Okay! So... This week, Fei and I ended up finishing A Hat in Time after a marathon stint of the game and we were just so thoroughly tickled by it! While everyone is busy playing through Mario Odyssey, we've been able to get our platformer fix by attuning with our inner children and exploring the whimsical world filled with character that Gears for Breakfast created.

Hat in Time is just a game that is brimming with charm, full of life and character and packaged into a really solid platformer that feels concise and free of the excess that platformer games have become; this so-called "collector genre", which, let's admit, is a bit absurd. At such a low piece count and placed within stages that are all rather unique to each one, I feel like lumping it into that category is kind of a disservice. The game is just so much more than that because they cut the fluff for a really concise experience. And yes, the game doesn't do anything remarkable, some would say, but I think that the combination of all the strong elements into a single, fresh package actually does make it remarkable.

Honestly, and I have some personal bias here, one of the more compelling features, which I know isn't really a feature per se, is the fact that I got to play as a little girl. I guess, somewhere deep down, it just made me feel like I got to connect with an experience which I was never able to have for myself. I mean, not to say I would be flying off in a spaceship, collecting hats with different powers and making contracts with a soul Snatcher, I think. But more so the idea of me being young again and playing the game-- I imagine that I would have really identified with Hat Kid and felt empowered to actually see a kindred spirit and to project myself into the game. I really love that unexpected feeling it delivered on for me...about being an independent, expressive, compassionate little girl on a whimsical, cute and funny adventure~