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A Hat in Time Review Thread

In case you had played the Alpha/Beta in Steam, you won't need a new key; the same entry has been updated to the final build.

The obvious stuff is putting a pretty significant damper on my excitement, but still, it's cool to have this finally out after seeing those first awesome clips years ago.
 

epmode

Member
Thanks. Nothing has popped up in my library or in my purchases tab. Weird. I'm assuming people not receiving their keys hasn't been an issue?

Dunno. It showed up unclaimed for me as well. I didn’t pay enough for an early beta key though.

I played some more. It really turned out far better than I expected.
 

Dusk Golem

A 21st Century Rockefeller
Hey everyone, this is Dusk Golem aka AestheticGamer. I have posted on NeoGAF since 2011, and have decided to resign. I have enjoyed posting about horror games here for years, but I no longer wish to support the site and will be leaving for good. I will still be around the internet, I go by AestheticGamer on YouTube, I make games on Steam as Yai Gameworks, and I plan to go by Dusk Golem on other forums. I'll be joining an off-set of the GAF community leaving to try other ventures like ResetEra (Official Twitter for that here: https://twitter.com/reseteraforum ). I hope some of you who read this may consider it, and I plan to try to expose more people to horror games in the years to come. Just not here.

I hope you all are having a good day, and know I always loved the community, and in the end it's the community I'm going to stick with, not the site itself. If you want to follow me, my official Twitter is here: https://twitter.com/AestheticGamer1
 

TDLink

Member
Really happy this turned out so well. Going to dive into it today after work. It's mind-boggling to me how Y-L seems to have slipped up with a more experienced team compared to this.
Any KS backers not receive their Steam keys yet?

Still waiting here.

Thanks. Nothing has popped up in my library or in my purchases tab. Weird. I'm assuming people not receiving their keys hasn't been an issue?

If you already were in the Alpha or Beta on steam, it automatically turned into the final game and you don't get a new/separate key.
 

Crayolan

Member
Played the game for about 9 hours and just hit the hourglass threshold to unlock the final world.

The game is really damn good. Every inch oozes charm, it combines open-ended level design with actual platforming challenges seamlessly, and most importantly, Hat Kid controls great. Haven't finished all the "main" acts in each world yet, but so far my favorite world is Subcon Forest. I love how it can be a straightforward path to your objective in each act if you want, but if you try to explore and get the extraneous collectibles, you'll be spending most of your time off the beaten path and up in the trees, or you may even wander into a completely different act.

My only real problem with the game is that there's a noticeable lack of polish. I've encounter a few minor glitches without trying and there is quite a bit of jank (obvious clipping, hat kid getting stuck on objects occasionally, a few places where you can easily reach but the developers didn't expect you to because objects nearby have no collision, etc). It's the kind of stuff which makes you think "oh right, this was a kickstarter game," but if you can look past that the core of the game is great.

Also the game has a OneShot skin so +1 for that.
 
tumblr_oxeljiSFhu1r470xho1_1280.png

tumblr_oxeljiSFhu1r470xho2_540.png

:p

Had this game on my radar for a while, it sounds like it's a really good, and I'd especially like to have a 3D platformer to play, as it will probably be a while before I get a Switch and Mario Odyssey. But the shady stuff about the developers posted a while back and the aforementioned JonTron business make me hesitant though. :/
 
It's definitely the best controlling 3D platformer I've played on PC, but it's lacking some of the stuff I want out of a platformer. I appreciate the open level design, but collecting stuff doesn't feel very satisfying to me, if that makes sense. I do really love how unique all of the worlds feel, though.

Also, can you turn off depth of field? You could in the beta, but I'm not seeing an option.
Nevermind, dug around in a config file and set it to False.

Another edit: Like seriously, this game looks so much better when you turn off DoF.
 
Whats the verdict people better then Yooka Laylee?

For me it's definitely better. I'd have to wait a couple days to know just how much better it is, though, because while I thought Chapters 1 through 3 were all great, the game sort of fizzled out entirely on the final one and I don't want to let that last impression override the good times, heh. I'd recommend for the first three chapters alone, though. They're far ahead of anything that Yooka Laylee had to offer, imo.
 

