Hauntii isn’t a game I was assigned to review its one I requested. This game managed to draw me with its incredibly hand drawn art style an impact full sound track from the trailer alone. I’ll admit I went in expecting something along the lines of the game Limbo. After beating the game and re-watching said trailer, I have no clue where that assumption came from. I’ll say the only thing you should expect is a good indie game.
Now, let me start this by saying this game isn’t going to be for everyone. Not by a long shot. If your looking for some sort of action packed hack and slash game your not going to find it here. There is some combat but it’s far from in-depth and it’s not remotely the focus of the game. That might seem so forward with this sort of thing but it is what it is. My guess is if you’ve seen the trailer and your reading this that probably isn’t that off putting to you. Now with that out of the way lets get into the story.
What is going on?
To give you the short and sweet version, in Hauntii you are a ghost who has just recently died and arrived in eternity with a goal to ascend like everyone else there. In your attempt to do this you’ll be forced on a quest to break the chains that bind you.This will of course start you in the ruins of purgitory. From there you’ll adventure in and out of several hand drawn locations from a mushroom spirt wood to the ertinal city and a few place inbetween.
You’ll also be looking for your companion, known here as an Eternian. Quickly you’ll find that Eternians are not well respected here. They’re looked down on as all powerful beings that don’t respect ghosts. This hatred has bred a group known as angelpunk’s that will come a go as often as they feel like screwing with your adventure.
Gameplay
Gameplay is a mixed bag and I’m not talking about quality. The game is driven by a twin stick shooter mechanic. You’ll use this for some of the combat and for “Haunting”. I’m not normally a twin stick shooter guy but it’s implemented in a creative way here. The “haunting” gives you the ability to possess other ghosts, dogs, buildings, statues, and even sandwhales. Wondering what the hell a sandwhale is? I guess you’ll just have to play the game. This leads to a whole host of gameplay options. Power shots, power jumps, tossing bombs and whatever it is a sandwhale does.
Now I said earlier that this game isn’t for everyone. If you don’t like puzzles in your games this game is likely not for you. Even as someone who thought “I played Zelda and Resident Evil as a kid” I was not prepared for what I was about to play. I ended up enjoying the puzzles a lot which is great cause for me with the story it kept the game moving.
As you solve these puzzles you’ll collect stars. You’ll use said stars to complete constellations. Each constellation unlocked will get you a chance to upgrade either hearts, ammunition or dash. Each area will have a set you have to unlock to keep going. As you unlock the constellations you’ll unlock memories from your passed life as well. This is another aspect that kept the game moving for me.
I like this game a lot….but
Ok so to be clear I like this game a lot. However this game isn’t without it’s flaws. I have two gripes though. I feel like this game is in need of a fast travel mechanic of some sort. This problem is basically solved near the end of the game but should have come sooner. There were times where this game really dragged and I think a simple fast travel could have solved this issue.
My main issue however is the camera. The isometric view as the camera pulls out certain places in the game really screwed with depth perception in the game. Particularly at the end. The twin stick shooter thing makes this difficult to solve. Maybe something with the bumpers in the style of Mario 64 and that consoles C buttons but I’m not sure. I powered through as I loved the story but I could see some of the earlier issues with this leading to players dropping this. I’m also used to the “tough but fair” most of this game is in but the camera thing is anything but.
Steam Deck
Hauntii does not have the oh so holy steam deck verified badge but have no fear. Like many indie games with out it the game plays fine at a rock solid 60fps on my LCD steam deck. I played around 90% of this game on my deck so I can say you deck players are fine. The steam deck OLED has a 90HZ screen but I’d guess the game is probably as well. Some companies are known for dropping updates that break steam deck performance. Electronic Arts didn’t have anything to do with this so I don’t see that happening.
I had a couple minor bugs with picking up collectibles as well but nothing game breaking. I did get on this games subreddit so see about ways to solve this and it appears there’s been some bigger issues on console. I can’t speak to those as again I played mostly on Deck but console guys might want to see if this has been patched.
Thoughts
I went into this game expecting something along the lines of Limbo. I have no clue why I thought that. I did not get that. What I did get was a heart tugging story with a fantastic art style and gameplay that was kept interesting by the haunting deal this game has.
Oh and the music. I can’t not mention the music. The music for this game is amazing and helps set the tone for the game. Honestly The music alone is worth a 9 out of 10 honestly. All of that said it has its flaws. I didn’t find anything game breaking in my play through on Steam deck.
Hauntii was reviewed on PC and Steam Deck
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