Current Events > Started A Hat in Time. Think I'm gonna like this game. Anything to keep in mind?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Finally started Hat in Time and... yeah, I'm instantly charmed by it. I initially balked at the $30 price point when it looked like one of those steam humble indie bundle games that are $5, and when I did get it on sale I was apprehensive about starting it.

But within the first hour I started really getting into exploring the first world, mafia town. The voice acting and characters are so silly it's great. The platforming is... fine so far. but I'm having a lot of fun.

Is the game gonna be punishing in difficulty later on, or manageable if say, I'm coming off of playing super mario 3d world/bowser fury

It's alright. Some levels are definitely better than others. I felt like it was missing....something. But I never did play it after the big DLC drop.

Peck!

Played the main game during early access days. Very enjoyable imo

I did buy the dlc a few years later and tried to play it co-op with my younger sis but she totally sucks at platformers lol. Never completed it.

I don't think the main game is difficult and there are mods to make things even easier (flying cap from Mario comes to mind).

I remember playing through it years ago. It actually didn't get too incredibly hard. Challenging, but not super hard. I didn't play the DLC worlds though, those might be harder.

It doesn't ever get particularly difficult unless you play Death Wish mode. But that's an optional mode that's part of the DLC.

I played it on Switch so the graphics were a little mid but the gameplay is definitely fun. The most important thing in a platforming collect-a-thon IMO is how it feels to control, and then how fun it is to collect things. The movement controls are definitely fun to use and I enjoyed 100%ing the game. The Sunshine-esque pure geometry levels are good. Also some good humor/charm. Not super long but a very solid game.

Definitely play the Death Wish mode, it's intimidating but if you have trouble beating the levels you can enable a "easy mode" thing, and the cosmetics you get from it are amazing

Huh DLC. When I bought the game for half off they didn't include DLC... I think I'll probably just play the base game, doesn't seem like the extra 10 bucks is worth it if it's just for harder modes, something I'm not interested in.

saspa posted...

Huh DLC. When I bought the game for half off they didn't include DLC... I think I'll probably just play the base game, doesn't seem like the extra 10 bucks is worth it if it's just for harder modes, something I'm not interested in.

It's not just that. There are two DLCs that each come with an additional world as well. They're not necessary at all, but I enjoyed them.

Small pet peeve, I'm annoyed I can't manually save. Would be nice to have multiple save files in case I do something wrong and want to go back. But oh well.

The platforming can get a little wonky at times... but otherwise still manageable.

C_Pain posted...

The Sunshine-esque pure geometry levels are good

Oh so it's that obvious huh, they reminded everyone else of Super Mario Sunshine too? I actually think a lot of this game is reminding me of sunshine. Balancing on the tightrope and jumping is so reminiscent of sunshine days. And encountering those time rift levels with the moving platforms is an obvious one.

All I remember from the game is screwing around and skipping most of the first stage.

I wish there was an item tracker because it would really suck to go through a level and then finish it with only 7 out of 8 total stamps and then have to redo the level all over again just to find the final item collectathon. I'd rather just know where it is, at the very least which floor/general area. There's no in-game map?

Ok fricking lol, this game is getting some genuine laughs out of me.

Which director did you choose to win, the penguin DJ Grooves or the Owl Conductor?

I went with The Conductor. Obviously he's one of the game's most memorable characters. Also voiced by the Smash announcer.

GeneralKenobi85 posted...

I went with The Conductor. Obviously he's one of the game's most memorable characters. Also voiced by the Smash announcer.

Oh that's a nifty little tidbit. I feel like the game intended for DJ grooves to win and be the bad guy and the conductor to help you out.

At first I thought DJ Grooves had the better levels but nope, the parade is the most garbage level of all time and I hate it, The train levels are way better.

I think the first DJ Grooves level is more fun to play than the murder mystery level (the mystery level was funnier though) but the train rush is definitely more fun than the parade.
I like DJ Grooves way more though and he has way crazier lines as the boss.

Did anyone tear up at the backstory for Act 3, the one in the forest with the hilarious/terrifying Spirit thing and witch in the manor?