Maximo

Member
For me it's definitely better. I'd have to wait a couple days to know just how much better it is, though, because while I thought Chapters 1 through 3 were all great, the game sort of fizzled out entirely on the final one and I don't want to let that last impression override the good times, heh. I'd recommend for the first three chapters alone, though. They're far ahead of anything that Yooka Laylee had to offer, imo.

Don't know why I bothered asking when probably 10 minutes later I just said *fuck it* and ended up buying it hahaha, first hour so far has been really good the charm and little details/things you can interact or mess with has been great its so far the world and characters have captured me more then Yooka Laylee has.
 
Doesn't seem to have had a strong launch

Did people get scared off from reviewing it? Still only the 4 first review on OpenCritic.
On Youtube there are tons of people playing it and the opinions overall seems very positive. Maybe because of the contrast from Yooka Laylee which always gets mentionned. Or because of the Mario Sunshine common points (Time Rifts) and controls which also gets mentionned a lot. Or just because it's a cute and varied game that goes well with the let's play format.
 

munchie64

Member
Don't know if this is the best place for this, but I've got at least one free Steam key to give to whoever wants it. I may have another depending on whether I want decide to play this game or not after recent things...

But for now, if you're interested PM me for a key!


Key taken!
 

Lonely1

Unconfirmed Member
Doesn't seem to have had a strong launch

Did people get scared off from reviewing it? Still only the 4 first review on OpenCritic.
On Youtube there are tons of people playing it and the opinions overall seems very positive. Maybe because of the contrast from Yooka Laylee which always gets mentionned. Or because of the Mario Sunshine common points (Time Rifts) and controls which also gets mentionned a lot. Or just because it's a cute and varied game that goes well with the let's play format.

Well, its sitting at 11,810 ± 3,172 on Steamspy. Although we should wait a bit to get a more accurate number, Is important to note that most of those owners are backers that had this game on its library for a considerable time now. If all these were new sales, it would be good I would think.

How do you guys reckon it will be received on PS4/XB1? Oct 5 seemed like a great date to launch on consoles, but sadly it couldn't make it. Competition will only get tougher later in the year.

Also, GfB marketed this game heavily to youtubers (Hence the whole JT thing).

I won't support this after the whole shady ordeal with the WiiU and then their excuses with the Switch, even though I've got a beefy PC. JonTron is just the icing on the cake.

The Wii U situation might, or might not be shady. However, I think they have managed the Switch issue really well. Not giving promises they aren't sure they can fulfill, while also acknowledging that there's demand.

I do think is in their best interest to have the game in the platform as soon as possible, though.
 

Nilaul

Member
I won't support this after the whole shady ordeal with the WiiU and then their excuses with the Switch, even though I've got a beefy PC.

The reviews and impressions are so far positive but I can't overlook how the Kickstarter was run.
 

Maximo

Member
I won't support this after the whole shady ordeal with the WiiU and then their excuses with the Switch, even though I've got a beefy PC. JonTron is just the icing on the cake.

"MOD EDIT: There's an entire thread to discuss the situation with Jontron. Use that thread. This one is for discussing reviews. This is your warning."
In regards to the WiiU don't believe they ever promised a WiiU version?
 

Nilaul

Member
"MOD EDIT: There's an entire thread to discuss the situation with Jontron. Use that thread. This one is for discussing reviews. This is your warning."
In regards to the WiiU don't believe they ever promised a WiiU version?

They sure tried their best to court wiiU backers in the Kickstarter.
 

Lonely1

Unconfirmed Member
"MOD EDIT: There's an entire thread to discuss the situation with Jontron. Use that thread. This one is for discussing reviews. This is your warning."
In regards to the WiiU don't believe they ever promised a WiiU version?

As far as I know, they never promised a Wii U version, but they teased it. And that was enough to get coverage on a lot of Nintendo fan sites, which its this game main market and might have been fundamental to get the kickstarter support. Kinda like Y&L.

They sure tried their best to court wiiU backers in the Kickstarter.
Still better than Project Cars, Y&L and countless of other games where they did openly promised a version, though :p .
 

