HAAK

A pretty mid metroidvania / action platformer. Combat is very simple, not too challenging. Platforming trials are not very challenging. Puzzles - more cumbersome than any with sprawling multi room puzzles that while not complicated, just don't respect your time. Way too many hidden passageways and rooms, just a tedious bore honestly. You don't get challenged, you just get bored and roll your eyes. Overall, it didn't bring anything to the table that was interesting, its a rehash of things already done.

+

Excellent game! I hope this studio comes back to this genre because this was a very competently put together Metroidvania. I enjoyed the exploration and story very much. If you like Hollow Knight give it a try.

I had some especially high hopes going into Haak as i'm a big fan of Metroidvania's and Puzzle Solving so you would think tis would be a slam-dunk of a game for me to play, and the video trailers and the screenshots definitely showcase all the good aspects of the game. All of them. As in that's all there is to it. They also appear to have latched onto certain aspects of what makes a good Metroidvania and done them to a nauseating degree. In Metroid or Castlevania when you find a Hidden Wall it's a big event, like "oooh I never knew this was here" but with Haak these secret walls are mandatory for story progression. That's another thing as well - Story Progression. The Developers clearly had the barebone skeletal structure of what makes a Metroidvania, they knew what they were doing and they decided to add some QoL. However the QoL they added was ... Linear Story Progression? I'm not going to harp on about bad translation though because the Devs mother tongue clearly isn't English and frankly the effort alone to translate it is worthy enough, and although i've read a few patch notes talking about improvements, if it's been improved in the 4yrs since it's been out... yikes…

This game is competent, but lacks drip. The art is clean and well-done, the animations are smooth, the music (ambient as it is for the vast majority of the game) sets a mood. The platforming challenges are fun, the few bosses that made me actually try felt good to overcome. By all accounts, I should be recommending this. But after getting familiar with the moveset, every addition was just...something I already had. A longer chain, another direction I'm allowed to heavy attack, a larger hitbox. By the end, I didn't care about the story, or any of the characters (such as they are, at all, characters), there were no moments that made me go "Aw, yeah! Sick!" the way that many of its contemporaries feature prominently. I think that's really the thing. In such an oversaturated genre as this, you can't afford to lack personality - and just about everything within this game started to fade into the background of my experience before I was even done playing it. The sad exception is the DLC, which is far too well-hidden - and far too late-game - to be the most interesting part.

Rewarding and surprisingly solid gameplay and art. Puzzles and hidden objects are hinted well thus logical and not random.