AT Reviews: A Hat In Time

In the world of video games, there are three fundamental merits a game can have and receive recognition for. They can be stylistically impressive having great graphics, music and overall style. They can have impressive level design and gameplay, making them incredibly fun to play. Or they can have great writing and characters, leading to a noteworthy and memorable story. Most games of note fall into one of these three categories, but there is a fourth, one that is far more nebulas by comparison. A game can win the hearts of players with excessive amounts of charm.

Charm is an odd one when compared to the others. I'ts mostly about haveing good and interesting characters one might think at first, but it's not quite that simple. Charm is the culmination of characters, style, world, and interactions in that world. A cute and well written character won't shine if they exist in a dull world, and a great story with dull characters is a waste. Charm is when everything mixes well. When the characters feel like they are in and a part of the world and the world is fun to be in and look at. Very few games accomplish this task and not all games should even try. Obviously, Call of Duty shouldn't be charming, it's a game about war. But when a game has charm, it's hard to look away. That is how I felt about A Hat in Time.

A Hat in time is a level based platformer in the vein of older Mario games, such as Super Mario Sunshine and Mario 64. It takes a lot of inspiration from them in layout and level design, with some levels almost feeling like they could be reskinned versions of Sunshine's secret levels. Where Hat in Time sets itself apart is with Hats. There are six hats in the game, each unlocks a new ability and can be traded at any moment with a quick select wheel. Some of them allow access to new areas, where others are used for things like slowing time or running faster. In addition to that, there are also pins, which can be bought from a vendor in each world. These allow for more passive bonuses like letting you wall run after an in air dash rather than just smacking on a wall. All of this mixed together allows for a fun and somewhat customizable approach to each level.

The world is fairly small with only four worlds to play through, but each world is a joy to explore. From Mafia towns to movie lots. Each world is extremely varied, not only in its theme but also in its design. One level the goal may just be a platforming puzzle away where another may require the player to deliver mail or star in a movie. They are also laid out differently, some are open worlds where most goals are accessible from any level, where, in others, each level is a tight linear pathway from beginning to end. It was an extreme pleasure to go from level to level never knowing what came next, and I was never disappointed in what I found, each level was a joy to play.

The story follows a space faring girl named Hat Girl. She is the sole crew member on a ship that can be fairly accurately described as the best kid's playhouse that could ever exist. Using time controlling  "timepieces" as fuel Hat Girl is trying to get back home. All is going well until she passes an unsuspecting planet home to the mafia, who try to charge her a toll for passing by. She refuses only to have the mafia break her window to get in, causing the vacuum of space to pull her and all her timepieces out and down to the planet. Somewhat annoyed, Hat Girl must now brave the new world and find the timepieces to get back home.

Sadly, nothing is perfect, and A Hat in Time is no exception, however, I really only have one problem with the game. The camera. It is a bit troublesome, perhaps taking a little too much inspiration from Mario Sunshine, it can be difficult at times to keep it looking where you want or move it fast enough when platforming through tight areas.

My biggest issue with A Hat in Time was that I didn't want it to be over. I enjoyed every bit of my time in that world, almost with a kid like glee, and when I finally had gotten all 40 timepieces I was sad. When I saw the end of the game I almost had a lump in my throat from a mixture of the ending and how much I enjoyed the game. Every moment from when I landed in mafia town and listened to the fantastic dialog of the mafia to the ending when I was fighting a being able to bend time was a constant joy. If you have not had a chance to play A Hat in Time I suggest you do.

AT Reviews: Tomb Raider

The name "Tomb Raider" brings two things to mind. The first is the series protagonist and the original female protagonist Lara Croft. The second is the series itself. When the original game daubed in the 90s it was a big deal, partially because it was a 3D action adventure with the ability to traverse the world as gamer's had only ever dreamed of before that, but mostly because Lara was a hot lady.

After around fifteen years of sequels the series finally burned out. The gaming scene had grown up and was no longer dominated by teenage boys who would buy a game just to plays as sexy lady. Now with a much more even market of mostly adult men and women the series was forced to reassess what people wanted. What they came up with was a reboot to the series with a younger and much more realistic Lara Croft.