Shifty

Member
Been following this on and off since the announcement and early tech demo videos, and I'm tempted to buy on the spot after hearing all these positive impressions.

I do think is in their best interest to have the game in the platform as soon as possible, though.

I wonder whether that's even feasible given that it's an Unreal 3 game. Unreal 4 does Switch no problem, but a last-gen engine designed to support the last-gen systems? I can see that being very messy.

There's an entire thread to discuss the situation with Jontron. Use that thread. This one is for discussing reviews. This is your warning. Thanks.

Thank you. The signal-to-noise ratio in threads about content involving controversial personalities has been terrible as of late, so it's real nice to see someone step in and do something about it.
 

Lonely1

Unconfirmed Member
I wonder whether that's even feasible given that it's an Unreal 3 game. Unreal 4 does Switch no problem, but a last-gen engine designed to support the last-gen systems? I can see that being very messy.

It wouldn't be messy at all if the UE3 had Switch support, which it doesn't.

However, at an earlier post in this thread I pointed out one bizarre development. The company in question offers:

Virtual Programming can bring your Windows-based game to the Mac and Linux platforms.

We have an established and robust technology, known as eON, which was created from the ground up for gaming. It is a fully native implementation of essential Windows technologies (such as Direct3D), developed with support from our close relationships with Fortune 500 hardware and software technology companies.

Our technology allows us to be flexible with all games, providing a fully-optimised and native runtime for each game, giving the player the best available experience under Mac and Linux. It is also possible to deliver a Windows-based game to these platforms without source code: an important factor where developer licensing may be restricted.

On their portfolio, the company in question has ported various UE3 games to Linux, which isn't a supported platform by the engine, and are working on at least one Switch game. The key element here is OpenGL/Vulkan API, which the Switch supports and your only option for a Linux native game. So, if someone were to outsource a UE3 port for Switch, VP is high on the list of candidates for the job.

However, GfB was fast on shutting down the rumor, stating that they didn't even knew who VP are.
 

Shifty

Member
It wouldn't be messy at all if the UE3 had Switch support, which it doesn't.

That's my point here. The game started development before UE4 was even a thing, which is going to make porting to Switch a big ask.

The 'virtual programming' stuff sounds interesting, particularly as they're said to be working on a Switch project, but I'd be surprised if they were able to take full-fat desktop UE3 and run it on Switch using some kind of software wrapper (which sounds a bit like WINE on Linux or Cider on OSX). That's a lot of overhead to deal with.

Hope they can pull it off somehow.
 

Ionic

Member
Played through it overnight. I really enjoyed how varied the worlds were. Each one had a nice gameplay/objective theme to make them unique. Also I enjoyed the bosses quite a bit. It's amazing the difference in quality between the final showdown in this versus Yooka Laylee. Now I'll have to go back in and get the rest of the collectibles.
 

Dusk Golem

A 21st Century Rockefeller
Hey everyone, this is Dusk Golem aka AestheticGamer. I have posted on NeoGAF since 2011, and have decided to resign. I have enjoyed posting about horror games here for years, but I no longer wish to support the site and will be leaving for good. I will still be around the internet, I go by AestheticGamer on YouTube, I make games on Steam as Yai Gameworks, and I plan to go by Dusk Golem on other forums. I'll be joining an off-set of the GAF community leaving to try other ventures like ResetEra (Official Twitter for that here: https://twitter.com/reseteraforum ). I hope some of you who read this may consider it, and I plan to try to expose more people to horror games in the years to come. Just not here.

I hope you all are having a good day, and know I always loved the community, and in the end it's the community I'm going to stick with, not the site itself. If you want to follow me, my official Twitter is here: https://twitter.com/AestheticGamer1
 

XaosWolf

Member
100% this yesterday clocking in at 15 hours. (Knock off about 3 for a "short" trip I had to make IRL whilst in the middle of a boss battle)

The game is fantastic. Plays great, jumps and dives are spot on and levels have a lot of diversity which I didn't expect. Some levels are more fleshed out than others but they always had a point going for it. Hat Kid is also adorable despite the devs putting her in terrible situations.

