'll play it again very soon after seeing your video. I'd like to play through the game with your interpretation in mind.
I just finished this game and it is so amazing. I love it's visuals and music and the great depth of mystery that surrounds it's world. Thank you for making this video to help put some of the pieces together! It makes me appreciate this game even more.
Cheers.
Phenomenal breakdown of an amazing game. Thanks for the video, my friend.
Holy shit.. I almost cried at the end ;--;
I just finished the game with full completion and near zero understanding of the actual plot. I greatly appreciated this analysis and it made the game much profound for me. Thanks!
Knowing the background of the developer gives a lot of context. It really gives a lot more meaning to the story.
I loved your interpretation...I just played through and beat on iOS and I really, really enjoyed the game despite not understanding the story at all other than the obvious fallen civilizations which you pointed out that I gathered from the picture backstories in the game. But I never really understood the opening or ending so thanks for filling those gaps in. It makes me appreciate this masterpiece even more.
Great video man, I think your theory has a lot of validity to it. This has made my new game + that much more interesting thinking about these details and caused me to read even farther into the lore by just playing.
So thank you man! Awesome work!
anyone else get a neon genesis evangelion vibe from this? like end of evangelion? I really got that vibe from this game.
Yeah! So relatable!
Well, there's giant bipedal titans that have attacked everyone, and the entire setting is in a post-apocalpytic state. So sure, why not.
The titans do look like Eva's and the whole immortal cell being implanted in everyone is reminiscent of instrumentality
this game should be called ``a trip to feeladelphia``
Great interpretation! Thanks a lot for putting this together!
More or less what I had in mind.
I really like this interpretation. This edifies the whole genre of video games. Keep up the good work.
Damn the ending is sad. But what a wonderful explanation.
I tried my best to find out what I can about the story without watching lore videos or reading the wiki but after finishing the game for the 3rd time I still couldn't put my finger on the whole cell thing or what happened to the giants,
Thank you very much for the great video It helped me out a lot,
Keep up the great work.
Thankyou for making this, I have piecing the lore together in my head as I play, but lack the patience to document my thoughts.
Thank you for making this. I love stuff like this.
Hyper Light Drifter is currently is my GOTY and i'm doing my new game+ playthrough now. So good!
Great job buddy. I am near the end and loving it but had no real idea of the story.
So amazing, thanks for the video.
Please continue making these... Soon this will be as big as game theorists!
Just a correction, there are two bird survivors from the north tribe, the one up on the mountains and the other one is in a secret area on the north side of town that you can access through a hidden path on the north area. You can even see him on the right side of the temple, hatching eggs, on the first image bubble that pops when you talk to the bird on the north.
+VirgateSpy also there were 2 birdmen sitting near a cauldron somewhere at the beggining of the north area
+calin gheorghe I think they're dead though.
+VirgateSpy there WERE xD
Nah I don't think the wellspring mentioned by the monoliths refers to a god. I think it just refers to hyperlight(the pink stuff that powers all the old machinery) As we can see from the bird cultists and cannibal frogs, it's a dangerous and volitile substance. The only people in the game seen using it extensively who aren't mutants or lunatics are the drifters who all suffer from some mysterious withering ailment. Kinda reminds me of phazon from the metroid prime games, which is of course a caricature real-life radioactive substances. The devs were heavily inspired by Miyazaki's Nausicaa mangas and borrow the concepts of the Titans(God-Warriors), Jackal entity(the Master of the Garden) and the Cell(The Master of the Crypt) directly from it. On her journey, Nausicaa fights with a sword, confronts one of the God-Warriors, learns the truth about the old world from an ancient library, struggles with radiation poisoning, and defeats a god-like biological supercomputer entombed within a technological ruin. Pretty familiar stuff.
According to the monoliths, the Cell was created to change all sentient life, which I think is exactly what it did. This would explain why advanced users of the old technology such as the drifters are able to fall under it's influence even centuries after the fall of the civilization that created it. The drifter sees two versions of the Cell in his visions: One in which it is dark and fractured and another in which it is white and radiant like a diamond. He's also pursued by two hallucinations: Judgement and the Jackal entity. I believe these represent two conflicting aspects of the Cell: The Cell as it was intended and the Cell's corrupted state. The Master of the Crypt in Nausicaa was created to ensure humanity's survival but becomes twisted and destructive in pursuit of its goal. Those who worship it and accept it's power are warped and mutated by it.
and the cell is representing the heart here. Which is a symbol of life. And in the case of the creator of the game also have these two conflicting aspects since it makes him live and gives him everything and can also make him die and lose everything.
literally the first thing i thought playing the game was "oh, Nausicaa!"
