Ah

I really needed that.

Hard to be cynical, hard to analyze what I needed emotionally in the moment. Something to plug a hole I didn't realize was bothering me. Sometimes the verisimilitude of a hike that I can't currently get right now is the best medicine for my mental state. The lighthearted soul of something really warm, uplifting that makes my heart soar. I cried to very small, very clearly crafted, earnest messages. I wandered, I explored, I went to the ends of the island and back, and I got something to remember this day forever.

Thank you for the gentle reminder to look forward head high.

Suggested by Phantom. Thank you

Veredito: Diversão simplificada e honesta.

A Short Hike é exatamente o que diz na embalagem: um joguinho curto sobre fazer uma escalada.

É um plataforma 3D bonito, responsivo, com comandos simples e que você zera em 1h. Sim, em 1h. Pra platinar deve dar no máximo umas 5h. Você sobe a montanha, desce de volta, e assiste aos créditos. Simples e direto. Se quiser fazer mais, dá um rolé em volta da montanha pra fazer umas sidequests com outros personagens.

Não achei tudo isso que falam, pra ser sincero. E tudo bem. Nem todo jogo precisa ser fenomenal. Ele acabou sendo exatamente o que eu queria: uma diversão sem compromisso e rápida entre um jogo longo e outro.

a short review

masterful use of spare time by flying over a deserted island in fucking nowhere

a short hike is a game that i played a lot of time ago and forgot to review because im dumb as shit but i just wanted to play it again for how cozy comfy and short it is and here i am

being one of those games in the vein of TOEM i was absolutely dumbfounded at how relaxing this game is (take notes unpacking or whatever that shit was called) just going around this lonely little piece of land getting to know its inhabitants and all their quirks and traits while the gentle summer breeze passes by and the sun shines bright in the sky just losing yourself into this small but incredibly alive world to such an extent that after a couple playthrough you can just speedrun through the game for how restrained the whole experience is

youre a furry bird on a vacation with her furry bird aunt just camping in this beautiful place and youre left with no other choice then exploring the surrounding since the cellphone got zero internet and in the meanwhile you will find so many different people who will give you some side quests here and there and with only the main objective or reaching the peak of the mountain but you can actually take your time and enjoy the view and just walking around the place to see what the others are up to and what the scenery is like

the art style of this game is incredibly tight its definitely on the cartoony side and the whole game is done in a pixelated fashion (you can actually turn that shit off but i liked the mid pixel setting to be the most interesting for me) and the town and characters have these super saturated models that just scream summertime on the shore and thats such a fucking vibe

ideally the gameplay should be devoid of any kind of depth but exploring is the main focus of the game just chilling out in this small diorama of an island like its a snowglobe and just interacting with people finding treasures here and there and slowly ascending to the mountain

to do that as the protagonist is a bird youre gonna use your wings to fly around but thats not enough you will be required to find golden feathers around for some double jumps and climbing power (a la breath of the wild) either by exploring or doing side quests here and there and you can take your time with it and youre not obliged to take them all nor the game exploits you in doing so you get as many as you want and try to climb the mountain on your own see what awaits you there and conquer the summit

the finale made me also think about TOEM as in youre just you yourself and a natural phenomenon that looks insanely chaotic and calm at the same time like the final hours in outer wilds or majoras mask and then you realise that the entire thing was worth it even for the journey alone of idling under the sun and breathing the environment in and youre left with an emotional convo that really is the cherry on top of the entire experience sure its a bit wild that you can get 5G on top of a mountain but who am i to judge

a short hike comes and goes too fast for my own good i wouldve loved to have a longer and more expansive idea but maybe that wouldve ruined the entire premise of the game so im left with a warm and pleasant experience to revisit from time to time

everyone should play this game it just has some of the most peaceful and joyful atmosphere ive ever seen in any game maybe even more than kirby as a whole somehow this is something special that i will absolutely replay again some time in the future and i advice anyone whos interested in a super short experience that will stuck with you to play this one and if you do check it out what i can say is see you at the top

Starts out as Animal Crossing and turns into Getting Over It with Bennet Foddy, with BOTW style climbing stamina...

