I always feel these artsy indie type side scrolling relaxing platformers should be right up my street. Yet they never quite actually do it for me. I feel they are always missing something, and each one it's a different key ingredient needed to make it actually shine as much as the art and music tells me they should.
Hoa certainly nails presentation. The game is gorgeous with a great use of vivid greens, blues and other primary colours and the general art design is reminiscent of Studio Ghibli at times. Like a mixture of Laputa Castle in the Sky and Ponyo maybe? It does have an odd freeze or hitch sometimes when text appears or moving areas but not a big deal. The music is nearly all piano melodies but they are gorgeous and don't wear out their welcome unlike Squaresoft's RPG I am Setsuna.
I was enjoying a lot of the game even if it was a bit repetitive. Go to an area, explore by mostly jumping and collect 5 butterfly's to get a new move to progress to the next area and repeat. It was simple and relaxing and sometimes in the evening that's what I want. Not something that's going to take to much effort to play, just something that's generally pleasant. Unfortunately at the end Hoa just fumbles the ball and faceplates bashing out it's teeth and it's just really weird to me. There is a long sequence that should have been playable but isn't that goes on for too long but ok fine. However the last level following that is like every video game cardinal sin. Dream sequence? Check. Reverse controls? Check. Upside down sequence? Check. Reusing earlier game assets for padding? Check. Honestly it's awful and the actual ending felt extremely unsatisfying to boot.
The ending was either just pretentious, they didn't really have a full story plan or had to wrap up for budget. I'm not sure but in the end I finished feeling just...disappointed by it all.
+ Gorgeous artwork and use of colour.
+ Lovely piano tracks.
+ Generally easy going mostly.
- Has a weird hitch / freeze when transitioning screens or into text.
- Ending sequence is just awful.
Hoa certainly nails presentation. The game is gorgeous with a great use of vivid greens, blues and other primary colours and the general art design is reminiscent of Studio Ghibli at times. Like a mixture of Laputa Castle in the Sky and Ponyo maybe? It does have an odd freeze or hitch sometimes when text appears or moving areas but not a big deal. The music is nearly all piano melodies but they are gorgeous and don't wear out their welcome unlike Squaresoft's RPG I am Setsuna.
I was enjoying a lot of the game even if it was a bit repetitive. Go to an area, explore by mostly jumping and collect 5 butterfly's to get a new move to progress to the next area and repeat. It was simple and relaxing and sometimes in the evening that's what I want. Not something that's going to take to much effort to play, just something that's generally pleasant. Unfortunately at the end Hoa just fumbles the ball and faceplates bashing out it's teeth and it's just really weird to me. There is a long sequence that should have been playable but isn't that goes on for too long but ok fine. However the last level following that is like every video game cardinal sin. Dream sequence? Check. Reverse controls? Check. Upside down sequence? Check. Reusing earlier game assets for padding? Check. Honestly it's awful and the actual ending felt extremely unsatisfying to boot.
The ending was either just pretentious, they didn't really have a full story plan or had to wrap up for budget. I'm not sure but in the end I finished feeling just...disappointed by it all.
+ Gorgeous artwork and use of colour.
+ Lovely piano tracks.
+ Generally easy going mostly.
- Has a weird hitch / freeze when transitioning screens or into text.
- Ending sequence is just awful.