Everyone else will tell you just how good this game is. Some of the corners are rough, especially in the early game, but with each new, joyously clever and profoundly childlike discovery, the rough corners matter less and less. I like to make my steam reviews specifically about game scripts.

A Hat In Time is a fascinatingly written game, where it can have incredibly lovable characters, a world I want to soak myself in, an extremely satisfying series of events and unforgettable moments, while still not having what I would strictly call a "good story."

I would normally give the idea of a narrative throughline in a game like this up for dead. A lack of a compelling throughline does little to hurt the game. However, I found myself almost heartbroken when I saw the faint glimmers of story trying to seep through the cracks. How do I even describe it?

The game is at its best when it's soul is chasing whatever flight of fancy it's just latched on to, but with a little extra focus, ironically enough, it may have told the story it wants to tell properly. Our villain is a friend-to-foe orphan-type who acts as a purpose-driven freedom fighter in stark contrast to our flighty and whimsical main character. Upon realizing the main character has no interest in saving the world, our villain becomes consumed with purpose, consumed with balancing the cosmic scales of righteousness, delivering justice and rationing punishment to those whom see sees as fitting or deserving.

Our story shows this in a good few places: in a boldy comedic and mildly dramatic way, we get to watch the interaction that breaks our two friends in twain. We get to play through the critical moment where the balance tips in our villain's favor. We even get to spend long conversations with characters suffering under her iron fist, once she's gained power. It all culminates in a flashy and fantastically fun end level.

These are undeniably the ingredients to a compelling story that, while it may be about friendship, betrayal, entitlement and justice, doesn't need to be about anything to be gripping and exciting. This is a strong foundation.

There's a distinct lack of connective tissue, unfortunately. In one way or another, in this review alone, I have described every bit of forward momentum the story has in it's entirety. Of the *gorgeously* crafted worlds, we're treated to different villains, different stories and they're all compelling in their own right, all succeeding in executing their own individual concepts, the Murder Mystery is great, the Horror section has more muscle on it than is revealed at first glance, the environmental storytelling in the free roam area is fantastically well done and the DLCs, unattached to the main story, shine in contrast, as they're not even attached to the *concept* of having an overarching narrative.

But as a result of our villain and main narrative throughlines taking a backseat to these astonishingly well done mini-concepts, the ending fight, the ending choice, even the tear-jerking "no please stay with us" from the friends we've gained along the way fall short of perfection. A Hat In Time is a perfect, perfect, perfect anthology story that left me chomping at the bit, wanting, *praying* to care more about our ending conflict. The relationship between the two main characters is *eminently* interesting, and having the villain appear in different worlds, having some character development follow our main character around or even getting the occasional "mua-haha" from our villain via text or email would have gone a long way.

I am a *massive* fan of A Hat In Time, I cannot recommend it enough. In my book, it's not only a decent pantomime of old 3D rare-era platformers, it is their natural evolution. It's Psychonauts with Banjo Kazooie's controls and Paper Mario's fascination with breaking genre norms. It's a gem. This game is a damn unicorn. But nothing comes from ignoring the faults in a game, especially when it's a game you love.

Anyway, buy this game. Hell, buy it full price. Ignore my stupid, nitpicky review and play A Hat In Time. I am *begging* you. It's worth it.

Everyone else will tell you just how good this game is. Some of the corners are rough, especially in the early game, but with each new, joyously clever and profoundly childlike discovery, the rough corners matter less and less. I like to make my steam reviews specifically about game scripts. A Hat In Time is a fascinatingly written game, where it can have incredibly lovable characters, a world I want to soak myself in, an extremely satisfying series of events and unforgettable moments, while still not having what I would strictly call a "good story." I would normally give the idea of a narrative throughline in a game like this up for dead. A lack of a compelling throughline does little to hurt the game. However, I found myself almost heartbroken when I saw the faint glimmers of story trying to seep through the cracks. How do I even describe it? The game is at its best when it's soul is chasing whatever flight of fancy it's just latched on to, but with a little extra focus, ironically enough, it may have told the story it wants to tell properly. Our villain is a friend-to-foe orphan-type who acts as a purpose-driven freedom fighter in stark contrast to our flighty and whimsical main character. Upon realizing the main character has no interest in saving the world, our villain becomes consumed with purpose, consumed with balancing the cosmic scales of righteousness, delivering justice and rationing punishment to those whom see sees as fitting or deserving. Our story shows this in a good few places: in a boldy comedic and mildly dramatic way, we get to watch the interaction that breaks our two friends in twain. We get to play through the critical moment where the balance tips in our villain's favor. We even get to spend long conversations with characters suffering under her iron fist, once she's gained power. It all culminates in a flashy and fantastically fun end level. These are undeniably the ingredients to a compelling story that, while it may be about friendship, betrayal, entitlement and justice, doesn't need to be about anything to be gripping and exciting. This is a strong foundation. There's a distinct lack of connective tissue, unfortunately. In one way or another, in this review alone, I have described every bit of forward momentum the story has in it's entirety. Of the *gorgeously* crafted worlds, we're treated to different villains, different stories and they're all compelling in their own right, all succeeding in executing their own individual concepts, the Murder Mystery is great, the Horror section has more muscle on it than is revealed at first glance, the environmental storytelling in the free roam area is fantastically well done and the DLCs, unattached to the main story, shine in contrast, as they're not even attached to the *concept* of having an overarching narrative. But as a result of our villain and main narrative throughlines taking a backseat to these astonishingly well done mini-concepts, the ending fight, the ending choice, even the tear-jerking "no please stay with us" from the friends we've gained along the way fall short of perfection. A Hat In Time is a perfect, perfect, perfect anthology story that left me chomping at the bit, wanting, *praying* to care more about our ending conflict. The relationship between the two main characters is *eminently* interesting, and having the villain appear in different worlds, having some character development follow our main character around or even getting the occasional "mua-haha" from our villain via text or email would have gone a long way. I am a *massive* fan of A Hat In Time, I cannot recommend it enough. In my book, it's not only a decent pantomime of old 3D rare-era platformers, it is their natural evolution. It's Psychonauts with Banjo Kazooie's controls and Paper Mario's fascination with breaking genre norms. It's a gem. This game is a damn unicorn. But nothing comes from ignoring the faults in a game, especially when it's a game you love. Anyway, buy this game. Hell, buy it full price. Ignore my stupid, nitpicky review and play A Hat In Time. I am *begging* you. It's worth it.