

Finding the sweet spot and discovering new ones is what it’s all about with this game. Considering the type of game that it tries to meld with it, it makes sense seeing as how the frequent acquisition of loot and death can’t both be constant without one bringing down the other to some degree.Īs a result, Drifting Lands chooses to emphasize the loot grab, which in turn pushes the threat of death to the background in favor of allowing the player to experiment with different weapons that they loot or abilities that they unlock through in-game currency.Īs an Action-RPG, Drifting Lands offers enough loot to keep things interesting, without the narrative chops to back it up.Įxperimenting with different builds is where Drifting Lands flies highest, as there are a plethora of different weapon types that you can mix and match with different attacks. Drifting Lands doesn’t lay down the law as harshly as other games in the genre like Ikaruga, though you will die (or Automatically Retreat on the lower difficulty) from time to time.

One of the things you can always count on with a Shmup is that you are going to have your reflexes tested, with death being a constant reminder of how brutal the genre can be. That said, here’s what you need to know about Drifting Lands.Īs a Shmup, Drifting Lands sacrifices some of the difficulty to keep looting as a constant presence in its game loop. If anything, I wished Alkemi had toned down its story elements (or just gotten rid of them altogether) and focused entirely on its core gameplay. That said, it’s perfectly fine if that’s what you’re into as the whole point of Shmups is to shoot stuff within skill-based gameplay parameters, and the Diablo-style loot grabs manage to keep things interesting from a game mechanics perspective. Throw in the handful of recycled level backgrounds and a story that tries to come off as more important than it really is, and what you’re left with is the grind to improve your ship across missions you’ll have little emotional investment in. That said, while Drifting Lands is a worthwhile experiment, its execution doesn’t fully come together, mainly due to a prolonged mission structure that doesn’t deviate much from shooting everything on screen till it blows up or flies away with patterns of enemies that you’ll start to recognize within the first hour. That’s Drifting Lands, in a nutshell, combined with a beautiful hand-painterly aesthetic, it’s a game that succeeds at standing out on first glance amidst a digital shelf of similar looking offerings within their respective genres. That is to say, I have played my fair share of Action RPGs and Shmups (Shoot ‘Em Ups), but never a game that tried to tie the two genres together. Want to report bugs, ask the team what is planned for this or that, suggest ideas or improvements, know what we're up to for the next update.One thing that I can safely say about Drifting Lands is that I have never played a game quite like it, which in this day and age, is quite extraordinary. But if you want to shine, you’ll have to be smart in the selection of your special powers and how you create synergies with your equipment!

You enjoy the progressive design of a powerfull build through skills and inventory optimization ?Your class will offer more resistant ships, able to put up with a lot more impacts. You’ll benefit from a smart customization of your gear, but your performances on the field will be mainly based on your skill. You’re a super player of bullet hells and don’t mind dying on the first few impacts ?You’ll find a perfect class for you with high-damages / low-resistances interceptors.

100 levels of difficulty to climb with your skill or your ability to optimize your gear and powers.randomy generated missions for replayability.Then and only then a different kind of shoot'em'up, accessible to a wider audience than usual. That's what is Drifting Lands in essence: first and foremost an action-RPG (Hack'n'Slash or however you may call this). About This Game Imagine a Diablo-like game with the mouse clicking part replaced by an horizontal shoot'em'up core gameplay.