There's some minor issues I had though. Nothing gamebreaking but just kinda annoying:
1) Some key abilities are badges that have to be equipped for some reason.
2) The option of having people mumble like in Banjo-Kazooie is the most expensive badge in the game and you have to have it equipped. It also doesn't work on everyone.
3) You can see from the map how many Time Pieces and Rifts are left in each world, but nothing for Relics. Would have been very handy to have so I didn't have to keep going into levels to check using a special badge.​

But overall the game was great and is another Kickstarter that lived up to its promises just like Shovel Knight. And I've just found out about there being 2 more worlds coming later which will make it even more worth the £23.
Hopefully the game can do well despite the other unfortunate issues going or at least they can be resolved in some way. The game itself is pretty damn great.
 

Luigi87

Member
Started playing it.

I really like Hat Kid's movement. It's very satisfying, which I find is one of the most important things in a platforming game.
 
The game is really damn good. Every inch oozes charm, it combines open-ended level design with actual platforming challenges seamlessly, and most importantly, Hat Kid controls great. Haven't finished all the "main" acts in each world yet, but so far my favorite world is Subcon Forest. I love how it can be a straightforward path to your objective in each act if you want, but if you try to explore and get the extraneous collectibles, you'll be spending most of your time off the beaten path and up in the trees, or you may even wander into a completely different act.

My only real problem with the game is that there's a noticeable lack of polish. I've encounter a few minor glitches without trying and there is quite a bit of jank (obvious clipping, hat kid getting stuck on objects occasionally, a few places where you can easily reach but the developers didn't expect you to because objects nearby have no collision, etc). It's the kind of stuff which makes you think "oh right, this was a kickstarter game," but if you can look past that the core of the game is great.

This basically sums up my thoughts exactly. It’s super charming and detailed, but also lacking a couple coates of polish. It’s especially odd, because until today I would have thought the two qualities were mutually exclusive.

There’s just a bit too much clipping through objects. I also think the difficulty is kind of weird... the game is pretty easy overall, but there will be tiny segments here and there that suddenly give me a lot of trouble.

It’s a shame, because while I like the game, it would be sooooo much better with just a few more rounds of refinment. I guess after five years, the devs probably couldn’t wait any longer, but it still sucks.

Edit: Also, the mac port is CRAP, to such an extent that I wonder why it even exists. Use Bootcamp!
 
Still no OT?
*echoes* Still no OT?
I hope there is not some sort of limitation because of the controversy thing whose thread got closed.

Actually I'm really surprised that there are still no other review on Opencritic nor Metacritic. Especially since it costs $30, it's the range where people are going to want to check reviews before buying.

That game was not *that* obscure since I remember it was often part of the "collectathon 3D platformer revival" storyline with Yooka-Laylee and Mario Odyssey because of the demo's timing (with Poi and Lucky's Tale sometimes closing the pentet on messageboards). Edit: and Knack 2, Crash, Sonic... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yx5VStkVpZE
Or is it because it's only on PC right now? I don't remember if PC games get less coverage than console games.

Maybe I'm missing it, but is there no way to remap your keys?
Apparently not.
 

Kyolux

Member
So I've been enjoying it so far.

But I was wondering why I can access Ch. 1 act 6 and 7 but not 5?

Anyone knows anything about this?
 
So I've been enjoying it so far.

But I was wondering why I can access Ch. 1 act 6 and 7 but not 5?

Anyone knows anything about this?

I'm not sure exactly what unlocks Act 5, but I think it might be related to how much yarn/time pieces you have? Don't worry too much about it, though, if I'm not mistaken, you need an item you won't get until fairly later in the game to finish that act.
 

Kyolux

Member
I'm not sure exactly what unlocks Act 5, but I think it might be related to how much yarn/time pieces you have? Don't worry too much about it, though, if I'm not mistaken, you need an item you won't get until fairly later in the game to finish that act.

So it doesn't break continuity or anything to go ahead with Act 6 and 7? I don't like that I can't do it in order. :/
 

Crayolan

Member
So I've been enjoying it so far.

But I was wondering why I can access Ch. 1 act 6 and 7 but not 5?

Anyone knows anything about this?

I think act 5 unlocks after you clear 6 and 7. As for why, that's probably just a relic from the beta days where when you beat act 4 acts 5-7 all unlocked at once, and they didn't feel like changing the numbering.

