I’ve played Hyper Light Drifter a few times now, and I always start by going North. I’m drawn by the chilly, snow-covered peaks. But once there, this particular dead and lonely world rocks me to my emotional and spiritual core.

Players of indie games on Switch are driven in great part by "nostalgia," Nintendo said today at a Game Developers Conference event at which it revealed the top 10 best-selling Switch indie games, a list that includes Celeste, Stardew Valley, and Shovel Knight.

It turns out if you want to get the LA-based musician Will Wiesenfeld, stage name Baths, talking about video games, you should ask him about Diablo 2. In video game circles he's known for the theme song for this summer's Dream Daddy, as well as the understated trailer music for Hyper Light Drifter's stunningly successful Kickstarter campaign. Listening to Baths' densely packed electronic music for the better part of five years, I never once imagined the person behind it hunched over a computer deciding which synergy of Barbarian abilities to pursue.

Brawlout is a fighting game in the vein of Super Smash Bros. that's full of uppercuts and special attacks. The upcoming Switch port will let players bring their fighting game on the go while adding a surprising fighter to the roster: The sword-slinging hero from Hyper Light Drifter.

Tumbleseed was a difficult, tricky game. Outlast 2 was an uphill march through dangerous enemies. Recently, both have gotten easier thanks to patches and tweaks. Many games have had their difficulty reduced after release. While this makes them accessible to more players, it also raises questions.

Hyper Light Drifter is backbreaking, but never needlessly so. The dash-and-slash game is in equal parts elegantly designed and punishing, posing the fairest challenge I've ever encountered in a game. A year post-release, Hyper Light Drifter's clean (and ball-busting) gameplay still has me addicted to the adrenaline rush.

Most digital download only games don't get a fancy collector's edition release. Hyper Light Drifter is not most download only games, and its collectors edition, up for presale tomorrow from iam8bit, is very fancy indeed.

Hyper Light Drifter is beautiful, mysterious and hard as hell. To some, that difficulty is central to its design. To others, it's an obstacle preventing them from enjoying its other parts. Since release, the developers have tried to patch the game to appease both audiences, but it's been a challenge.

On this week's Kotaku Splitscreen I'm joined by game designer, composer and Idle Thumb Chris Remo. We spend most of the episode talking about jazz.

The devilishly difficult Hyper Light Drifter has been tearing up the Steam charts since release, meaning that players have flocked to the reviews section talk about why they love Heart Machine's creation so damn much.

My favourite thing about Hyper Light Drifter is all the new swear words I invented while playing it.

After reaching its original crowdfunding goal of US$27,000 back in September 2013, Hyper Light Drifter has finally become available for pre-order -- almost two years after its original deadline.

Video: Hyper Light Drifter has a badass new trailer, and we know when it's coming out: Q2 2016.

Briefly: One of the brains behind the surreal indie game Hyper Light Drifter just unveiled his next pretty-looking project. It's called Kyoto Wild, and you can learn (a little bit) more about it here.