That weirdly Struck a chord with me. There was a prince and princess who liked each other but the princess thought the prince didn't love her anymore and was pursuing another girl even though he wasn't it was just a misunderstanding. In her tearful rage she has him taken away to rot in the dungeon for all eternity and her broken heart transforms her into this hideously terrifying witch creature. Meanwhile the prince... is the very spirit you meet in the start of the chapter who takes your soul in the contracts and has become all jaded and evil.


That was so sad, and it's revealed through picturebook.

Damn. I think I'm gonna cough up the extra 10 bucks or so for the DLC, because I was not expecting to enjoy the game this much and I want more levels to play.

saspa posted...

Damn. I think I'm gonna cough up the extra 10 bucks or so for the DLC, because I was not expecting to enjoy the game this much and I want more levels to play.

Hell yeah the Metro level is great.

saspa posted...

Did anyone tear up at the backstory for Act 3, the one in the forest with the hilarious/terrifying Spirit thing and witch in the manor?

Yeah it's hard-hitting

The game felt unfinished without the DLC, tbh, and honestly in general the whole thing felt short

its a great game, just wish they would have come up with a little more with the crazy amount of time they spent making it

Boy it is absolutely short. It would be like if Super Mario 64 ended after the first Bowser boss fight, instead of having all the basement levels and all the top floor levels.

I was not expecting to beat the game in just a week.

saspa posted...

Boy it is absolutely short. It would be like if Super Mario 64 ended after the first Bowser boss fight, instead of having all the basement levels and all the top floor levels.

I was not expecting to beat the game in just a week.

Look into Poi

Wait did the dlc not need installing? I purchased it and suddenly it appeared in the laundry room. Could it have been on-disc dlc this entire time?

saspa posted...

Boy it is absolutely short. It would be like if Super Mario 64 ended after the first Bowser boss fight, instead of having all the basement levels and all the top floor levels.

I was not expecting to beat the game in just a week.

Yeah this game was super disappointing for that aspect

i paid for the Kickstarter, and it took way longer than they had anticipated to release the game, then when it finally came out after like 5 years of development it was like, a third of a game.

the dlc makes this better but it still feels incomplete imo.

saspa posted...

Wait did the dlc not need installing? I purchased it and suddenly it appeared in the laundry room. Could it have been on-disc dlc this entire time?

Could be possible the latest update patch had the data for it already. Sometimes devs do that but it's usually only for multiplayer games.

I will say that the short length did help me beat the game 3 times consecutively and come to it for the DLC. I can still see myself replaying it someday. Whereas something like Mario Odyssey once I got to the Lake kingdom for my second run I burned out and never went back to it and I don't really intend on doing so either.

So I beat the boss, and the finale was fun, at least the platforming sections. The finale boss went on too long and thank goodness for checkpoints or I would have been livid. If this were a crummy n64/ps1 title (or even gen 6) they would have probably had us start from the very beginning. And Hat girl wouldn't even get a 4 hit counter, probably just 2 and no hearts.

The boss fight really emphasized for me how this was so much like those n64 era collectathon platformers except with quality of life improvements and none of the awful design of that era, like a game from that era perfected. And that's a good thing. It makes me want to play more games like it if that's the design philosophy. Sure I've gotten frustrated maybe once or twice, but overall it was very manageable and I'm glad for it

TheGoldenEel posted...

Yeah this game was super disappointing for that aspect

i paid for the Kickstarter, and it took way longer than they had anticipated to release the game, then when it finally came out after like 5 years of development it was like, a third of a game.

the dlc makes this better but it still feels incomplete imo.

I mean I don't mind so much since I only just came across the game and started playing, but I can understand how it would feel for someone in your shoes.

The fact that it was so much more fun than anything I was anticipating when I first bought it really helped, and I'm just shocked there hasn't been more games like it. Or more from the studio, because I certainly wouldn't mind a sequel.

Ok at first I was liking the arctic cruise but the second chapter can go die in a fire. I have to do a bunch of weird tasks across the ship and there's a timer and I think there's some RNG involved because sometimes the tasks don't always appear and it's tedious as hell, this is what I paid for? Goddamn.

Well I finally beat it, but that chapter act is a huuuuuge miss. It's somehow worse than even the parade act from DJ grooves, and I didn't think anything was worse than that level.

