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| A fun little adventure. |
A Hat In Time is an indie platformer developed by Gears for Breakfast. It was initially kickstarted by creator Jonas Kaerlev due to him feeling a shortage of 3D platformers being released over the years. Drawing heavily from classic 3D platformers such as Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine, Psychonauts, and Banjoo-Kazooie, A Hat In Time puts its own twist on the genre with witty-writing and charming aesthetics. It's also one of last year's underrated indies that didn't get enough love and one that I entirely missed. Still, I managed to get around to playing it and after completing the game, it was a genuinely fun time.
The story follows a young girl named Hat Kid who's heading back to home in her spaceship. However, she's caught up in trouble when a nearby planet's Mafia after refusing to pay a toll. Her ship gets damaged in the process and the "Time Pieces" that powers her ship start to scatter across the planet. Throughout her brief journey, Hat Kid will meet a varied cast of colorful characters across the game's chapters such as the likes of the hot-headed mustache Girl and the psychotic Snatcher. The plot was fairly entertaining with some humorous writing and diverse selection of characters to keep things interesting. I found myself enjoying the satirical tone and the some of the pop-culture references of the game the most.
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A Hat in Time will win you over with its
colorful cast of characters.
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A Hat In Time controls similar to Mario 64 and Banjo, you control Hat Kid from the third-person perspective as she navigates through mostly sand-box levels. Hat Kid must recover the lost time pieces by completing each level within a chapter. There are 40 time pieces in total, though you only need 25 to beat the game. Unlike the games its based off, there's no time limit in levels, meaning you can freely search the area for secrets and "pons", the game's currency. You can buy various badges from the eerie-looking merchant, which grants Hat Kid various abilities in the form of "badges" which allows for faster recharge rate when switching hats, not taking fall damage, the ability to attract nearby pons and so on. Scattered throughout the levels are yarn pieces, which after collecting a set few, will allow you to stitch new hats with different powers. Some of which include a hat that allows Hat Kid to sprint faster, stop time, and create explosives. The game will make sure that you go out of your way to search for some of these items as you cannot pass certain levels without specific hats.
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The gameplay's great with varied levels
and addictive platforming.
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Additionally, there extra Rift Levels, which rewards you with additional time pieces, however, these levels are tougher than the normal levels and will at times test your patience. I like the added challenge they posed and even though it took me a few attempts to get them right, the sense of accomplishment was pretty rewarding. The game's bosses were also great and I liked the open against the Snatcher and the final boss. While they simply just boil down to you memorizing their patterns and avoid getting hit, I nonetheless found them to be entertaining. I did, however, faced a slight problem with the game's pacing. There was a part in chapter 2 where you couldn't progress in a level unless you had specific items. That item was in following chapter and you must obtain it and come back to unlock the level. I felt that disrupted the pace of the game and slightly ruined the surprises the next chapter had.
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Getting the 100% completion rate is a
huge undertaking.
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A Hat in Time's visuals are decent, though nothing special. The game has an adorable art-style going for it though which is full of charm. The backgrounds and characters while simple and compliment the game's aesthetic pretty well. Though one thing that got annoying overtime was the constant screen-tearing, though thankfully you can eliminate most of it by turning V-sync off. The game surprised me with its neat voice-work, with the Snatcher being the most enjoyable to listen to. Another highlight is the soundtrack, which constantly changes style according to each chapter. I especially loved the rift levels' theme and chapter 2's old-western and disco tracks.
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A Hat in Time is definitely among the most charming
indie-platformers out there.
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A Hat In Time is a fun platformer. It manages to emulate the likes of Mario 64 and Banjoo well while still retaining its own sense of identity. Its clever-writing and solid platforming are what really won me over and with upcoming free worlds to come and mod-support, I can see myself visiting A Hat In Time in the future. A normal play-through should last around 5-6 hours assuming you'd go out of your way in collecting all of the time pieces. In conclusion, A Hat In Time was an entertaining experience and fans of 3D platformers will bound to find some enjoyment here as well.
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