Haiku, the Robot (2022)

After this and Zapling Bygone, my new rule is to always try games twice. On my first play, I was put off by the same-y rooms/art, the plinky sound effects, and the confusing navigation. When I picked it up again, I was suddenly completely captivated, and finished my 16-hour 100% run within 3 days.

I left the first couple areas and suddenly the variety and care put into the art style became very apparent. The sound effects became purposeful and atmosphere-building. I let myself get lost and the lack of navigation became a strength.

The game has a great sense of exploration and wonder. It copies that along with many other things that hollow knight does great - snappy character movement, interesting but unobtrusive lore, and a great balance of challenge.

My only complaint- it may have copied hollow knight a litttttttle too close. The story feels like an exact clone. There’s a virus (sickness) in a utopia turned dystopia. The evil force behind it all switches around characters , and is also part of you The dialogue and cryptic lore has a strikingly similar tone.

But, I’m not complaining. Hollow knight is my favorite game of all time, so something that can scratch that same itch is an easy recommendation.

what i liked:

• love letter to one of the most influential game of modern days and certainly one of my most favorite game of all times, the famous and glorious hollow knight (ofc as well as other metroidvania legends). there are a bunch of similarities to hollow knight, but i won't compare those two too much since haiku, the robot still got enough of it's own things and decent ideas going to be treat as an independent game.

• simple yet precise and fun combat. not a lot of depth, but it's playing well and that's the most important thing to me. i've actually enjoyed the simplicity.

• many different, fun abilities which are improving mostly your movement further and further. by the end of the game you'll delve through the vast underground wasteland with a bunch of speed and convenient tools.

• vague yet intriguing lore and world building. the game's theme is commonly used nowadays and well known from games like hollow knight and dark souls for example. since i'm quite fond of games like this, i may judge this aspect with less criticism, but i do think, it is done well enough in haiku despite being a small and short game.

• the story isn't as flashed out as it could be, but it serves it's purpose and keeps you invested and get going.

• the metroidvania progression and exploration was actually excellent. it's hard to get lost in this game as you'll naturally progress from one region into another which makes it a pretty fluid and satisfying experience.

• as usual in this genre, there is a decent amount of secrets and stuff to collect hidden all over arcadia.

• fun boss fights which are mostly a little too easy, with an exception to some of the later ones. this fact didn't bother me at all since the forgiving difficulty made this game a pretty cozy package.

• the overall atmosphere was quite dense and immersive. i've enjoyed every second of exploring the lost ruins of this fallen empire.

• calm and often chanting soundtrack spreading a mysterious and grave atmosphere to push the immersion of the charts.

• cute pixel graphics with a great art direction, but some smaller caveats. (see below)

what felt debatable to me:

~ the graphics got a somewhat blurry effect, mostly around your moving character, which is kinda unpleasant to look at and may be inconvenient for some people. after a couple of hours, this issue didn't bother me anymore.

~ cute and somewhat memorable characters, but they don't offer a lot of depth in the end. a couple line of texts on top would make the non player characters feel more alive and would've given them some more personality.

~ all in all, it's a quite easy and short game, so keep that in mind before buying.

what i disliked:

• backtracking for completion might feel like a chore due to the missing of an actual fast travel mechanic (at checkpoints or something). yes, you've got the trains for this purpose, but they're sparsely placed and there fore can't fulfill the need of quick travel completely. good thing is, the game isn't as big, so travelling around won't take too long.

• two achievements are bugged and may not trigger correctly in your run. the developer released actually a possible fix for this issue today, but it didn't worked on my already finished save file. could do the trick for new ones tho so take this complaint with a grain of salt. the developer is actually quite ambitious and helpful, so check out his discord if you're having issues with the game.