Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Very much inspired by hollow knight doesn’t do a whole lot that I can point to that we haven’t seen done elsewhere. Still everything is solid and I couldn’t stop playing so I think they says something. 10 hours to get most things and true ending. I should add the game is much easier which is a big plus for me. Sure hollow knight is great but sometimes not always in the mood to do a boss 50 times. Only tricky one was second to last boss for me but even then got it down. Perfect final boss not too hard not too easy but every time I knew my mistakes.

Haiku es un videojuego de plataformas con claras influencias tomadas de Hollow knight y otros clásicos del género, como Metroid mismo.

Primeramente, quiero mencionar el apartado gráfico: se puede ver, incluso en el trailer, que el pixel art casi minimalista está muy bien trabajado, jugando principalmente con la paleta de colores naranja, lo que resulta hermoso y atractivo.
Por otro lado, el mapeado está bien organizado; la progresión, la exploración, y las conexiones de áreas están bien establecidas. El juego te guía de forma simple y didáctica hacia tus objetivos, y, como buen metroidvania, impulsa el avance y la exploración a través de los diversos power ups, que, lamentablemente, terminan siendo bastante genéricos, pero útiles para nuestra aventura.

Ahora bien, el juego tiene muchas falencias, en cuanto a su género y contexto se refiere. La jugabilidad se queda atrás; el movimiento es agradable pero no del todo responsivo, los enemigos son muy poco originales y asimismo los bosses, incluso existen variaciones de estos mismos, reciclando así sus diseños, movimientos, y estrategias. La historia, los npcs, y los diálogos resultan pretenciosos, pero, a un nivel macro, no generan ninguna sensación de inmersión mayor, como por ejemplo, en otros títulos de la década, como Blasphemous, Hollow knight, u Ori.
El ost es MUY olvidable. Sin ser malo directamente, no destaca y no se aprecia en absoluto, y pasa de ser un ost de buena ambientación, a un soundtrack que pasa a segundo plano.
Por otro lado, el HUD y la traducción al español se ven bastante arcaicas y poco trabajadas. Si bien es un juego indie, eso no quiere decir que sus desarrolladores tengan que despreocupar estos apartados; la interfaz es tan sencilla que da la sensación de ser una excusa para integrar diálogos, y estos últimos en si, en nuestro idioma, muchas veces carecen de coherencia, fallas gramaticales, etc.
Por último, a pesar de que el mapeado esté distribuido de forma inteligente y intuitiva, la transición de biomas no funciona y carece de sentido; pasamos de una especie de industria a un lugar frondoso, o a una zona acuática, sin ningún tipo de matiz, cortando los diversos sectores de forma arbitraria y poco coherente.
Asimismo, la dificultad del juego flaquea; para el género, hay espacios en donde los monstruos están mal distribuidos, en cantidad y curva de progresión. Los bosses, hasta el jefe final, no presentan una dificultad mayor, y por lo mismo, la mayor parte del tiempo se está explorando, lo que hace el título bastante corto y poco disfrutable.

Haiku no es un mal juego, pero su trailer pinta muchísimo mejor de lo que realmente es. Tiene aspectos positivos destacables, y aun así termina siendo un juego que no trasciende en nuestra era, en ninguno de sus apartados.

Wonderful little game. Fun combat, fun bosses, great area variety and an additional challenge at the end that rewards players for completing it. I’m so glad that I was recommended this and it stands as possibly my 2nd favourite metroidvania behind Hollow Knight. It’s not brutally difficult or anything, but it’s a balanced experience with a great look.

Recommend this to anyone, but particularly if you find some metroidvanias a little intimidating. This is such a great jumping off point for the genre.

The majority of indie Metroidvanias released in the last few years have been compared to Hollow Knight, even if they are wildly different and only share the genre. Haiku, however, fully deserves these direct comparisons.

In almost every regard, Haiku takes 'inspiration' from Team Cherry's classic. A direct line can be drawn between every location, ability, character, enemy, boss and morsel of lore; and the equivalent in Hollow Knight.

This isn't necessarily a bad thing - Hollow Knight is well regarded for a reason - but Haiku never reaches the heights set by the other title. It doesn't help that the few new mechanics that Haiku plays with are the worst part of the game. Take the 'Heat Gauge' for example, which limits the amount of advanced actions you can do back to back. When this was introduced, I assumed this would work mostly with the combat, equivalent to a stamina bar in 'Souls' games. In reality, it almost exclusively affects platforming. This means that traversal often grinds to a halt as you wait upon a cooldown and in the worst cases, means you fail a particular platforming challenge because you can no longer dash or grapple.

