LogFAQs > #932531936

#50




Years of release: 2017 (PC/PS4/XB1), 2019 (Switch), I remember there was a beta version earlier than that but I don't remember when
Beaten?: Currently playing!

My god, is this just what video games are now? Small teams of plucky developers do what it took much larger studios to do 20 years ago, and they do it better? We live in really awesome times for gaming when humble little games like A Hat In Time exist that put an entire genre of video games on notice - in this case, the 3D collectathon platformer of the 90's.

I'm only about halfway through the game so far so I can't quite fully judge the whole thing, therefore ranking this game was really tough. Its peaks have been high and its valleys have been low. The best levels in this game so far have been like transcendantly good and the worst levels have felt unfinished. It's very weird!

Just take act 2, for instance, the bird movie world. The first level is an inspired sneaking level through an active movie studio; getting written up fines for knocking over set pieces and causing a general ruckus, while it doesn't amount to anything, is funny, gives the level a lot of personality and surprise, and the level is fun to play. The murder mystery on the train is incredibly long and involved with a cool sepia aesthetic and hilarious crows that interrogate you for your internet passwords; it's so fleshed out that it's amazing that it's just a single level. The speedrun level on the train is short, but it's pure platforming goodness that's fun from start to finish. And the parade level in the city is ingenious; having to keep moving while a parade following you keeps threatening to crash into you and fireworks are going off everywhere around you is a great concept, and the level is legitimately challenging to beat.

And then, on the other hand, this world also contains two levels that are completely useless; one where you have to run around the city building your 'brand' as a movie star with the fans, but there's basically nothing to it, no challenges or surprises at all, just going to locations and watching your fan total increase. And the final level is like they forgot to make a level - an incredibly long level of exploring a warehouse where there's nothing going on but I kept getting lost among stacks and stacks of boxes anyway. Completely dull, but the boss fight at the end was good.

A Hat In Time keeps being like this for me. There are so many moments here that are well thought out and full of charm, and then there's levels that just don't feel fully baked. But I'm choosing to focus on the good over the bad here, because most of what I've played has been good so far - levels with inventive mechanics and cute characters and lots of interesting surprises. Most of the time, it really puts the 3D platformers of old to shame - this one plays faster and has more variety and is just all around more polished. I will keep playing, and I expect good things about 80% of the time. At its heights this is like a top 20 game.