TL;DR: 8.8/10.

Last night, I finished the main story and I cried actual tears of joy for the first time in years.

So basically, I purchased A Hat in Time like a week ago or so and I just got the time recently to actually play it. Now it's not exactly healthy, but I binged this game for two days in a row.

Right--so, I didn't know what to think or expect when I first touched this game. I didn't exactly "get it." For example, I got to the title screen and thought to myself: "Is this a Super Mario Galaxy ripoff?" It certainly didn't help that this game's title/menu music gave off a spacey vibe…Yet, when I actually got into the level, it reminded me much more of Sunshine than Galaxy. (In a good way, I mean.) Like, the camera angles etc. were all "in the right spots" to see where the objective of each level was, and there was also level-enter music reminiscent of the good ol' days of Sunshine, what with harps and all that.

Yet...the actual game-play wasn't really much like that of those other games besides the fact that A Hat in Time is a platformer. Other than that, it really isn't a clone. I'd say much rather that this game was inspired by the 3D Super Mario platformers. In my honest opinion, it took the best parts of both Sunshine and Galaxy in terms of the vibe it gave me. (Mechanic-wise, there wasn't much similar besides maybe wall-kicking.) Like, Sunshine-esque color contrast and Galaxy-esque music. It reminded me of those two games the whole time…and yet, as I said, it was its own thing.

Whenever I would complete a level and I would return to Hat Kid's ship, it reminded me of the Comet Observatory (or perhaps the Mario-head-shaped ship from Galaxy 2). However, there were a bunch of things about this ship that made it seem more sci-fi-ish than purely fictional. Like, there was a Roomba constantly cleaning the main area. What felt a lot more dark than it probably should have was the very beginning of the main story, where Hat Kid is sprung out of bed after her alarm begins to ring: a robotic voice tells her that "home" is "only five light-years away." She's headed to Earth—and she probably hasn't even been there yet. Later on in the story, it is found out that Earth is only a rumor and implied that no one whom she had ever met beforehand had even been to or come from Earth. Yikes; such isolation would put a real toll on me, and I'm saying that even as an introvert who also has social anxiety.

But back to the story: somehow, someway, a Mafia member manages to jump into space and also breathe air while talking to Hat Kid while she is still in her ship. He utters a funny (and probably satirical) remark, but in a serious tone, before Hat Kid basically just dismisses him—to which he namely gets a little angry and then breaks open the glass of the spaceship, sending Hat Kid and the fuel source to her ship (magical hourglasses) plummeting down towards this strange planet.

Aside from everything in the story, the first thing that I noticed about Mafia Town was that all of the residents were masculine males; not a single female character besides Mustache Girl was in sight. This arose my suspicion, but I kinda accepted it eventually. And that's how I got through this game: by accepting that which was before me as true and consistent and not questioning anything about why certain characters in the game were sentient birds etc. I essentially thought like a kid again: once I did that, I achieved a sort of ecstatic and nostalgic feeling and was energized to get through at least the rest of the main story. (Hence, I binged this game.) Now, at 51 % 98 % completion, I aspire to get 100 % because this game is just so fantastic.

Now, based on some screenshots of the game, you might think to yourself: what kind of game is this? Uncle Grandpa: The Video Game? And I can fully understand that, as I thought very much the same—yet, this game is not nearly as strange as that cursed television program. Also, there actually is a significant story that both immerses the player in addition to teaching many valuable lessons.

Now, for what I didn't like: so A Hat in Time is, story-wise, the best game that I have ever played (no joke here), and there is a vast amount of memorable characters with whom one can interact and whatnot. If you see a Mafia member holding one hand out as if to stop you, you can interact with him and he plays patty-cake with you. I swear, he doesn't punch you into the next dimension. However, the game is sometimes a little bit glitchy.

On a scale, here's where I'd put A Hat in Time:

• 0 (perfectly-coded, with no glitches or anything)
• 1 (Super Mario Odyssey, with some extremely sparse glitches whereby none of them affect the game negatively—i. e., they're useful for speed-running)
• 2 (Super Mario 64, with a lot of speed-running glitches and the occasional one that negatively impacts game-play)
• 2.5 ← A Hat in Time
• 3 (Sunshine, which was quite rushed for a Nintendo game in terms of how glitchy it is)
• 4 (Arigami, an indie game where the enemies sometimes don't work as they're supposed to)
• 5 (your standard pre-Far Cry 2 (inclusive) Ubisoft game)
• 6 (Ghost Recon: Wildlands)
• 7 (the Sonic games that came to the GameCube)
• 8 (Just about any obscure indie game from the turn of the millennium where you can walk through walls etc.)
• 9 (Glitch Simulator 2018—I'm not joking; it's an actual title on Steam)
• 10 (Ghost Recon: Breakpoint).

So it's a little wonky, but it could be worse. By a lot.

And so here would be my categories for A Hat in Time:

• Story (35 %): 9.6/10. Absolutely amazing; my only complaint is that it should have been a little longer because I really like this game. :steamsad:
• Level design (including figuring out what to do on each level; 20 %): 7.7/10. Nintendo still does it a lot better, I feel. Yet it's still not generic like any Call of Duty, which would probably score maybe a 4.5.
• Soundtrack/Music (15 %): 9.7/10.

[/b] Outstanding job. Original themes that evoke emotion and the like, as well as repetition of certain motifs throughout the story in order to emphasize the most important parts of the story. Plus, this game even changes the style of each theme depending on where in the level you go. And there's remixes.

Glitches (lower is better here): 2.5/10/ Should have been still in beta, as the glitches in this game aren't so minuscule that they can be ignored. However, I feel that it could be a lot worse as well.

Programming/Implementation (the inverse of the Glitches category; 10 %): 7.5/10.

Mod support and variety (10 %): 8.7/10. Although it's difficult to beat Bethesda at that kind of thing :steamhappy:

Price (10 %): 8.5/10. I honestly feel that the sale price that I got it for would be a more fair price, but I guess it'll all be justified if this game ever gets a sequel. Either way, I still recommend A Hat in Time.

[/list]

So, with everything taken into account, A Hat in Time gets a score of about 8.8/10, where 10/10 would literally be the perfect game. So, it's up there.