But you need items from outside of chapter 1 to finish act 5 anyway, so you shouldn't worry about it.
 
So it doesn't break continuity or anything to go ahead with Act 6 and 7? I don't like that I can't do it in order. :/

Acts 5 through 7 are pretty self-contained so you should be good with that, but yeah, it's slightly annoying haha. I think the idea behind it now is that you'd finish Act 4 and the "Main Story" of Mafia Town (basically getting through the whole meeting and falling out with Mustache Girl) and the lack of Act 5 would encourage you to go to the next world, since you definitely have four Time Pieces by that point.

There's something similar in Chapter 2, but a lot more blatant - you'll hit a wall because you don't have an item, but by that point you'll definitely have enough Time Pieces to reach Chapter 3 - so it's basically the game's way of telling you to go ahead and get more upgrades. (And I think it's a vestige of switching Chapters 2 and 3 around during development, if I'm not mistaken)

I think act 5 unlocks after you clear 6 and 7
Oh, yeah, that might be the case too. I'll double check it in a bit.
E: yeah that's exactly right
 

MUnited83

For you.
*echoes* Still no OT?
I hope there is not some sort of limitation because of the controversy thing whose thread got closed.

Actually I'm really surprised that there are still no other review on Opencritic nor Metacritic. Especially since it costs $30, it's the range where people are going to want to check reviews before buying.

That game was not *that* obscure since I remember it was often part of the "collectathon 3D platformer revival" storyline with Yooka-Laylee and Mario Odyssey because of the demo's timing (with Poi and Lucky's Tale sometimes closing the pentet on messageboards). Edit: and Knack 2, Crash, Sonic... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yx5VStkVpZE
Or is it because it's only on PC right now? I don't remember if PC games get less coverage than console games.



Apparently not.

There is no limitation, but the person who was making the OT quit when they discovered Jon was still in the game. Someone needs to volunteer to make the OT now.
 

Stalwart

Member
There is no limitation, but the person who was making the OT quit when they discovered Jon was still in the game. Someone needs to volunteer to make the OT now.

There's nothing in the OT OT thread on this over in community, OP over there is still assuming he's going to make it.
 
Thanks!

Yeah that was my first reaction so I did go and do time rifts and the first act of chapter 2. I also have Chapter 3 unlocked now. But I was expecting act 5 of ch.1 to unlock by that point.

Just checked it right now, and yeah, it straight-up only unlocks after you finish Acts 6&7. Super weird :c
 
There is no limitation, but the person who was making the OT quit when they discovered Jon was still in the game. Someone needs to volunteer to make the OT now.

Aw.

There's nothing in the OT OT thread on this over in community, OP over there is still assuming he's going to make it.

He edited:

A Hat in Time by purseowner (2nd October 2017)
Releases 5th October

Edit: Due to issues surrounding A Hat in Time brought to my attention by Cerium, I concur that a dialogue needs to take place regarding whether or not it's appropriate to platform this game on GAF due to the JonTron controversy. Mod input would be appreciated.

I guess we are both referencing this thread for mod input where another game was denied standing right because of racism included in the game itself.

We allowed the first game despite the creator being a gamergator, but in the light of the clear racism included in the game and the elevated bigotry since then, I don't think we need to give this game or its creator any further visibility.

A Hat in Time doesn't contain such themes so based on ModBot's guidelines used in that post we'd think that "There is no limitation".
Waiting on mod input then?
 

Lain

Member
Aw.



He edited:



I guess we are both referencing this thread for mod input where another game was denied standing right because of racism included in the game itself.



A Hat in Time doesn't contain such themes so based on ModBot's guidelines used in that post we'd think that "There is no limitation".
Waiting on mod input then?

Mods already said there is no ban on A Hat in Time. If there was, you wouldn't even have a review thread (I think).

Purseowner commented he/she would still make the thread somewhere (I think it might have been the Steam thread, or one of the other Hat threads) though hasn't yet posted it. Hopefully it goes up soon, as I think Aeana in the past has said that having an OT for people to discuss a game is more important than how cool the opening post is.
 
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