The story follows Lara on her very first adventure. It opens with her getting shipwrecked on an island inhabited by a crazy bunch of gun toting cultists that want to kill her and everyone she is with. Being Lara Croft she manages to escape and save the day but not unscathed.

Early on in the story Lara is scared and frantic but as the story progresses she becomes more and more determined to survive, giving birth to a character much more like the Lara we knew previously. This is growth is most apparent when she is forced to kill for the first time and is obviously disturbed by the experience but then pulls herself together to help her friends. This depth is slightly tarnished by the next scene when she thoughtlessly kills waves of attacking cultists. The story is still much better off with it, but it just could have been done better.

The gameplay is mostly comprised of lite platforming and puzzle solving with cover based shooting sections. The world is fairly linear but the areas are large and interconnected with lots of collectibles scattered about to encourage exploration. Some sections are returned to in the story but though previously not accessible passages with equipment that is unlocked later in the story. The landscape is usually interesting to explore even if backtracking due to the new routes being opened. The biggest problem with the world is that its mostly devoid of tombs for raiding. The few tomb like areas in the game are all part of the story, which isn't a bad thing necessarily, but they are rather linear. The puzzles are fun, very short, diversions. A few of the puzzles are genuinely well designed and give a nice sense of accomplishment upon completion. But most will take less than a minute to solve and serve as little more than something to mess up platforming on. Spread out between each story moment and puzzle area there are cultists who seem very determined to kill Lara and will probably accomplish that goal numerous times throughout the game. The combat is fairly enjoyable with a few weapon options that will keep Lara feeling powerful despite the vast hordes of enemies that are somehow all living on this island.

Tomb Raider is a worth successor to the original and bares the name well. Despite a miss step here and there it does a great job of fleshing out Lara as a character and giving her depth, beyond being a sexy lady. The world is large but not so large that its a bother to back track if needed and the story is intense and brutal. If you played Tomb Raider in the past you should play this game, And if you haven't played Tomb Raider before you should play this game.

AT Reviews: Stardew Valley

Its the simple things in life that are most enjoyable. From street tacos to evenings without plans simple is just the way to go. That also seems to be how Eric Barone, also known as ConcernedApe, approached his first game. Where other first time developers go for complicated gameplay or themes, Eric was content to design a game about farming and life in the country, with a cave full of monsters around the corner.

The game opens with a chance to name both your character and farm. I named my farmer Nick and my farm Seabold Farms Farm. Only then did I realize that it appended the word "Farm" to the end of what ever I typed. Turns out that Grandpa Seabold had died and left me his farm should I ever choose to leave my busy city life and office job at JoJo-Mart. Which obviously I do, who wants to work at JoJo-Mart? After Arriving at my new home the mayor of the small town showed me around town and talks about a few side projects like finding new things for the museum or making friends with the locals. After that he walks me over to the community center which is falling apart and tells us about how great it was back in the day but now its falling apart.

Restoring the community center is one of the few signs of progression in the game. Odd little magic jelly people have inhabited the community center and need certain goods to repair each room. There is also a reward for repairing the different rooms, they range from making it easier to fish to unlocking a mine cart that can be used for fast travel. Alternatively, The evil mega-corp JoJo want the to turn the community center into a warehouse and, as luck would have it, they just need one more shopper at the newly opened JoJo-mart to convince the Mayor to do so. It should be noted that down this route doesn't make it impossible to get the rewards previously mentioned. Although rather than giving goods to magic jelly people to magically rebuild rooms, giving this small community a beautiful gathering place for years to come, you pay JoJo-Mart. Slightly less exciting but the choice is nice.

But that is the end game, The majority of the time in the game is going to be spent is rebuilding the farm and making money. Getting the farm running is as simple as clearing a space, tilling the ground, planting a seed and watering it every day. After a given amount of days pass, depending on the type of seed, a beautiful bit of produce will appear which can be thrown into the shipping box to send to market. Alternatively they can also be cooked into energy restoring food or turned into artisan goods like bread or jam. If working the digital soil isn't really your thing don't worry, there are a few other ways to make money, Like fishing, foraging, or raising animals. Fishing is done though a simple mini game which at first is fun and breaks up the flow a bit but after awhile becomes a chore. This is especially bothersome when trying to catch all of the special fish for the community center. Sadly foraging isn't all that profitable but in a pinch it can help. Raising animals requires a coop or bar to be built and each day the animals need to be fed and pet. Doing this will make them happy but more importantly it will make them more likely to produce products which can be turned into cold hard cash.