That was great man, I haven't played the game yet because waiting for the ps4 release but was really curious about the lore as watching videos I couldn't figure what was going on, but hearing your take on it was awesome and had me wanting to tear up by the end.
Great job! I really appreciated the game but, althought finding almost every secret, i didn't understand completely the role of the "square of light". Thanks for what you've done :D
I think this is pretty legitimate. Great job figuring out the lore and story. From the way you described it, I don't think there will be a sequel.
I cried at the end of it because I played this and was putting it together like that but didn't cry because I had fun dying and now you have completed the emotion I felt while finishing the game.
This was absolutely brilliant and helped a lot. Thanks dude.
That was amazing, bravo.
One thing I noticed was that every time you died in the game, you woke up laying in the same exact position you fell. My interpretation of that, was that every time you 'died'. It wasn't actually you dying, all it was, was him passing out from his infliction, and while unconscious. Having visions of himself dying, just like the many visions he has of himself dying in his fight with Judgement. I think the Drifter has an ability to see into the future, showing him all the possible ways he could have died. Which explains why he is able to survive so many battles.
This would mean, that the drifter is constantly plagued with visions of his own death as he travels the world. The amount of times you died in the game, would be the amount of visions he's had to suffer through.
Thanks so much for the hard work on this video. This is really well done. Bonus points for adding in Okami music!
I've been meaning to read the thread on reddit about the backstory. There's just so much text... Have you read them? Or maybe wrote one? Might be worth linking in the description. Good video, what you say makes a lot of sense.
I think I must've read all of them while I was researching this so I'll just link the sub in general, it could do with being less dead.
Believe it or not your videos were the biggest influence on this because they actively made the game better for me. I thought I'd done everything worth doing and then after seeing all the stuff you'd found that I hadn't it doubled my play time, so thanks for that.
oh cool, glad you enjoyed them :)
It's such a good game. I do hope the developers do more with the world that it's in.
+Tterraj42 Hey there I'm probably the author of the reddit thread "with so much text" (Javerlin). I've watched your videos and am very thankful for the all secrets ones. If you have any ideas or questions there are lots of people on the steam forums or redit who'd be happy to discuss things.
oh hi! I uh, still haven't read that wall of text yet... but I will! Glad the videos helped :) Once I go over what you and everyone has compiled, I'll see if I have any left over ideas or questions to contribute :)
+Tterraj42 don't be lazy and read them
good shit, you cleared up a lot of things I didn't quite understand, thanks!
Damn. Nice work with this, I really enjoyed it.
Ugh. Love this game so much! Esp love all the story interpretations!
Beautiful. Absolutely beautiful.
made me feel a whole lot better about the ending thanks :)
RIP in Pink Drifter and the others it was always so sad to see the ones that didn’t make it..... Also our player TT
That was amazing, thank you. Nice to get more insight on my favorite game
Wow man... Your interpretacion was so good. I didn't get my own theory but, this so good. All match and has sense.
Nice work buddy, i hope maybe I'll have my own theory and, is so beaty that this Chacal allows Drifter see the world at its best view... Maybe that's will give him peace at the end of his journey...
Thanks for the video mate. I needed to understand all of this.
One of my favorite games of all time and now explained
Thanks :)
I waited until I finished the game to watch this video, and thank you, great job :)
Great analysis, sir. Thanks for this.
Beautifully done - thanks!
I dont know hooooow you found all this out man. Great job!
Man! your video is awesome! I believe that the birdman in the north rescued two orphan eggs if you watch at 10:37 looks like two children are inside the tent , you can see art of their body and beaks.
Really good video, I love this game. It has been 4 years since I've had it and still haven't finished it.
Thank you so much for this, Sir!
It would be nice to see HLD 2 with a story about the Titans.
Send this man more likes!!!!
At least we're getting Solar Ash :)
Thank you for explaining it to me as I was still left in the dark to what had transpire in the game even when I finish it!