Ratchetrockon posted...

Peck!

Oi! Watch yer peckin' mouth!

So overall I'm gonna rate the chapters.

Chapter 1: Mafia Town. Pretty damn fun and a great introductory level. It gave off Super Mario Sunshine vibes with the whole island surrounded by water level, and lots of little secrets off the beaten path.

Chapter 2: The movie studios levels. It was ok for the most part. Fun and silly, the train levels were cool. Parade level brings it down a lot though.

Chapter 3: Forest level. I enjoyed this while playing it but it was annoying how everything was walled off with magic fire or whatever and honestly it was by sheer coincidence that I was able to unlock all the paths, I was just randomly jumping around and seeing if I could swing from tree branch to tree branch. Vanessa's manor was terrifying. And the Chapter backstory was heartbreaking I don't know why it got to me.

Chapter 4: The mountains level with all the sky rails. I didn't like this so much.

Chapter 5: Finale. This level didn't really have any acts, it was just one big level and then you fight the boss. Very Bowser's castleish and I thought it was alright.

Oh so... did anyone give mustachioed girl a spare hourglass time piece? I honestly was in a forgiving mood but it's just that I felt that if I gave her one, she would become corrupted and seek out more, since she's shown to be easily susceptible to corruption.

So I opted for no but kinda want to see what would happen if I said yes.

The task level might just be the worst level in the game. I think it's the only level I dreaded on replays. It's even worse in Death Wish and might be the hardest or at least most annoying death wish (the arctic cruise time rift death wish might be worse but at least it's more enjoyable to go through).

Starting the tokyo metro level now. Seems like the hub is gonna be confusing...

Ok the cat metro level was pretty fun. Would be even better if all of this was part of the main game, but as a one time thing I didn't mind doing the whole DLC purchasing.

This game has this thing where I don't know if I'm going the right way since there's no map but I end up getting the time piece anyway, and even if I don't I end up discovering treasure. It's all completely by dumb luck and chance.

Holy hell so the The arctic cruise time rift was just insane, kicked my butt a bunch of times. It wouldn't be so bad if I didn't have to find all the damn pictures. This was harder than anything from Nyakuza Metro

If you actually completed the arctic time rift I'm impressed

Welp I beat the game, for real this time. 100%, all 56 time pieces! My overall verdict: This game is fantastic. I know it got rave reviews across the board, but I was still not expecting to like it let alone this much.

This time for the ending I gave the mustachioed girl a time piece. The final picture book time rift made me almost cry I felt so bad for her, all alone in that cave against the mafia men. She may have been corrupted by power but by god if she didn't tug at my heart strings at that moment.

Why did they make the arctic time rift harder than both the nyakuza time rift and the final tour time rift. I thank god that they give more pieces than is needed to advance to the next area. By the final level I was down to 1 life, desperate, and just needing one more piece to advance. And then there it was, the time rift! I breathed a sigh of relief, could feel my heart pounding. There was this sequence where I had to alternate between jumping between invisible walls that I (by complete luck and reflex) was able to get through. It's the level that made me rage quit once or twice.

But even despite that, still way better than the damn timed tasks level. That is the only straight up deal break level. The arctic cruise, despite being a setting I really did like, sure did have some crappy decisions regarding it.

Glad you enjoyed it. The horror level really creeped me out honestly and I was glad when it was over lol.

It doesn't really matter whether you give her the time piece or not. It only affects that one scene and you can replay it and choose to do the other choice. But yeah, amazing game. And to think the only reason I decided to get it was because I heard a Your Contract Has Expired remix on youtube and the comments comparing it to Kirby.

Lol at gamespot review giving it a meager 7 out of 10. Sure the game is a little expensive considering its length and scope but it's easily one of the best 3d platformers I've played outside of Nintendo and I haven't encountered any game that comes close. They actually called the hilarious voice acting annoying instead of charming, talk about a stick up their butt. Don't know what the reviewer's problem is, they must be super jaded on a daily basis.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uG6ntdrDL8

Why is this video private and why wouldn't it be available for viewing?

Reviewers are generally unreliable to me