The classic Metroidvania gameplay that is here is mostly well executed, and I (mostly) has a fun time exploring its post apocalyptic but bright world. I enjoyed my six or so hours, I just wish it pushed a little more in it's own direction.

What a lovely little find Haiku The Robot is.

Lovingly crafted. Great environments. Absorbing sound design. Responsive controls. Very fun to play.

Buuuuut, you really can't ignore that it's very much Hollow Knight in a different, easier skin. I don't like to compare games too much, but Haiku goes beyond an homage to or being inspire by Hollow Knight.

I would very much recommend if you're looking for a fun to play, challenging at times, yet casual Metroidvania. I thoroughly enjoyed my time with it.

Sights & Sounds
- The pixel art on the characters and enemies is excellent; everything in the game has a lot of personality. Unfortunately, I found the backgrounds and environments a little plain and generic despite the wonderful choices
- The music is good, but not stellar. I would describe it as "Metroid-esque," but maybe I'm overgeneralizing with all the other references and similarities Haiku bears to that title. This game wears that influence like a badge of honor

Story & Vibes
- Good news, the humans went and wiped themselves out! The bad news is that they really messed up the world in the process, meaning that the robots who have inherited the earth have a number of problems to deal with. Chief among these is the emergence of a virus that is corrupting the robots, making them violent and aggressive. It's up to Haiku to explore the world and purge it of the virus
- With that as the setup, you'd expect there to be more to the narrative. However, Haiku settles for a dozen or so lore collectables and a little bit of info dropping during conversations with NPCs. There's basically no exposition, but there's also very little to latch onto story-wise
- I'm all for a mysterious narrative and environmental storytelling, but it's weird that the majority of the NPCs you meet and complete quests for have no plot info for you. It makes their inclusion feel a little pointless--they're just there for time padding and achievements
- The vibes are basically Metroid, but the devs swapped Samus with a Waddle Dee from Kirby to give it a slightly discordant air of cuteness

Playability & Replayability
- It's a Metroidvania. If you've played any video games since 1989, you've probably played something similar. You jump on platforms until you find a platform that you can't reach, wander around until you find the tool or skill that lets you reach said platform, and then you backtrack back to it and keep moving. Sometimes you fight a boss
- Combat is extremely underbaked in Haiku. You have a sword that swings in cardinal directions. That's it. Sure, you can find some buffs to make it longer or swing faster, but that's all you get
- The puzzle platforming bits are also a little underwhelming. Maybe I've been spoiled by other titles in the genre like Ori, Hollow Knight, and Grime, but you basically just get a wall grab, double jump, morph ball, and mines
- With platforming and combat both being a little dull, exploration is really the only thing that carries the gameplay here. It's quite good and compares favorably to other titles like Axiom Verge and Blasphemous

Overall Impressions & Performance
- I feel like the basis for an exceptional game is here, but it Haiku feels too stripped down to be a truly notable Metroidvania. Exploration can be fun and all (especially with the snazzy color palette), but the limited combat and ho-hum platforming place it squarely in the middle tier of the genre
- It's also a surprisingly easy game. Not a cakewalk, but beating most bosses on the first or second try was the norm for my playthrough
- It did run very well on the Steam Deck, but I don't think a game like Haiku is going to trouble many systems

Final Verdict
- 6/10. It's a quick game with some charm and interesting level design, but it's too lacking in mechanics and narrative to strongly recommend. Pick it up it you like the look of the game, you don't mind the absence of a challenge, and it's on sale

Haiku, the Robot takes inspiration from Hollow Knight in its every aspect - enemies, characters, story moments, abilities, locations and systems. I wouldn't call it a complete ripoff - the game has some original ideas - but unfortunately it does a much better utilizing these tried and tested ideas, instead of designing new ones.

Take the heat meter for example - it's supposed to make the player play more carefully and think about when to dodge. However it becomes a non-issue extremely quickly. All it takes is for the player to get some upgrades and most encounters just lose any sort of challange. Then you have the game's version of charms, which hardly affect the gameplay. The only useful ones are these that affect the number of gears you lose on death or spend on healing, as it's the only way to significantly enhance your performance in battle. And then again - using money for healing is a cool and original idea, but once you equip these perks, it loses any sort of charm as you pretty much aren't punished at all.

Overall, I can't say I had a bad time with the game, but I just wish there was somehow more to it.