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.
I used to be all about collector’s editions, but then my house collapsed under a load of useless plastic crap and I backed off. I am willing to make the odd exception for something special, and this $65 version of Heart Machine’s challenging action RPG qualifies.
Available for PC, PlayStation 4 or Xbox One, the game itself is a digital code delivered automatically for PC, or eventually in the case of the unreleased console versions.
The collector’s edition is all about that Super Nintendo-style box and what comes inside.
There is nothing inside the light blue replica SNES cartridge, molded with colored plastic in the fine tradition of real SNES games before it, but it would look damn fine on a shelf sticking out of a classic console.
Then there’s the 24 page game manual. This will sound weird, but I can almost smell the ink. I’ve spent a good bit of time sniffing manual ink in my life. I would really love to smell this book. That’s all I am saying.
The Hyper Light Drifter collector’s edition goes on sale tomorrow, with an expected ship date of late summer. There are no set quantities available at the moment, but I assume iam8bit will have to draw the line somewhere.