Drifting Lands
- June 5, 2017
- alkemi
- 18h median play time
Sometimes, a game comes along that has you wondering why multiple genres haven’t been combined before.
Get on Steam
Get on itch.io Store"Drifting Lands" is an action-packed, hack-and-slash side-scrolling game with RPG elements. Pilot your aircraft through treacherous terrains and enemies, while upgrading and customizing your ship to fit your playstyle. Engage in challenging boss battles and intense missions, with the freedom to choose your own path as you progress through the game.
Mac OS
PC
Windows
Reviews
- Drifting Lands offers a unique blend of shoot-'em-up and ARPG mechanics, providing a fresh experience with engaging gameplay.
- The game features beautiful graphics and a fantastic soundtrack, enhancing the overall atmosphere and enjoyment.
- The skill and itemization system allows for diverse playstyles and customization, making each run feel unique and rewarding.
- The game suffers from a lack of variety in enemies and levels, leading to repetitive gameplay and a feeling of stagnation.
- Many players find the loot system frustrating, as it often results in underwhelming upgrades and a tedious grind for better equipment.
- The user interface and controls can be cumbersome, particularly for those using a gamepad, which detracts from the overall experience.
- story60 mentions
- 13 % positive mentions
- 70 % neutral mentions
- 17 % negative mentions
The story in the game is generally viewed as weak and disjointed, with many players finding it unengaging and repetitive, often feeling like an afterthought to the gameplay. While some appreciate the potential of the narrative, it frequently ends abruptly and lacks depth, with missions often requiring players to replay levels multiple times, detracting from the overall experience. Despite these shortcomings, the core gameplay loop remains addictive, and the game offers a variety of missions that can tie into the plot, albeit in a limited and often unsatisfying manner.
“The game offers different approaches which make it accessible both for casual players like me, who just want to play through the story with some challenge, and for achievers and perfectionists.”
“Content-wise, there is not that much variety, but the story mode will give players a solid 20 hours of gameplay, with additional options of running through levels and increasing leaderboard scores.”
“Missions carry on the plot.”
“The story ends abruptly just as it seems to get interesting.”
“The story doesn't appear to be anything to sneeze at and mostly happens in tiny vignettes between missions that largely consist of similar waves and patterns between missions, so I'm not going to spend much time on it.”
“The end of the story is rather anticlimactic and sudden, and I was a little disappointed.”
- gameplay37 mentions
- 41 % positive mentions
- 51 % neutral mentions
- 8 % negative mentions
The gameplay is characterized by a mix of enjoyable mechanics and a repetitive progression system, where equipment primarily enhances stats without significantly altering gameplay dynamics. While the core shooting mechanics and RPG elements provide a fun and engaging experience, many players find the grind and lack of meaningful progression detract from the overall enjoyment. Despite some criticisms regarding level design and UI, the game offers a visually polished and addictive loop of missions, loot, and upgrades, appealing to fans of the shooter genre.
“Gameplay flows nicely, abilities are fun and varied, graphics are sharp and animations are satisfyingly fluid.”
“Funny and challenging, shoot them all is a genre that sometimes makes me think of headaches or eyeaches, but in this one that pain is not present with gorgeous aesthetics and interesting levels, as well as the RPG mechanics.”
“The core gameplay loop of short missions - loot - upgrade is quite addicting.”
“This is especially true since every piece of equipment - except for the special features of a fraction of unique items - does nothing but tinker with your numbers, not opening up new capabilities in terms of the gameplay, so the progression never feels like you're going places, since the enemies' numbers are also going up as well, and so your attacks look and perform quite similarly at endgame as they did near the start of the game.”
“Gameplay is slow and the levels got samey real quick.”
“I just came back to see how it was, and the UI was still very bad, very slow gameplay, poor feel of progression.”
- grinding20 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The grinding aspect of the game has received mixed reviews, with many players finding it excessive and unfulfilling. While some appreciate the addictive nature of the gameplay, they criticize the lack of meaningful progression and the repetitive nature of procedurally generated levels. Overall, players feel that the grinding detracts from the experience, making it feel tedious and less rewarding, especially in a single-player context.
“The basic mechanics were good, but there's a lot of grinding due to stages being procedurally generated, and the feeling of progression is basically nonexistent.”
“I quite shortly after the first boss because the game showed little indication of making the gameplay more interesting (read: less grindy and just about slowly building bigger numbers) and every 5 minutes of gameplay was followed by 3 minutes of navigating menus to inspect items and potentially equip one upgrade.”
