I had the chance to play Hauntii final yr at Summer season Recreation Fest. Pitched as an journey sport set in Limbo, Hauntii sees you taking part in as a ghost who explores the afterlife, which was a giant promoting level to me. So when the chance to evaluation Hauntii got here up, I jumped at it, and let me let you know, it was not what I used to be anticipating.
What drew me in was the setup and ambiance: the story of a darkish ghost first getting into a spooky ethereal world of the afterlife. Ultimately you meet your excellent match in a white ghost, and collectively you’re employed in the direction of recreating your reminiscences out of your life within the land of the residing. Whereas exploring, there are hints and whispers of an elder civilization on which the afterlife was constructed, however these are solely imprecise allusions to what might be, and sadly they aren’t paid off. Hauntii isn’t as targeted on the narrative as it’s on the playground it presents.
There are two methods to work together with the world: shoot your essence in a twin-stick shooter style, or hang-out one thing to acquire a brand new means or two per haunted object/creature. There’s a finite quantity of essence gauge, however afterward there are upgrades that permit that to be practically infinite. The haunting means, although, makes for some fascinating maneuvers. Generally you flip into an enemy that may physique slam, leaving a fiery space of impact; different occasions you’re a bug that may leap from tree to tree. It readily diversified up the gameplay, and had me continually on the lookout for the following factor I might management, to see what new powers had been accessible to me.
What made Hauntii so surprising is its format and supply. The second to second gameplay is extra akin to Tremendous Mario Odyssey than the rest: a world constructed round smaller maps, every one with hidden stars strewn all through so that you can discover and accumulate. Some are hidden on the outskirts of the map, or by possessing completely different creatures, whereas others are rewards for hidden challenges. There are races that can have you ever leap by rings as a bug, or some that can require you to hang-out a turret enemy and defeat all of the enemies in a fight area. There are stars basically all over the place, to the purpose that I might generally enterprise to the far reaches of the map, to be rewarded with a hidden, far-off star.
The celebrities are literally used as an improve forex, the place you’ll put them into constellations. As soon as a constellation is accomplished, you may improve the quantity of essence you shoot, your variety of hearts, or how typically you may sprint. These upgrades are useful however usually the gameplay stays the identical. What actually makes the celebrities fascinating is in how inventive the crew at Moonloop Video games will get with situating them. I used to be all the time tremendous excited to simply see a shimmering star off into the space, solely to spend the following ten minutes deciphering how I used to be presupposed to get it.
These little victories are what pulled me by as a result of total the story takes a steep backseat to the rest happening, and is difficult checkpointed by star depend. When progressing by the small-sized maps that interconnect the world, I might be having a good time till the story would gate me off, leaving me to backtrack to hunt for extra stars. Fortunately, the ambiance and hauntingly (pun meant) stunning orchestrated soundtrack are extremely properly executed. I used to be chilled to the top by each flute solo and piano association. I might completely go to see this soundtrack carried out stay primarily based on its sheer class.
Hauntii does a improbable job of offering a smaller scope journey throughout an enigmatic underworld. Amassing stars and haunting various enemies gave a way of discovery round each flip. It’s stunning in its supply and make-up, however that’s what additionally holds Hauntii again: its restricted scope. It doesn’t dream large enough for what might have been. The gameplay, whereas enjoyable and interesting, is tremendous restricted. Haunting and taking pictures aren’t sufficient to maintain you hooked. When reflecting on my time with Hauntii, I take into consideration the music and the artwork, and fewer so on the way it performed. Hauntii is a panoramic expertise, however it simply doesn’t do sufficient with it. This sport makes a compelling case for videogames as artwork, however it stops brief relating to the precise mechanics.