I played HLD before, but at some point I stopped without finishing. I know I tried to go back to it a while after that and was totally lost and was unable to find anything new. I decided to go back and try it again (a long ass time later now), and my save was deleted or on an old hdd. So I restarted. I went west, beat the first boss, went north beat that guy, went east and didn't find a way to the boss at all? I also at some point realized there are a lot more things I hadn't found all of. I found my first key in the third area I went to. I realized there are more than 4.. modules? in each quadrant I think.
I have most upgrades from the shops in town (at least the relevant looking ones). But I feel like I am missing something significant. I have since gone back through each area again. I'm at 6 keys. I still didn't see a way to the third boss. One alley in town required a direction but leads to an npc that does nothing? I haven't done the soccer game, my highest dash chain is 40.
Are there areas with no hint at all that require dashing off screen? I know some you need to wait for the camera to shift and shoot the pylon and a lot go through walls with basically no indicator (I feel like I run into literally every wall in the game just to make sure). It bothers me that I am so frustrated, because I really like the game. But I think this is where I was the first time through- stuck. I feel like I remembered some long dash or something and there are some areas where It feels like it's needed. Am I misremembering that? Maybe platforms raise up in those areas instead...
I like the exploration and the combat. I'm liking the re-exploration multiple times to literally no avail a lot less. I don't really want to watch guides to find the things I missed (especially since I feel like I'll have to watch the whole game basically). It's not how I like to play games. But I'm also coming up fast to my giving up point after this last play session. I found a few money things but not much else at all.
Mostly just a rant I guess. But is it possible I'm missing some whole mechanic somehow?