| #26 | A Short Hile |
|---|---|
| guessed by | UnderwaterFunktown |
| platform | Switch/Linux |
| release year | 2019 |
| developer/publisher | Adam Robinson-Yu |
| genre | adventure |
| links | Wikipedia |
| past years | 2021: #28 |
From time to time you encounter a game which gives you a fresh joyful experience that stays with you. For me A Short Hike works that way.
The game is interesting in many ways. It has it's own unique artstyle, it is a freely navigatable open world but a small one, it offers a wide variety of very well feeling movement options and it has a simple objective: get to the peak, because up there you have reception. Along the way you meet a lot of characters, learn about them but also about your character (you get into the game without even knowing the name of your character, but some characters call you Claire).
Your objective for the game is set early on, and you learn to climb early and learn you need feathers, more for higher ascends. Also an early sign informs you how many feathers you need to reach the peak. So you look for feathers (of which are much more than you need for the climb, but you can try to find them anyways).
The game felt never like checking points from a list, I did more what I wanted while keeping the overall goal in mind. I am sure others will find another way up there and maybe even meet different characters where I haven't looked. At the beginning it annoyed me not to have a map or not to be able to freely move the camera. But this gave quickly in as I relaxed and let go of things I did in other games and just enjoyed the ride. The game isn't difficult, it isn't even long (the name is telling), so you don't need extra information or helpers to achieve your goals, you can just keep them in your mind.
In the end, when you reach the peak your character just sit's there for a while, soaking in the view and the northern lights (as can you), then you get the call and learn what this is about. Then you can sit there a little longer and then fly all the way down watching the locales you saw on the way.
This game is short, but in my opinion more than worth it's price, as it leaves you with good feelings. And isn't that what games should do?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usBVx4J4CUM&ab_channel=Nintendo