There are a few distractions for when you don't have anything else going on or when you want to break up the chores a little bit. The mine is the biggest change from the main flow of the game because its the only place with combat. The combat is quite simple but its enjoyable if only because its a change to the daily grind. Assuming your not busy with everything else, making friends and eventually falling in love is also part of the game. Its also slightly underwhelming, it mostly consists of giving your love interest the same gift till they want to marry you. It is broken up a bit by scenes where you might interact in more unique ways, but there are mostly just cutscenes so there isn't much gameplay.

The biggest advantage of stardew valley is that there is so much to do. Sadly thats also its biggest shortcoming since none of it is really very interesting. The farming is literally a chore, the relationships are barley even there and the mines, which are the most game like part of the game. are still rather bland. Despite all that, somehow even with all of its flaws its hard to stop playing stardew valley. Perhaps its because It makes me feel so productive. From sun up to sun down things are constantly getting done and I feel the satisfaction of finishing several chores and projects. All without having to do any of the things I'm actually responsible for, perhaps thats all I ever really wanted.

AT Reviews: The Final Station

Have you ever wanted to see how well you would survive in the wild? How about in an apocalyptic situation, with zombies, and you have to rescue survivors and then decide who gets to eat and who staves because you only have a few supplies from the zombie infested towns you've stopped in. And in addition to all this, what if,  you were a train conductor. Well if you said yes to that then The Final Station is the Apocalyptic train simulator you have been waiting for.

The Story follows Nameless protagonist as he drives his train around to deliver important stuff to important people. All the while the world is getting shelled by an alien force with zombifying gas. To reach his destination, Nameless must go from train checkpoint to train checkpoint getting the access codes to pass each checkpoint to move to the next. (Minor SPOILERS follow) Eventually its discovered that the gas was actually meant to help people. Making them smarter and stronger but it doesn't seem to have had much in the way of testing. So instead it effects the majority of the population in the opposite way, and then some, turning them into black goo monsters. Nameless seems to be one of the few who are immune to the gas and maybe it's helping him on his trip.

Being that at each checkpoint is located right next to the railway it would be logical to think the access codes to progress would be located there, but that would be wrong. It seems that each and ever station manager decided the best time to go for a walk was during the zombie apocalypse which is probably a bad decision but its made all the worse by the fact that they all also decided to print off the code Nameless needs and take it with them on their doomed walk. What all this means is that Nameless must walk though the entire town trying to find the station manager to get the code to leave and oddly enough hes usually either in or right next to an alternate path back to the train station, so I guess that is at least a little convenient. 

Walking though the town also gives Nameless a chance to search for survivors and supplies since hes passing though anyway. After finding the survivors Nameless has to keep them alive till they reach a safe location. Everyone gets hungry and will need food eventually but some survivors are also sick and need to be constantly given medical supplies in addition to food. To make matters worse the train is constantly breaking so Nameless has to run around making sure everyone is comfortable and constantly do a repair minigame. On the bright side, only one thing will break at a given time, though it will break over and over till the next destination. If by some miracle there is some extra time, in the train engine there is a console where medpacks and ammo can be crafted and other train conductors will text Nameless randomly. Also the survivors are constantly saying interesting things, to bad Nameless is always so busy running around the train and can only hear them when hes in the passenger car. 

Assuming a survivor makes it to a safe location they will reward Nameless with money, ammo or other supplies.Its always exciting to get money though, because the money is super special, it can be used to buy super important stuff, like ammo or other supplies. There where also a couple of locations, with somewhat superfluous weapon upgrades like a laser sight which is possibly useful assuming the game isn't being played with a mouse which functions kinda like a laser pointer by itself. 

