A Hat in Time Review
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ASHLAND – Why did I play A Hat in Time? I’ve always been enamored by open-world collections, my first experience in the subgenre of platformers was Spongebob Squarepants: A Battle for Bikini Bottom. The idea of a platformer having a collection aspect was normal for me to play, since it was one of the first games I played. It was all I knew.
As I grew older, I realized Battle for Bikini Bottom wasn’t the only game of its kind nor the best of its caliber. Super Mario 64, released on the Nintendo 64, was truly the first of its kind that made a big splash in the public stratosphere.
More so than BFBB, SM64 allowed players to move Mario in a plethora of new ways. From the back jump, wall jump, double and triple jump--the number of abilities was limitless. It was truly exotic.
I saw the DNA of collections like BFBB and SM64 in A Hat in Time. Instead of collecting golden spatulas or golden stars, AHIT has the player collecting hourglasses to power the little girl’s, the player, planet discovering ship.
I was itching to play a platformer and AHIT was a game I just couldn’t get out of my mind. It was always a game I would see on sale and think “Do I pull the trigger?” “Is now the time?”
Well, now the bullet is gone and the smoke has settled.
I beat and platinumed the game in 11 hours. This meant collecting all 40 hourglasses, collecting enough gems to unlock all levels and badges, collecting enough yarn balls to unlock all hats and other miscellaneous trophies like beating a certain level a certain way.
Pros: The maneuverability is really the shining star of the game. Once you learn how to dash and then boost into a jump into another dash--it becomes addicting. The game never teaches you these moves. I love games that make you learn how to play. It encourages exploration and experimentation. It doesn’t force the player to play a certain way nor sets the rules from the get-go. Ninety-nine % of the time, if you think you can land that jump, chances are you can.
If not, there’s hardly a penalty for trying something new. In fact, AHIT wants you to try and try again, rewarding players to explore and test the game’s mechanics to their absolute limits.
The levels themselves were truly varied and unique.
For example, in chapter two “The Battle of the Birds” one mission is a parody of a “who done it?” straight out of “Murder on the Orient Express.” It has you playing as a detective, trying to figure out who killed your mom’s sister aka your aunt. They never just say it’s your aunt, which makes it all the funnier. This game has all of this dry humor that reminds me of British comedies, which I’m all for.
As your exploring the train, conversing with possible suspects and collecting investigations fodder really draws in the sense that you’re playing a game within a game. Now don’t get it twisted--this isn’t “Black Mirror” the game. The game’s DNA is visible intact at every level, meaning you will be platforming at some point in time.
But those moments of serenity and pure uniqueness truly stand out from the rest of the game. It’s the parts you’ll remember once the credits roll and you delete the game off your cross-media bar.
Unfortunately in this day and age, that’s far too uncommon. Besides linear-based games, I can hardly think of any “moments” that I could point to and be like “THIS is what makes this game special/unique/ varied/ sporadic/ monumental.”
Oh what a world
Imagine you wake up and find yourself in the middle of a grass field. Large jolly creatures are in the near distance with the wind pushing their beards up in their faces.
You take a couple of small steps and head toward a higher elevation. You want to get a grasp of your surroundings. You make it to the top of the mountain and stare at the hills, trails and skylines.
You don’t have an inkling of where to start. There’s a gigantic birdhouse as tall as the eyes can see. A volcano that’s bursting flames every second and a watchtower that transports you to a world straight out of the “Twilight Zone.” The best part about it is, you can start wherever and however, you want. This is by far, my favorite world in “A Hat in Time” because it allows the player to have complete control of their destiny. I don’t want to explain too much, but imagine Mario Odyssey but smaller.
Cons
I don’t have any issues with “A Hat in Time” nor are they major. For starters, I think the game is too easy. Mastering the platforming with all its bells and whistles isn’t a walk in the park but I would like to have an extra challenge. Perhaps if they had extra “challenge” levels that would be a welcomed addition.
The graphics are a bit all over the place. It kinda has a cell-drawn art style but it looks straight out of a Fairly Oddparents game from the early 2000s. I know I’m reviewing the game in 2021 and it was released in 2017, but I think it still bears notice.
The story is minimal, which is all it needs to be but when it does try to push a story it often feels lackluster and half-finished. Yes, a game of this nature tends to need a “final boss battle” or bosses in general, but what if it didn’t? What if instead, the boss of the level required the player to finish a complex platforming challenge or finish a level in a certain time frame? I feel like that would play to the game's strengths, instead of its basic combat mechanics.
Verdict
I left “A Hat in Time” wanting more--and that’s inequivalently a fantastic remark. Gears for Breakfast wove together a masterpiece of game design and platforming perfection. They did what Nintendo doesn’t or can’t do anymore. It has remnants of Rare’s heyday with Nintendo’s secret sauce.
It makes me yearn for more, instead of wishing I never played the game in the first place. Too often games leave a sour taste in your mouth or drive you to play something else. “A Hat in Time” is far from the case.
Now instead of “A Hat in Time” looking for inspiration from the platforming gods of decades-old, devs should be paying attention to Gears for Breakfast without shame. And they better start now.