Perhaps I'm just impatient / totally directionless but I tried my damnedest to explore every new path/area until I looped back on myself and I still found myself being short on feathers when they mattered most. I got them in the end by sheer luck / saving coins in an area I had to cheese my way into early and buying one to get there legitimately with, but for a good 20 mins or so I was just running around old areas looking for something useful or climbing up any way I could to gain some height only to hit a dead-end when I thought I was doing well :(

It's really not a bad game, and I know the whole point is to follow the trails yourself but I do wish it had just a smidge more guiding, or the option at least. I'm convinced I found 2 items I didn't use and another 2 things that looked interactable but I couldn't use with anything I had on me .-. God knows how much I missed.

That said though, the vibes are (mostly) very chill, and the music is delightful. If you're even slightly more capable than I at hiking and/or indie games I'm sure this is a lovely lil time for you :p

This is the second indie title I've played recently involving climbing mountains though A Short Hike is certainly the polar opposite of Celeste's challenging gameplay and sometimes dark themes instead opting for an incredibly relaxing exploration adventure.

You play the role of Claire, an anthropomorphic bird girl on a vacation with her aunt. The whole goal of the game is to get to the top of the peak but to do that you have to explore the island, find upgrades to fly and climb further, speak to residents, complete quests, go fishing, collect shells etc. Honestly the climb to the peak is very easy but the journey to get there exploring is where this game shines. I actually resented it at first as there is no map to find your bearings. The more I played though and learned the layout of the island and could fly, swoop and glide further the more freeing I found it.

The writing, characters, visuals and music all just resonate for a very pleasant and soothing adventure. I will say though that A Short Hike certainly does what it says on the tin, it is short. That's not to say it doesn't have a good amount of content during that time however, I sat and got the platinum in one 5 hour session which for £6 is pretty good value in my opinion.

A nice way to spend a day off destressing from work.

Recommended.

+ Relaxing adventure.
+ Exploring is fun and rewarding.
+ Lovely art design.

Warm, cozy and lovely, I had such a great time with this and would do it all over again, those 2 hours totally flew by. I adore this game's style, writing and music so much, its like living inside of an animated popup book or a childhood movie, there's no rush and you are free to just explore, make friends and progress at your own pace.

Its surprisingly emotional at the end and made me tear up a little, just so sweet, I can definitely see where lil gator game took inspiration! It also feels marvellous to play with its simple but elegant controls, varied collectibles and little sidequests you can do, pretty sure I did just about everything there was to do. Its a nice length for such a novel little trip and is never repetitive but I do wish it was a bit longer and the platforming has potential but I suppose its not that kind of game. Its also super accessible and I think just about anyone would enjoy this, its great!

Distracting yourself from the unease of "normal" life and its creeping potential to break down your barriers of comfort. Easygoing without being overtly cutesy to the point of condescension and defined by subdued visual splendor and a gorgeously dreamy soundtrack, A Short Hike immediately felt like one of my favorite open worlds and front to back remained a care-free joy to play through the two hours it took. Total freedom without feeling overwhelming and efficient design that caters to the depressed and impatient explorer inside us. Reader, I was moved.

The concept of “wholesome” media is a complicated one and it’s an idea that I feel like people are turning against. Sometimes I think I might be one of them. It makes sense how the trend would emerge. After a lengthy decade of edgy sad dads in Prestige Games, it was inevitable that trends would flip to something more chill and friendly. And so you get things like Wholesome Directs, which seem to be filled with announcements for twenty identical farming games starring animals. These games are so focused on being sweet and cozy that it’s hard not feel like there’s no meat on the bone. That in its pursuit of being “wholesome”, the text ultimately ends up feeling hollow.

So what’s needed for the “wholesome” media to work? It’s possible that this is a primarily American problem. I don’t think that there’s a lot of mainstream American media that focuses on providing a restorative vibe. The ones that are intended to be affirming tend to feel very… white. I understand why people assume Ted Lasso is just about white people hugging, but I think it’s a disservice to how that show understands the idea of narrative catharsis. You build flawed characters which realistic problems and you make your end goal the catharsis of them choosing self-improvement. It’s a fulfilling show because it makes the journey feel earned. Video games are highly centered around catharsis. Taunting players or dangling new things just out of reach.

A Short Hike is about a young girl climbing a mountain. There’s no real larger plot or narrative. There’s no dramatic secret waiting around the corner, it’s not as emotionally weighty as Celeste, it’s just about a climb up the mountain.

The catharsis in A Short Hike emerges from the small ways the player improves. The mountain contains numerous hidden sidequests. A man’s lost watch. A painter working on his masterpiece. A woman searching for her lucky headband. Cute little conversations and simple little anxieties. No one’s in any particular rush, they’re just sitting with this minor problems that give them emotional discomfort. You fix these problems, and you get a little better at climbing the mountain. You’re rewarded with stamina upgrades, which let you explore more things around the island. You took chosen to help someone and your life got easier. You earned more exploration, more gorgeous visuals, more chill music. You’ve earned the Catharsis. The spectacle of the game is in the quiet intimacy. Drifting in the wind for longer and longer stretches of time. The catharsis is more opportunities to relax. To play. To climb.

Sometimes it’s hard for me not to go into a game like this with expectations about its intentions. Something that’s marketing itself aggressively as “sweet,” to its detriment. I think why a Short Hike works is that it never feels like it’s trying to evoke a single feeling. It’s not aggressively courting this idea of being “wholesome” or “pure.” And that’s because there’s a sincerity here. Just a genuine love for video games and a genuine love of the craft. And that passion and care speaks through every single aspect of the game’s production.

It’s the kind of game I just really needed at 4 am after failing to get to sleep.

There's really only so many ways you can say "that was a lovely little game" without repeating yourself but I think my main takeaway is that A Short Hike is the game I kind of needed right now. Not in a "This game really touched me at a time where I was emotionally vulnerable" type way but more in a "the game's Ive played lately were too long, exhausting, demanding or a combination of all three, and an hour long (depending on playstyle, 1-4 hours) cozy light platformer sounds really good right about now".

I think a Short Hike achieves the non insignificant accomplishment of being mechanics focused enough to not be a pure walking sim (not that there is anything wrong with being a walking sim, inherently), with a nice sense of progression and discovery with the mastering of its hiking/gliding mechanics + the ever increasing amount of golden feathers making the player feel as if they are conquering this initially daunting island. Having the feathers give you an extra jump each is very simple but works wonderfully in how the environment unfolds overtime. The added wrinkle when you get high enough that your stamina doesnt regenerate due to the cold gives enough of a final complication to make reaching Hawk Peak a satisfying conclusion.

At first I thought it was an odd decision for a platformer where you can quickly glide through in many different directions to be both isometric and have a fixed camera, but other than during the final glide it never became disorienting due to generally good map design and trying to minimize the amount of scenarios where you could be quickly turned around in >90 degree angles. Other than that I really only feel like plugging Nerdietalk's insightful review of the game that goes more into the recent-ish phenomenon of "cozy" indie games. Personally I quite enjoy them, but I can see how they might start to be maligned through overexposure if the trend continues in earnest.

I went on a hike once, but it was nothing like this. My Father and I were trekking through the Cairngorms in the heart of Scotland. If you haven't seen it, it's a beautiful place. Flowing rivers, glistening lochs, bustling forests, the works. Every way you look, you're encircled by these white-capped hills that lap over eachother like great waves on a distant ocean.

Needless to say, when the time finally came for us to begin our hike -- I was excited. Heart pumping, legs twitching, balls tingling, (they do that when I'm excited) I couldn't wait to challenge these mountains, to duel with them with my own hands and feet. So voracious was my climbing appetite, that by the time I topped my first tableland, I realised I'd left my Dad behind. At first, I was struck with concern -- he had a history of heart complications and a poor sense of direction, it wasn't out of the question he'd get lost, or worse -- perish. Then I remembered all the times he'd forgotten my birthday and cheated on his wives and realised I didn't care. I pressed on, determined to reach the highest point of these mountaintops. My feet became warriors, my Limited Edition Ahegao Yeezys their Spartan helms. My balls were still tingling. I crested over every crevice, I powered through every plateau, I marched across every arch. Needless to say, my progress without my deadbeat Father was incredible. "Soon," I thought, "that summit will submit."

And then the snow fell.

And it kept falling.

And it kept falling until all of the Cairngorms were a sheet of paper. I, a small mark only impressed upon it by the dirt of a fingernail. Beginning to panic, I scoured the area for shelter, and found a small cave overlooking a gentle slope. I nestled my way in and sparked a small fire with some twigs and my trusty M1A1 U.S. Military Flamethrower, which I never leave the house without. I checked the time on my phone -- 14:51. "I really hope it stops snowing soon," I thought.

But it didn't.

It snowed and it snowed and it snowed for what felt like eons. I swore I saw entire families of deer cross the mountains from my left, and come back days later from the right, smaller in number. Or maybe I was just hallucinating. I began to ponder my life and all the things I'd seen, suspecting I was coming to the end of it. I reminisced on the times I'd burnt the midnight oil at my desk as though some kind of infernal engine built for the sole purpose of generating laughs from strangers online. I wondered, was it worth it? I began to ruminate on what had caused this endless blizzard. Some kind of freak weather incident no one could have predicted? Or some kind of cosmic karma, cast down from the heavens as if to show me how futile and trivial my pursuits had been all along? As if even my own mind was turning against me, the one thing I could think of before long, the sole remaining thought I had to distract me from my impending freezing demise...Was that of the look a woman gives you when you kiss her. When you hold her close, press your face up against hers, and then look down at her after you're done, foreheads meeting in a holy union, like what swans do. The look she gives you in return, when she looks back up and her eyes meet yours? There is nothing more beautiful in this life. Nothing more tender. It is the most innocent smile, the purest expression of affection. Nothing in the world can emulate that. I should know, I've tried. I've spent countless hours trying to do it in the mirror. I'm doing it right now.

I look at my phone again. 14:56. "I'm finished", I tell myself. "This is it". I close my eyes, ready to drift off into the chilling embrace of death. And then? Precious memories begin flickering through my mind, like pictures in a film reel. Moments of joy from my childhood, moments of sadness from my adolescence, moments of frustration from my adulthood. All of them roll through my mind at a speed I'm surprised I can even comprehend, but I can...And then...Suddenly...I can feel my fingers again...I can feel my nose running again..."Am I dead?" I wonder. "Is this a near-death experience? Do you get the feeling back just before you die or something?"

But no, soon I realise what's really going on.

Finally, the heroin has kicked in.

The 8 mg's of heroin I'd snorted shortly before the snow began falling and shortly after I'd twisted my ankle a little bit trying to do a Michael-Jackson-Smooth-Criminal lean over the edge of a steep mesa had finally taken effect. I'm fucking back baby. Enough "remembering" and all that pussy shit. I pick up my flamethrower, blast this Nightcore version of "Word Up" by Cameo (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1N5CyOl5dJY) and decide it's time to re-enter society and make this mountain my bitch. Stepping outside, frothing at the mouth like a rabid badger, with a gait not entirely unlike Theresa May's "Dancing Queen" entrance to the 2018 Conservative Party Conference played in 3x speed, I dart around every orifice of the mountain range, the snow that nearly doomed me now a mere triviality. It's as if I don't even know how fast I'm going, nor can I control myself. I have no thoughts of pain or fatigue or cold, all I'm seeing are dazzling lights, rapturous kaleidoscopes firing off before my eyes. At one point, I'm pretty sure I see the entirety of the movie "Get Out" by Jordan Peele, which is a great movie and all -- but as a white guy I feel a bit weird about that, almost like I'm being insensitive somehow. I don't know. I just don't feel like that's the one movie that should be playing in my mind of all people, y'know?

And before I know it, when my senses finally return to me. I'm there. I'm at the summit. My heartbeat seems to have slowed somewhat, my breathing somewhat normal again, save for a heavy pant. The entirety of the majestic Scottish highlands stretches out before. I shake my head in disbelief, "what a rich tapestry...Not everyone gets to appreciate a view like this." And after taking it all in, I know of only one way to celebrate.

Without even touching my own penis, I ejaculate. I ejaculate with the force of 5000 men in what can only be described as a kind of semen spirit bomb. I struggle to find other ways to describe the amount of fluid I dispersed here, so let's just say that if they made cannons that fired PVA glue, it'd be a bit like that. If the local park rangers and hikers thought the snow was thick, "wait until they get a load of this," I smirk. Of course, my logic is flawed. Because I'm far too busy appreciating the view to notice that the sub-zero temperature has frozen my semen solid midway through its descent, and so it's likely to be believed to be typical ice by most casual onlookers, with no one to ever conceive of the incredible cum shower I produced here. Worse still, my penis has frozen solid, and when I reach for it to warm it up, it falls off my body entirely, which I assume is a symptom of hypothermia. I passed out promptly after, and woke up several days later in this chair, writing this review.

All of this is to say, A Short Hike is not a particularly realistic hiking experience. And hey, it doesn't need to be! What it is is a lovely, cosy little game with great visuals, some fun traversal and a very charming personality. A Long Hike next, please!

There is pretty much nothing wrong with this game, it gets exactly what it wants accomplished in the timeframe given and doesn't overstay its welcome. Play as much as you'd like and explore as much as you'd like, it's all up to you. And there is a lot to do in this game that can be as short or as long as you'd want it to be! I myself spent a good chunk of time fishing before I finally bothered finishing my climbing and flying. It's a good time, and I'd have no reservations recommending this to anyone looking for a wholesome yet adventurous experience.

Lo-fi has become a movement, a style of its own in the last decade or so. Inspired by the great late Nujabes and his peers, it's a space on Soundcloud, YouTube etc that's about chill vibes, relaxation. Initially a musical subgenre, it grew and spread beyond the boundaries of that categorization. It's not enough to post a mixtape of chill beats, they have to come with a general mood, a theme conveyed through some artwork. If you scroll down to the comments of a lo-fi hip-hop video on YT, you may be surprised to find not cringe humor or holocaust denial, but a community of people sharing their life stories and emotions with otherwise complete strangers.

I first started noticing the style make its way into videogames when Celeste included a remix by In Love With a Ghost in its soundtrack. Games were clearly a part of the lo-fi world before, what with all the vg music remixes in the genre, but this was a full-on feature. With Desert Child first and now A Short Hike, I see Lo-fi Games as a thing now.

Low fidelity implies amateurism, a slapdash approach and outdated technologies. Short Hike has graphics worthy of a Nintendo DS and a vibe worthy of the Gamecube. The gameplay is equally relaxed, just explore, jump, chat up with the locals. What can be classified as a challenge is very soft - on many occasions I've found myself cheesing through level geometry, as the game can be very easygoing about its slopes and edges.

I personally believe this to be an artistic choice. What usually gets overlooked about the lo-fi aesthetic (which is why it can be an object of mockery at times) is that under the careless surface lies attention to detail. The subtle use of effects, the microsounds or the background hums are key ingredients to making a vibe, the main object of interest for the genre. Same with Bird Game - even when it gives the player explicit challenges such as races, the conditions for beating them are vague. BeachStickBall, a tennis-volleyball hybrid, allows the serve to be counted as a point, while also letting the ball touch the ground once before stopping the count. Boat challenge adds extra seconds for bumping rocks, but considers those penalties when reviewing the result. Every character side story manages to include the message to not be too hard on yourself. You're doing great. You're going to get even better. Just keep going.

The game has the best structure a modern game can have in my humble. Obviously inspired by Breath of the Wild, it sets up a final goal that's known from the get-go and erects a soft barrier in front of it - collect some feathers to climb better. How does one collect feathers? Why, just go and play the game.

We here in the westriarchy have a bad case of school brain, a condition when we tend to value extrinsic rewards over the intrinsic ones, even when the former are actually meaningless. How many people complain about Mario 64 booting them out of the level when they collect a star? I've seen youtube thought leaders peddle it, even though the benefit of such a design decision is obvious - the player gets to play more. Every re-entry into a level means an opportunity to experiment, to play around, to find new ways of getting to a goal. But we don't play to play, we play to win, to see that number go up, to beat the game and put it on our Backloggd profile. Playing, learning and adapting can be hard, dopamine from seeing credits roll is much easier.

And yes I said we, I am that guy too. I'm incredibly grateful to games such as A Short Hike for providing practical exercises for deconstructing these habits. Go check out what's around, it says. Play, engage. When you feel like you've had enough, go up the mountain for a final treat. You'll be more than ready.

Thanks, it was lovely.

I was in a poor mood when I booted up A Short Hike.

I woke up exhausted and felt useless. I thought about how none of my actions have ever mattered and today would be no different. Sometimes I experience bouts of unannounced heaviness, as if my heart sinks to the bottom of my chest. This was one of those days.

A Short Hike helped carry that heaviness. Characters are endlessly supportive of one another, its visual style emanates an encouraging warmth and the carefully utilized soundtrack is delightful. A gigantic, silly smile consumed me throughout every moment of this journey.

Simply put, A Short Hike made me happy. My heart grew lighter and that pesky heaviness I felt was no longer bringing me down. Even a few hours after completing the game, I still felt good.

This isn't an experience for any day of the week. If you feel like the world has you at your worst, a short hike towards the summit of Hawk Peak might remedy what ails you.

Going into A Short Hike, I expected just a cute and quick visual novel. But no, it is so much more than that. Game developers take note, because this is just about the most perfect small videogame you can create. It has something for everyone: cute characters and character development, amazing art, exploration, challenges, rewards, emotion, finetuned controls, gorgeous OST that develops during your hike and a beautiful and touching ending. I am so incredibly glad to have played this! It deserves all the praise it has gotten over the years.

I finally found time to play this game properly and complete this "short hike". I really had a nice afternoon with this little exploration game. A Short Hike manages to exude a pleasant, positive vacation vibe for the entire duration of the game, which reminded me strongly of various feel-good games from my childhood. It felt like a lost GBA or DS game where you simply explore a beautiful island, chat with funny anthropomorphic creatures, complete tasks and uncover secrets. Climbing and gliding work in a similar fashion as in Breath of the Wild only that stamina is used up in the form of golden feathers. You can gradually increase your stamina which allows to climb higher and glide further into this world. You complete all kinds of mini-games such as races, riding a boat through a course, ball games and so on. It's just a really chill trip that made me forget a dull afternoon and pulled me into this beautiful pixel-art island world. More games like this please :)

Sublime indie platforming. Beautifully crunchy "Wind Waker if he PS1" aesthetics, excellent game feel and some ingeniously simple mechanics, with your main collectible also doubling as a permanent buff to your maneuverability. Movement and exploration are continually the method, the goal and the reward.

Also very pleasantly chill. There's enough moments to get the noggin' joggin' and minimum reused concepts keep it fresh, but the whole thing is framed with perpetually minimal stakes to keep it relaxed. Sure I may have felt the blood pressure kick in momentarily with that volleyball game and the boat challenge but they turned out to only require a couple tries each. Dudism's tenet of "take it easy, man" was evidently a design principle on here.

Only problem I found is that navigating the island as a whole, rather than a specific area of it, is a bit of a nightmare. The fixed yet continually rotating camera is mad disorienting. Though I'm not sure I'd change it as this also makes the game world feel far bigger than it really is and makes seamless areas feel more like distinct levels than you usually get in a 3D collecty platformer. That, and some of these characters (though the writing is unusually tolerable for this "whatever bro" indie vibe, even got a few laughs from me) are a bit overly verbose and the jump/fly button is also the talk button - many, many times I tried to move away from a character only to get locked into their entire life story. Also the absurd amount of fish needed for the fishing achievement, I wont chalk that up as a flaw but the all-consuming obsession game designers have with implementing fishing continues to mystify me.

I won't say it's too short but it's the first game in a while that I 100%'d and then wished there was more to do, after I'd finished I spent a while just flying around enjoying the feel of it. The more I think about it the harder it is to fault. Something like the platonic ideal of a game pass game, too, though I can see myself buying it just to support the dev further.

What an awesome game. The way it was described to me didn't even make me think for a second about how nice and detailed it is. The entire setting is very cozy and warm, like lying down under the sun on a Saturday afternoon.

At first glance, the game may seem to only come down to this: "You are Claire, a blue bird, who needs to climb the peak of the highest mountain in the place to fulfill a family tradition. To fly and climb higher, you need to collect golden feathers. Complete objectives and collect the feathers. The end". The game is too rich to describe just that. The entire complex of islands which the game takes place is alive, the background with characters walking, interacting with you, that are much more than just ordinary open-world game NPCs. They're not just for saying to you “do it. Take that”, they chat with you, and even after you interact with them and complete some goal, they continue to chat with you using new lines. The way it all happens, it seems too natural.

When it comes to open-world triple-A games, A Short Hike slaps so many out there. For example, San Francisco from Watch Dogs

Hike's small map seems much more rich in their small space than San Francisco. The map is full of details and little things that you might even miss if you don't explore enough, like a forgotten tower, a Beachstickball game, a sunhat you get after helping to clean up a coastal island, a fishing minigame, and much more.

Honestly, I could have finished the game sooner, but being there as Claire, I wanted to continue walking around the islands. I wanted to solve the adventurous riddles and find out what was hidden near the traffic lights. I wanted to go after the lucky bandana to help my bunny friend.

The ending is perfect for the game. It might even be a little anticlimactic, but I think the journey was worth it to reach the top of Hawk Peak. Besides, after the end, there are still things to be done around, and characters to talk to.

A detail that I want to emphasize here is the soundtrack. Lively, fun, exciting, all in the right tone. I plan to come back again to this place and explore it more. Definitely one of the best games I have played in 2021 and from all-time