After completing all of the stops on his route Nameless turns his train toward home and attempts a return trip, at this point everyone in dead so there aren't any survivors to worry about except for a lone gunman who is in a house with pictures of Nameless and several of the other survivors on the walls. Like the other survivors he joins Nameless on the train but then the train breaks down. It was at this point that I'm actually not sure what happens next. I played to the end but it was here that the game writer must have decided a magic mushroom would help his writing skills because the game becomes almost impossible to understand from here to the end.

Though I didn't really think the story was great all along it was at the end I felt this the strongest, Its here that Nameless makes it back to his home town where everyone seems to still be alive a living normal lives but he is finally getting sick from the gas. None of it is really explained but the gunman keeps showing up around town constantly telling you he is going to kill you when you turn. Which kinda spoils any shock when, surprise Nameless turns and dies in the end. Oddly enough its here that we seem to learn that he has a family which I guess we should feel sad for since he just turned into a goo zombie and was shot by a teleporting gunman, But we haven't ever even seen them, for all we know they are already dead and have been for years since we didn't see them at the beginning or the end. There are a few moments when Nameless attempts to call someone on a payphone but again, no one answers. I think The writers intention was to make this shocking but it really fell flat for me. I didn't care about Nameless's family or even him. The whole story felt something like walking though a western downtown amusement park where you know every building is just a trailer with a western facade, but in this case I guess they would be apocalyptic facades. 

The game would have been so much better if the story had felt cohesive at all. I'm not even sure who was sending the gas, was it aliens? Or was it the shady government? Also I would have liked to listen to what the survivors were talking about but since I constantly had to be running around keeping them alive I never had any time to read what they said, and why would it be designed so you can't read whats going on when you have to keep going next door to get food or medpacks for people? 

Though the story was flat as a piece of paper the gameplay did help hold the game up for most of the four hours it required to beat, but even that got overly repetitive given that each of the checkpoints was exactly the same but with a different layout. I began to consider stopping, but I figured I was probably near the end so I pushed through the last hour or so hoping for an interesting conclusion. It didn't have one. 

AT Reviews: Sleeping dogs

The past few weeks have been crazy with new releases we got interesting computer hardware, a new console, and two new open world games that have gotten great reviews. Sadly I haven't had access to any of it. Instead I opened my backlog and pulled Sleeping Dogs. I have owned this game for years but never really gotten into it. When I had tried to play it in the past I lost interest before the tutorial was even over. This time I decided I needed to give it a bit more time and get into it further, around 30 hours further as it turns out. Did the extra time give me a new perspective on the game? Or was I right to begin with.

You play an undercover cop named Wei Shin. The story follows his exploits as he attempts to infiltrate and destroy a Hong Kong triad. Though the Idea of the story is interesting and it even tries to get some deep moments with Wei as he struggles not to lose sight of himself in his undercover role, it constantly feels like you the player is missing something. Wei seems to know things and people that hadn't ever been mentioned before. At first I figured I must just be missing something in conversations but the further I got in the game the more I noticed it. As the game got close to the end my immersion had totally eroded to the point I just wanted to it and get it over with and see the end. Sadly the end was easily the worst part of the game, in all respects but, especially in story. (Quick spoiler) One mission has you saving someone only for the next mission to start with them already dead. Perhaps this was to make you feel powerless, but all it did was make me feel like the writers didn't care and after that, neither did I.

Sleeping dogs Is an open world action role playing game in the vein of GTA. The world is perhaps the best part of this game. Its big and there are lots of things to do, If you get tired of the main story you can always play karaoke, do side missions, street race, bust a drug dealer, or do some backstreet brawling. The world is a good size without any given destination never being more than a few minutes drive away. Even if you don't want to drive you can grab a taxi and be at your destination after a quick load. I did this very rarely though, because driving was great. Even the starting cars go relatively fast and are fun to drive. 

Once you got to your destination in the world the missions themselves were fairly enjoyable. They didn't usually feel to repetitive. Sometimes your missions would be to beat down a group of thugs, other times you might just be driving around a bride to be to get ready for her wedding. That variance was very refreshing and was the only thing that kept me playing given my issues with the story. However, like the story the missions started to get less and less enjoyable as the game went on. The worst were missions with weapons. The gun play is, simply put, boring. With the last few missions degrading into little more than shooting galleries and quick time events the end was less than epic. 