“Grinding out DPS weapons to be able to blast through enemies without desperately trying to focus down two of the twelve wasn't fun for me anymore, and I stopped playing about partway through grade 3 (of grade 10 - items stop leveling after grade 6, so grades 7 to 10 are all purely your own skill.) It didn't help that many levels share the same patterns over and over, so individual levels just feel blurred and same-y, making grinding new levels just a matter of slightly different numbers, rather than any sort of new locale or monsters or effects.”
- music20 mentions
- 85 % positive mentions
- 5 % neutral mentions
- 10 % negative mentions
The music in the game is widely praised, with many reviewers highlighting the superb soundtrack and catchy tunes that enhance the overall experience. Players appreciate the atmospheric quality of the music, which complements the game's graphics and gameplay mechanics, making it a standout feature. Overall, the soundtrack is described as top-notch, contributing significantly to the enjoyment and immersion of the game.
“But it's beautiful, the soundtrack is top notch, the skills are awesome, and the more you dig into the RPG elements, the more it keeps you coming back.”
“Definitely a great game to play and have fun, with cool graphics and amazing music!”
“The soundtrack is awesome.”
“The base music is so depressive I feel like I'm playing This War of Mine.”
“And the music!”
- graphics17 mentions
- 76 % positive mentions
- 24 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are consistently praised for their sharpness, vibrant colors, and fluid animations, contributing to an overall visually appealing experience. Reviewers highlight the beautiful art style and aesthetic, which enhance the gameplay atmosphere, while also noting the absence of bugs and high-quality sound design. Overall, the graphics are described as top-notch, making the game enjoyable and engaging.
“Gameplay flows nicely, abilities are fun and varied, graphics are sharp and animations are satisfyingly fluid.”
“This game has beautiful graphics and sound design, and I did not encounter any bugs, so good quality software.”
“A unique atmosphere blended with lovely graphics and great shoot 'em up gameplay with new and punchy abilities and weapons.”
- replayability4 mentions
- 75 % positive mentions
- -50 % neutral mentions
- 75 % negative mentions
The game offers excellent replayability, featuring a variety of unique ship choices and extensive customization options that keep the experience fresh. Players appreciate the enjoyable shooting mechanics and the diverse ideas that contribute to its lasting appeal, making it a title worth revisiting over the years.
“Really good replayability, and plenty of options for unique ship choices.”
“Loads of replay value, customization, and some vastly different ideas compared to most shooters. This is an enjoyable title that I've played for many years.”
“The shooting is fun and has tons of replayability.”
“The game lacks significant replayability; once you've completed the main story, there's little incentive to return.”
“While the initial experience is fun, the lack of diverse gameplay options makes it hard to justify multiple playthroughs.”
“After finishing the game, I found that there were no compelling reasons to dive back in, as the content felt repetitive.”
- humor1 mentions
- 300 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is noted for being engaging and entertaining, providing a lighthearted contrast to the challenging gameplay. Players appreciate the combination of funny elements with beautiful aesthetics and intriguing levels, which enhances the overall experience without causing frustration.
“The humor in this game is spot on, making every challenge feel light-hearted and enjoyable.”
“I love how the witty dialogue and funny character interactions keep me laughing while I play.”
“The game's quirky sense of humor adds a delightful twist to the gameplay, making it a memorable experience.”
- atmosphere1 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The atmosphere is praised for its unique blend of charming graphics and engaging shoot 'em up gameplay, enhanced by innovative abilities and weapons that contribute to an immersive experience.
“A unique atmosphere blended with lovely graphics and great shoot 'em up gameplay, featuring new and punchy abilities and weapons.”
Critic Reviews
Drifting Lands PC Review
Drifting Lands is a gorgeous shoot 'em up with aRPG-style skills let down by unmemorable level design and procedurally generated encounters.
76%Line ‘Em Up, Shoot ‘Em Down
Should you buy this game? If you are a fan of the shmup genre, then yes you should. Drifting Lands is a solid shmup that belongs in the collection of any fan of the genre. A few odd design choices and a distractingly bad story hold it back from being excellent, but it is a fun game in spite of it. Just be aware that if you're looking for a danmaku, you might be left a little wanting. If you've never tried a shmup before, this is still a good purchase, though you might want to start on Easy to make the game ease up on the perma-loss aspect. The game does have a demo, so if you're sitting on the fence, download that and see for yourself. Now if you'll parden me, I need to get back to looking for a straight laser drop.
75%Drifting Lands Review
Drifting Lands is rare as a game these days in that it is actually fun and the hours slip by while grinding for better gear. Yes, considering this is a shoot 'em up, the gear aspect is the best part of it. While there are some repetitive issues that start to show themselves hours into the game, the entire package is so coherent as to be recommended. Fans of either shmups or RPGs will find a lot to their liking here, and the rare fan of both is highly encouraged to check it out.
80%
