It’s that time of year again when the big name publishers start dumping title after title on us in an unrelenting wave until the end of the year. In the past this just meant I had a good amount of review fodder available, able to dump a good number of hours into each game as they came out. Now though? Not so much and so I still find myself on the hunt for short, typically indie titles to bridge the one game per week routine whilst I whittle away at 1 or 2 of the big name titles. This week’s title is A Short Hike, a title that came to me via the new discovery engine and is an interesting blend of exploration mechanics with light story elements that make for a wonderful casual experience.
You’ve gone to visit your aunt at Hawk Peak Provincial Park and, like any good remote location, there’s no cell reception at her hut. You’ve been expecting a call from someone though and so, on the advice of your aunt, you start the trek up to Hawk’s Peak summit. Along the way though you’ll meet a lot of interesting characters, all of whom have come to the park for varying reasons. Of course you can’t simply just climb to the top, no in order to make it to the very top you’ll need to complete a series challenges, often with the help of others. You also don’t need to rush to the top either as there’s plenty more to the park than just it’s summit.
A Short Hike has a unique visual style that’s reminiscent of isometric games of yesteryear. It’s deliberately down-res’d with the number of pixels on screen being artificially capped at around 640 x 480 and then upscaled to your screen’s resolution. This means that on the surface it very much has this retro feel to it but there’s also this undercurrent of other things that give away it’s modern underpinnings. Initially I was a little annoyed with it, the low resolution initially making it a little confusing visually, but it didn’t take long before I got used to it and then it’s really quite enjoyable. The visuals are also backed up by a great soundtrack which is only let down a little by the stock foley work. Still in terms of general craftsmanship A Short Hike is definitely up there in terms of quality.
Whilst the main goal of A Short Hike is to reach the summit really the main aim of the game is to just explore the park. The main mechanic is the golden feathers, a mechanic inspired by the stamina wheel in Breath of the Wild. Each feather allows you to do a mid air jump, run longer distances and climb any surface for a limited period of time. The game is designed in such a way that most places are accessible with a minimal amount of feathers and so the additional ones usually open up shortcuts that weren’t available to you before. Once you’ve got 6 or so you’ve basically got access to the entire island, including the summit, although I admit that having a few more does make it a lot easier to reach the summit as that final stretch doesn’t leave much wiggle room for mistakes. As you climb up you’ll encounter a bunch of NPCs, most of whom will have a quest for you or a small amount of flavour dialogue. This simplicity makes it easy to get into and enjoy the act of exploration.
Your view of the park is constrained a little bit more than what I’d like but this does make the world feel a lot larger than it really is. Initially this does make it a little hard to figure out exactly where you are in the world, especially considering that the camera is on rails and can sometimes whip around in an ungodly fashion that’s sure to disorient anyone. Still despite these two shortcomings it’s still very enjoyable to make your way around the park, getting familiar with all the locations and figuring out how best to make your way around. Once you’ve got a few feathers under your belt the island really starts to open up and it doesn’t take much to get anywhere. It’s at that point you’ll likely make for the summit which then gives you a really good opportunity to see more of the world.
The story is very light on, told through little scraps of dialogue between you and other characters in the game. There’s no real depth to many of the interactions, with them either being setups for quests or just commenting on the park itself, but there’s enough in there to give you the feeling that this is a well loved place. The small parts of the main storyline are pretty heartwarming too which just adds to the overall nice feeling that A Short Hike has.
A Short Hike is a wholesome exploration adventure, one that doesn’t ask much of the player but delivers a lot in return. The crudely rendered but artfully developed world is a lot of fun to explore and with the narrative kept light and brief there’s not much to distract you from doing just that. There’s a few small drawbacks, namely the constrained view and camera that could be a little better done, but overall the game and the world within it is realised well. If you’re suffering from epicness fatigue from all the AAA titles coming out of late then maybe it’s worth taking the time for A Short Hike.
Rating: 9.0/10
A Short Hike is available on PC right now for $11.50. Total play time was 76 minutes with 37% of the achievements unlocked.