I feel like I don't have a lot to say about this game aesthetically. Its not great but its from the last generation so it shouldn't be expected to look great. Animations are perhaps the worst of it. We live in an time of motion capture walk cycles and looking back at the clunky key frame animated people of yesteryear can be somewhat difficult, but even looking at its peers, Sleeping Dogs animation isn't great. 

My only other thought is that there is a lot of language, violence and derogatory talk. Its an M rated game it should be expected to have such things to some extent at least, but only to serve the story or the game play in someway. People were commonly impaled, stabbed, shot, sliced or otherwise, and even worse things were talked about but not shown, it was gruesome. After you got though that the only billboards in the game seemed to be for women's underwear which to some extent is fine, that exists in the real world too, but maybe have one for something else from time to time. Also, I understand the setting of a mostly male gang would likely include lots of derogatory comments about women, but realism doesn't always make for an enjoyable gaming experience.

It might sound like I really didn't enjoy Sleeping Dogs and that would be because I didn't. But I could have, It could have been a great game. It was loaded with potential, the world was great, the cars were great, and the story was good in concept. I even finished it purely because of its potential, I wanted to enjoy it but between the story falling apart, the missions getting overly dull, the distasteful violence, and treatment of women it lost all sense of enjoyment for me. If even one of those had been good all the way to the end it could have held up the rest and made the game worth it, but as it stands its not. When the credits finally rolled I was so ready to be done with Sleeping Dogs that after closing the game I immediately uninstalled it and will probably never install it again.

-AT

AT Reviews: Shantae and the Pirate's Curse

Not long ago I found myself, as I often do, scrolling though my steam queue looking for anything of interest when I cam upon Shantae and the Pirate's curse. After looking though a few screen shots and watching part of the trailer my mind was made up. This game was a shameless game about cartoon girls with big boobs, I clicked "Not interested" and moved on. That would have been the end, I judge a book (game) by its cover and never learn anything about it, but then I got it in a bundle of other games and since I owned it I decided to give it a shot and see if my initial opinion was correct.

Shantae is a half genie that has lost her powers but still protects a small port town named Scuttle Town. Despite her lack of power Shantae teams up with her old nemesis Risky boots to stop Risky's old pirate captain from returning form the dead and taking over the world. Because thats what all dead pirate captains want. The story is silly and fun, containing lots of unique characters and locations with a few surprisingly emotional moments thrown in toward the end.

Visually this game is pretty gorgeous, with colorful areas filled with lots of unique characters and monsters. When in Scuttle town you feel like all the characters can hear the music because they all seem to be bouncing to the beat, which makes the town feel energetic and alive. However, my first impressions were not completely wrong. The ladies are not dressed in much, they animate as if there upper bodies were made of jello. That said, its juvenile. To the point where it makes me feel old. Unless you are REALLY afraid of boobs I don't think it will detract from the game too much.

Shantae plays a lot like a metroidvania but with Zelda like dungeons thrown in. Killing monsters yields not only money but also different food items which can be used in a few side quests as well as for healing. Shantae's main attack is a hair fwip that can be upgraded by buying shampoo and conditioner at the shop in Scuttle Town which make it stronger and faster respectively. There are also healing potions and a few new moves that can be purchased from the store but, much like Zelda, all of the equipment needed to open new paths and progress the story is found in dungeons. It should also be noted that this game includes a stealth section. Thankfully its very short but even so, I spent more time on this section than anywhere else in the game due to bad design and lack of precision in the controls. 

Technically the game is fairly solid but I couldn't help but feel the lack of analog controls was a major oversight which caused some frustration moment to moment when platforming but was excruciating when trying to do so and be stealthy. Also, though its considered the standard, there are other controllers in the world besides Xbox controllers and I wanted to use one. Luckily X360ce exists, though even with that it required some effort to get my Dualshock4 to work.

 Shantae surprised me, My first impressions didn't take into account the good writing, deep characters, and fun gameplay that was on offer. If not for the bundle I would have missed out on a really enjoyable game. Yes the controls leave something to be desired, yes the stealth section sucks and yes the ladies are dressed like a 13 year old just made his first wish of a genie but the overall game more than makes up for that. If you like metroidvanias this is one to pickup.
-AT