I know it's still a theory but I see it as canon for now.
Cryptically beautiful
Coming back to this in 2020, I'm praying that Solar Ash will be a lot like this. I know that it has voices and thus it loses its unique storytelling. But ever since I played HLD back in 2017 I haven't found a game that has had me as enticed to have more. I'm actually going to be paying for some art to get done so that I can brand my channels around a HLD theme to really show my support for the franchise and all that it has done for me.
well for starters its third person so the graphics and mechanics are totally different. the trailer looks awesome AF
@@never4getjanuary6th51 Just because the gameplay changes doesn't mean their way of giving lore will change too ^^
@@KenseVT i didnt say that it did or would, all i said is i saw the trailer and it was different in the way its perpspective for the player was presented.. Dont get defensive lol
@@never4getjanuary6th51 Why would you assume I'm being defensive... You're the one that started your message off with "Well for starters" and then talked about the gameplay differences when I posted a lore-related comment on a lore video.
@@KenseVT oh i forgot, we must always stick to the definitive core of the issue. my bad. IU shouldnt have said anything about there being totally different graphics, because that isnt noteworthy distinction or important to anyone in the least. Ill shut up now
When I first played HLD, I was super confused on the story. I was like "Are we Hyper Light Drifters that are awoken to restore the world to light?"
I know this video is rather old now, and it was really good, but something I wanted to point out is that at 6:05 you were talking about the Hermit's backstory and that you stated he was the only survivor. On the right side of the image (The one showing the Cultists entering the hatchery) there's another decorative character there. I think that character may be alive and here's the reason why:
When you go back to the beginning of the game, where you collapsed on the ground before the pink drifter saved you, you'll notice that you can continue and go inside of a structure. There you find the last monolith with a skeleton next to it. The same one you described in your video. Off to the right of this there's a teleporter pad that will teleport you back to the town where you unlock a new area in there for convenient travel back and forth to the final monolith. Next to the teleporter pad though there's another bird creature that looks A LOT like the one in the image at 6:05 on the right side. I'm not sure if that's the same one or not, but they look very similar.
This made me apprietiate the game more. Thank you.
cried when i finished the game. cried even more from the way you worded how his life ended with anubis rewarding with its fading power in the form of a vision of the world that he saved and thinking about how he might won't even be recognized for saving the world as he died alone in a cavern ;(
Somehow this atmosphere really reminds me of Princess Mononoke's... An unknown form of evil slowly spreading and corrupting the essence of life.
...which is probably a very good metaphor for life as we might experience it.
Great video!
Thanks!
Great! I enjoyed the video. Well done! Thank you.
Can we all agree that the pink drifter was one of the best characters ever made. I know we barely see or interact with him but his story is relatable and his help creates a strong bond with the player as you see him decay yet still try to help. Personally, in the last moments where he died I was almost more sad than when the drifter died and I ended up immediately putting on his set and bow everytime I passed him. I like his character a lot because his motives aren't like ours where we just want to end judgement. He's also there to avenge his family and he also tries to save others from meeting the same fate. In the end he knows he can't make it so he entrusts his purpose, his journey with us and passes on to another life. That kind of tragic story and those types of human motivations are why I feel like his character is really well developed. Wish we get a dlc someday to see his journey and how he was set on this path.
Loved the video, really me appreciate the game even more. Thank you!
Love the analysis!
Fantastic video. Very useful!
Amazing video! Great job!
Great video dude!
Great video! You mentioned though that there are only 2 other drifters present in the game, but there might be 3 more in the main city. There are 2 characters near the east gate wearing cloaks, one of them is even coughing and wielding a sword. There's another character wearing a white cloak and wielding a sword in the southwest part. Not vert important, but interesting to note.
holy god man this explaining was very good i sub and good job man
I don't always play video games, but when I do, I prefer Hyper Light Drifter.
In my opinion, Judgement’s appearance differs depending on his enemy’s worst fear. When you talk to the pink drifter for the first time, you see a photo of pink being confronted by Judgement in a large, centipede-like form, and not the horned monster that follows us. This infers that the pink drifter’s worst fear is of snakes or bugs, and the regular drifter’s worst fear may be of death, as the form of Judgement that follows him seems to resemble the Grim Reaper.