A Hat in Time

The game is absolutely great, the story is fantastic and the music is a masterpiece. Also with the GOG version, a lot of mods can be installed from third party websites. The game is clearly worth its money.

I grew up playing the early n64 games that Hat in Time, and a few others, have been trying to pay homage to. This was also the first Kickstarter to really catch my eye, and though I didn't end up backing it, I am so happy it got made. One thing I was not expecting was just how well Hat Kid controls. Using an arsenal of options from a double jump to a scooter, you can navigate the world very smoothly and I rarely had trouble getting her to go where I wanted. This also combined with smooth animations just ends up making the movement feel very right and I had a ton of fun just exploring and moving around the world in general. The aesthetics and design of everything are super cute and very appealing. They managed to make several distinct worlds all using a similar aesthetic that all felt very different but still cohesive. This is to say nothing of the soundtrack, which I didn't find a single track I didn't love. There are a few issues I found, however, but they mostly relate to the quality of life and a few minor bugs. The first set of problems is that I feel there is a missing lay of user experience elements. Things like a total for all the yarn and coins you have found, or any sort of way to tell when you have found everything in a given level really. Additionally, several features, like swapping out stage music for remixed versions, feel a little hollow without an additional feature like a sound test. The final set of issues is there are a few minor bugs. Most of the ones I found were camera glitches, but I did have one boss teleport under the floor and just kind of hanging out there for a while before he decided to fight me again... At the end of the day, this is a gold standard for 3d platformers, it's charming and fun to play and I'm definitely going to be playing it again and again.

This game is a love letter to a genre that hardly even exists anymore, especially not on PC. It really plays like a GameCube 3D platformer, and would feel right at home on that system! It doesn't quite have the same strong identity of some of the classics, but it's still a real breath of fresh air, and if you feel nostalgic for these kind of games you *have* to try it. It's 10 - 12 hours of great lighthearted fun, through vibrant and varied worlds brimming with charm and creativity. The imitation of the classics extends to the way the game plays though, for better and for worse. The controls aren't as tight as they could be; traversing across smaller platforms can be really finicky, and it can result in falls to your death that you won't always feel are your own fault. The camera is old fashioned too. Left and right camera movement works fine, but moving the analog stick up and down simply moves the camera closer or further away, rather than tilting it up and down. This is rarely a problem in combat, but it does feel archaic when you're just exploring and trying to find things. Another minor problem I have is that the game doesn't always give you a clear idea of what to do next or direct you to what you're missing. On one of the worlds I had no idea how to unlock new chapters until I googled it. The last world doesn't give you any clues at all, and instead just drops you in there for you to work things out yourself. Perhaps I'm just impatient, but I'm not 13 anymore either, and I don't have time to aimlessly explore until I figure out what I'm supposed to do. I dont need my hand held, but I do need a little more direction than this game was sometimes willing to give me. So it's not perfect, but it's a very fun and satisfying game, not to mention adorable, and maybe even a flawed gem. Leaving each session of playing a game with a big smile on my face is something that doesn't happen nearly enough these days, and that alone makes me want to recommend A Hat in Time.

This game is fun but it crashes for me at some random point, making it quite hard to get through.

This game has a very strong first impression, with a colourful, quirky and twee setting and a great first level which is a real joy to play. It’s cute and funny with great music and looks really good, although it is a bit rough round the edges and some levels (like Vanessa’s Mansion) show how cheaply it has been put together. The quality of the levels varies quite a bit, from large and explorative open areas to confined, linear sequences which are just not that fun to play. The levels are quite inventive, but the same enemies reappear far too often and not all of the hats are used to their best extent. The camera is a constant annoyance, especially in the compact levels, and the difficulty gap between the main levels (easy) and the bosses (hard) is a bit of a shock. That being said, the bosses aren’t too unreasonable once you get the hang of them, and much like the other characters, they are memorable and fun to meet. Overall, it’s a solid platformer that’s definitely fun to play, but is too short and loses the magic too early.