(Wind) Waking Memories: A Hat In Time
If the world was a good and just place (that just so happened to be molded in my image, but I don't see how that tarnishes the goodness and justness of it), everyone would've hopped aboard Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker's artistic bandwagon lion man boat thing instead of bee-lining straight for the uncanny valley of eternal brownness. It's just so rich with gorgeous, timeless whimsy. And sure, maybe platformer A Hat In Time's style has maybe fallen a bit too close to the tree, but its central time-traveling conceit and extreme hatness give it plenty to, um, hang its hat on.
The final game will take the form of a collection-centric platforming adventure ala Nintendo 64 classics like Banjo Kazooie and Conker's Bad Fur Day. Somewhat worrisomely, developer Mecha The Slag also mentions Donkey Kong 64, and everyone knows that game was completely terrible. Well, except for that one part.
There is, however, a twist: an umbrella. Oh, and also time travel.
"Run around in five vastly different worlds, while the evil Moustache Girl is loose causing havoc! Even if you can’t beat the bad guys right now, don’t worry, you’ve got time on your hands. Change the course of the game’s story and before you know it, the enemies are crumbling in fear."
The umbrella, meanwhile, can apparently take the form of a weapon, a hookshot, and a propeller - among other things. And the hat is just a hat.
So A Hat in Time sounds like a heaping helping of the past mixed with a dash of brand new. Admittedly, though, the collectathon platformer's a pretty delicate art, and there's a reason it fell out of fashion: people made a whole bunch of incredibly tedious ones. Here's hoping, then, that Hat in Time manages to avoid that pitfall. And also maybe clean up its animations a bit.
Currently, Mecha's aiming for a summer 2013 release, but a demo will be ready in December or January. Oh, and it's doing that whole Steam Greenlight thing, if you're feeling so inclined.
Most importantly, though, this:
