a hat in time is one of those games where I don't think I'll ever truly get my fill. not in a bad way, I think the game is wonderful and it's a very nice 10 hour journey, and I think I'll always eventually come back, even if it's years from now. I feel the same way about Mario odyssey, and if I'm comparing something to that game in a positive light you know it's special. every part of this game hits, the platforming is, you guessed it, as finely tuned as it should be for any platformer, but it isn't just the raw gameplay that makes me love this world. a hat in time is adorable, but it doesn't go overboard. all of the sweet has a slight, slight sour tinge underneath it and it all balances incredibly well to the point the game makes you laugh, and also go "god damn, that's adorable". hat kid is a perfect platformer mascot. she isn't given much dialog, but what she does have paints such a clear picture and really bonds you to her. the side characters are pretty much all hits, i felt compelled to talk to everyone, even if it was a random owl sitting on the train, or some mafia thug that was ready to beat me up. i really want to see what this studio does next

I have exactly one criticism for this game, and it's quite the nitpick: A Hat in Time feels a little too cynical for the genre style it's going for. It's not much, and it's really only in a handful of places - for example, that throwaway line about Hat Kid's soul feeling "the normal amount of empty". It's a really funny line! But it does take me out of things just a little bit.

Everything else, though? Some of the most fun I've had in what's easily my most comfortable type of video game. 3D platformers are comfort food for me, so I was quite excited when this game's Kickstarter was announced. A modern 3D platformer, deliberately evocative of GameCube titles I'd grown up on like Super Mario Sunshine and Wind Waker? I didn't kick in, since admittedly there have been very few games I've backed on Kickstarter, but I was very excited to follow the game's progress.

Then it came out, and it was even better than I could have imagined.

There's an immediate joy to this game. Hat Kid has to be one of the most likable protagonists - cute and fun-loving, but impulsive, rude, and little concerned with the troubles she finds herself drawn into. There are all these hints at the world being fairly dark, what with those character vaults hinting at all the major players' tragic backstories, but this almost never intersects with the actual narrative of the adventure. Hat Kid almost feels like Kirby in this regard: an adorable hero in a sweet world with dark overtones. Only Kirby himself is not wired to interface with tragedy, just friends and foes, while Hat Kid is kinda annoyed by everyone (besides Bow Kid) and is content to cavalierly do her own thing.

Which makes for a great complement to the game's "anything goes" approach to level design! This is one of those games where there isn't really a "tutorial" world, nor is there any point in having one, since what every level asks ends up being so unique. This isn't to say that the game leaves the player in the lurch; "Mafia Town" very naturally shows off what Hat Kid can do and gives the player a ton of space to explore. And then every other world does something wildly different.

"Battle of the Birds" is quite simply one of the most fun and engaging video game worlds, period. What a fun way to bring together wildly divergent ideas! I'm curious about the original "science owls" concept mentioned in the Kickstarter, but I honestly can't imagine preferring it to what we got: two inexplicable rivals, a funky penguin and a train conductor... thing... trying to win an annual film director award. Dead Bird Studios and the respective train/moon film sets make for cool, divergent environments with their own challenges, and while I have a definite favorite (The Conductor), the whole thing's great.

Since I'm going through all the different worlds anyway - "Subcon Forest" is probably the other easy candidate for someone's favorite world. Having Super Mario Bros. 2 in my foundational gaming background, I went in expecting a very dreamlike world (i.e. Subconscious). And while that is the case, it's a dual meaning, since you spend the whole world Subcon-tracting. The Snatcher is suuuuuuch a fun villain, adding a ton of loud personality to what's otherwise a very melancholy, quiet world. I love the scattershot flow that comes from this world, where you can get saddled with contracts in one level that won't even be addressed for another level or two. Makes the whole thing feel way more sprawling than you'd expect.

Speaking of sprawling, there's Alpine Skyline! I've heard it called the also-ran world of this game, and it's hard to argue with that. I do still think it's quite good, though! A big world of pure platforming challenges makes for a fun counter-offer to the game's usual character-driven design. Like you definitely miss the presence of other characters, but there's something nice and silently contemplative to all the obstacle courses that characterize this place.

...other levels I'll cover if/when I get around to doing reviews for the DLC. This write-up just covers the base game.

But, like, I've spent a lot of words articulating a simple point - A Hat in Time is a wonderful, wonderful game. One of those where everything, from the cast to the level design to the writing to the MUSIC, contributes to one of the most enjoyable games I can think of. An easy personal recommendation for anyone.

A Hat in time is a good time
Often considered one of the best indies, the hype for this title is more than justified. It's an amazing 3D platformer, incredibly polished and able to offer a really nice experience from start to finish.

Hat Kid is one of the best controlling platforming heroes: the ability to keep going, jumping dashing around and maintaining a constant bubbly momentum makes the simple ability to run around so fluind and fun that it alone will sell you on the game.

But a Hat in Time doesn't stop there: the game presents such creative maps, so charming, wide and full of secrets that are able to compete with the Kingdoms of Mario Odyssey in terms of creativity and replayability. There is not a huge amount of world to explore, but what is there it's totally worth the hype: all immensely creative and able to always offer new gimmicks and challenges, that go toe to toe with the really funny and adorable tone of the game (except for a certain manor that.... if you know you know).

Not my favorite indie game or my favorite 3D platformer, but for sure a title that will stand the test of time both on the pantheon of indie titles, and in the great general gaming catalogue.

This game is the one that reignited my love for platformers, but especially 3D platformers. I (like many others) grew up as a Nintendo kid playing Mario, and some of those games are some of the most defining aspects of my childhood, like the day I got a Wii and played Mario Galaxy for the first time.

This game captures that same feeling, a heartfelt tale about a girl just wanting to go home, experiencing a slew of quirky characters along the way, making friends and saving the world. It also has that indie game charm to it too that just wouldn't make it as good if it was made by a studio on the scale of those its inspired by.

Easily one of my favorite games ever and one that I hope to keep coming back to for years to come, both to replay the base game and to see what levels, hats, etc. that the incredible modding community has come up with

Short, Cute, Fun, 10/10 i had a very fun time with this game as a person who doesn't play many platformers. First off, I have to say, hat kid is absolutely adorable! Definitely one of my favorite main characters because she is so her. I loved all the worlds in the game (and thinking of getting dlc) especially the movie one because of the rivalry. Most of the side characters and villains were also nice (except mustache girl she can catch my fade anytime any day.) The gameplay was nice, i loved exploring around the worlds plus the movement felt so fluid and nice. The boss battles were definitely my favorite because they were just SO fun. The whole hat mechanic was also great, kind of reminiscent to Mario odyssey's hats mechanic and i wished it could of been a longer game (or a sequel) because i would of loved to see more hats in the game (also more costumes they rock!) and lastly the music, absolutely loved it, it fit with every world and it never failed to deliver (personally my favorite was the ice looking levels track). Overall just a FUN game, that's really all you need.

Considering the reputation this game has, I was shocked by how janky the whole thing feels, which really put a dampener on my experience.
Loads of wee collision bugs, a few progression bugs, a floaty character, a camera that can’t decide what it’s doing… it’s just really rough and I didn’t find it very fun to play.
None of the levels really inspired me. The incredibly vertical first level was a nightmare until I worked out you could change the camera behaviour in the settings (an option which apparently doesn’t exist on console!) so I could look down.

The boss fights all outstay their welcome a surprising amount.
I could go on about the character controller, but I just wasn’t feeling it.
The 3D art style didn’t hit for me at all, and didn’t manage to capture the very charming 2D work.
It also has one of the worst Scottish accents I’ve come across and had me sliding that voice volume right to zero.

It’s a real shame for me, because there’s obviously a huge amount of passion here, and I would definitely play the team’s next efforts. You can see, as you go through the game, that they got better as they made it.

Sorry this is a downer! I wish I liked it more!

To put it simply A Hat in Time is one of my favourite 3D platformers of all time. From the beginning to the end it knows what style it's going for and never strays from it. The level design never becomes dull due to the fact (especially in the later parts of the game) as it designed around the multiple hats and wants you to mix and match the on the fly. This game has never left me bored in the multiple times I have 100%ed this game and is the one game I would recommend to every fan of the 3D platformer genre.

I can see why this game was so popular when it came out, but I just thought it was ok.

It's fun! And I really like this weird world and characters they have created. It is cute and charming, I really like how this game looks, how it sounds, some of the missions are pretty fun and unique.

I particularly liked the film studio level, the cat mafia level or the cruise level. I like when these games try to tell a mini story in different parts every time you jump back into a level and the whole layout changes.

My biggest complaint with this game is that, as a platformer...it's just not very challenging. The game will give you plenty of opportunity to fuck things up and your character can spend so much time in the air that it is really hard to mess up jumps.

On top of that, the movement here is solid but it doesn't quite reach the same level of mechanical complexity or sense of flow that some of my favorite 3D platformers do accomplish. That and some of these levels are just too cluttered and/or too big in my opinion, so a lot of these feel a bit longer than they should.

Still a really solid experience and I recommend it. If anything for how charming and unique it still is.

my favorite parts about this game were fighting a toilet boss, making a murder-mystery/heist movie for owls, and discovering a book titled “Proof of Ethical Consumption under Capitalism” that had the pages blank.

remember that crazed moment in the late 2010s when people was losing their minds over getting the banjo-kazooie era 3d platformers back? and it couldn't have just been a new 3d platformer - it HAD to be like the n64 days. then yuka laylee came out and flopped.

I loved how this game seems to take inspiration from games passed and then adds its own identity to the mix. even if this game could be boiled down to cute mario sunshine x mario odyssey (down to how you take fire damage) it felt like a very charming & light-hearted experience that, by the end, had me feeling like I'd played something both new and familar at the same time.

pros: level design, characters, writing, art direction, progression, rewards/unlockables, sound design & ost

cons: inability to invert vertical camera controls, depth perception infrequently being janky due to lighting

i'm a decent fan of 3D platformers, but i really don't know about this one. other than its decent sense of humor, there isn't anything it does particularly well. movement feels fine but precise jumps feel like shit, switching hats/badges feel like a half baked and weirdly implemented idea, and only half of the worlds feel like they were made with 3d platforming in mind.

there are definitely parts i liked, though - going through the different levels in alpine skyline were fun, until i had to backtrack a billion times through them all again. and in the sea of boring ass levels in dead bird studios, the train bomb mission was fine.

i think this one would have benefited more with more free-roaming levels, or at least something more in line with the platformers it's inspired by (ie less stupid ass linear stealth levels). i dunno! this one's weird! it's got silly jokes and good voice acting but i don't feel real strongly about it. maybe they learned their lession in the dlc but it didn't grab me enough for me to want more.