A Hat in Time

A Hat in Time is a top-notch 3D platformer. From the realm of kickstarter campaigns, this takes after games like Banjo-Kazooie and Psychonauts. 3D Platforming is a genre that has a lot of pitfalls, like being too expansive and confusing like Banjo-Tooie to being too collectathon-y like Donkey Kong 64. A Hat in Time navigates these pitfalls adeptly.

The big problem with a lot of 3D games in general is just how big and vast they make everything. This completely ruins the flow of the game, essentially just another form of padding. It's much better in my opinion to have a tight little world with just lots of stuff everywhere. A Hat in Time isn't afraid to be simple and clean where necessary. And it still finds plenty of ways to feel vast and imposing.

A Hat in Time's story is where you are Hat Girl trying to get all your time pieces back so you can go home. Simple enough. There's only a handful of worlds, but they are realized to their full potential. Each vibrant world has this overarching plot that you have to navigate, from trying to get the contract on your soul back, to trying to reconcile two rival movie studios. The focus on these subplots really lets the writers flex their writing chops. The humor of the game is fantastic and absurd and I love it.

Due to the semi-linear nature of each world, the game does a good job of guiding you to whatever your next task is. There's always multiple options about what you want to accomplish, including goofy and bizarre achievements and easter eggs.

All in all, A Hat in Time is probably the best 3D platformer game outside of Mario and Banjo-Kazooie. It's a blast!