Hazel Sky's heart is in the right place. It's basically a mini Uncharted 4, but without any combat sections, little cinematic flair, and with the minimum budget required to make it a functional and fun game. With most games these days being influenced by either Dark Souls or Zelda, it's refreshing to see a indie dev try this sort of third person game.
The game mostly consists of exploring small tropical islands in order to fix a machine that will get you to the next island. Along the way you will be solving light puzzles and searching for notes and keys that will help open the way forward. There are light traversal sections, including climbing, swinging on ropes, and even sliding down muddy cliffs (which is taken right out of Uncharted 4, and I don't mind it at all). The puzzles and traversal are overall on the simplistic side, but it's fun enough to keep you engaged during the game's short runtime, and they contribute to the game's relaxed vibe by never making you feel too frustrated.
There's collectibles that serve as world-building lore, which I thought is done decently here, as there are a good amount of interesting stuff that is being told, despite the broken English here and there. You can also play a guitar in certain locations, and there's songs the character can sing (which are actually pretty good) if you collect music notes and play the chord written in said notes.
Unfortunately the main story is lackluster, mostly let down by the horrendous voice acting (for the English voices) and a unsatisfying plot and writing. Every now and then you'll get to talk to Erin, a girl who's allegedly on the same quest as you are, and her voice and dialogues are just too annoying, not unlike a whiny child. The aforementioned minimal budget also shows in the janky and somewhat unpolished look of the game, especially with the character models (really bad faces!).
Still, I'm glad to support a third person game of this ilk, and I had fun with it despite my complaints. If you're like me and curious about the Uncharted influence here, it's worth a shot.
The game mostly consists of exploring small tropical islands in order to fix a machine that will get you to the next island. Along the way you will be solving light puzzles and searching for notes and keys that will help open the way forward. There are light traversal sections, including climbing, swinging on ropes, and even sliding down muddy cliffs (which is taken right out of Uncharted 4, and I don't mind it at all). The puzzles and traversal are overall on the simplistic side, but it's fun enough to keep you engaged during the game's short runtime, and they contribute to the game's relaxed vibe by never making you feel too frustrated.
There's collectibles that serve as world-building lore, which I thought is done decently here, as there are a good amount of interesting stuff that is being told, despite the broken English here and there. You can also play a guitar in certain locations, and there's songs the character can sing (which are actually pretty good) if you collect music notes and play the chord written in said notes.
Unfortunately the main story is lackluster, mostly let down by the horrendous voice acting (for the English voices) and a unsatisfying plot and writing. Every now and then you'll get to talk to Erin, a girl who's allegedly on the same quest as you are, and her voice and dialogues are just too annoying, not unlike a whiny child. The aforementioned minimal budget also shows in the janky and somewhat unpolished look of the game, especially with the character models (really bad faces!).
Still, I'm glad to support a third person game of this ilk, and I had fun with it despite my complaints. If you're like me and curious about the Uncharted influence here, it's worth a shot.