A Short Hike

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ratsoalbion
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A Short Hike

Post by ratsoalbion »

Here's where you can contribute your thoughts and opinions for A Short Hike for potential inclusion in the forthcoming podcast.

A friendly reminder that where the feedback for the podcast is concerned, we love it - but keeping it brief is appreciated. We do want to include a breadth of opinions where appropriate, but no-one wants a discussion podcast that’s mostly reading out essays. Better to save yourself time and cut to the chase if you can.
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Seph
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Re: 550: A Short Hike

Post by Seph »

I came across this game when I picked up one of those fundraising itch.io bundles and this was cited by many articles as one of the games worth trying.

When I powered it up I was immediately charmed by the visuals and characters. I was only going to play for a few minutes just to get a taste of what to expect, but I ended up completing an entire playthrough in one sitting. I've heard this game get criticism for its apparent short length, but I don't understand this at all. Not only is the concept of length vastly overrated by The Gamers, but I feel like this is a game that needs to be played in one go anyway; so padding it out with empty fields and fetch quests would ruin the experience. Give me a beautiful, hour-long experience over Dragon Age Creed any day.

I think my favourite aspect is that while it gives you an objective the game doesn't force you to head in any direction, but instead allows you to explore the map in whatever way you see fit and find the little side quests for yourself. I know I've barely scratched the surface of what is available in this game, but it's one I'm hoping to revisit soon and see what else I can discover at Hawk Peak.

The story and progression reminded me of Celeste, which also does a fantastic job of exploring themes of self confidence and believing in yourself. By the end of the game I felt happy for Claire and her brief adventure. The ending mechanic of her telling her story to her aunt is great, I love when games do this because it's a nice incentive to replay and switch up the things you do.
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Mr Ixolite
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Re: 550: A Short Hike

Post by Mr Ixolite »

It's hard to make a summary of this game that isn't just variations on the terms "Soothing", "Pleasant", "Wholesome" and so on, but such are my prevailing memories of A Short Hike. The Golden Feather system of progression is simple but rewarding, as I was constantly poking around the game to find feathers to let me climb higher and fly further, because climbing and flying were so fun. I constantly put off heading to the top of the mountain because I wanted to explore and help that one guy find his watch, and only when I couldn't readily find stuff to do I went to the peak fully satisfied.

A Short Hike is an unassuming game where the individual bits aren't hugely memorable, yet I still consider it
tremendously good because I was never not happy playing it. Its maybe the first time I've had that "I wish I could live in this world" feeling for a game; it is an ultimate de-stresser, a lovely and welcoming place to visit for a quick stroll after a hard days work.
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sheeldz
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Re: 550: A Short Hike

Post by sheeldz »

A Short Hike is a game that I found to be a really enjoyable time with no taxing elements, and exactly the kind of comfort food game that I have returned to several times, just to wander amongst the gorgeous national park map, full of nooks and crannies and secrets that just organically fill out the map.

For me, however, there is a key thing that elevates it to near 10/10 level, and that is it became my eldest child's first ever game completion, aged seven. It happened naturally, organically, with no hand holding from me, just pure curiosity, experimentation, and the fact that the text helped them learn to read. They return to it - known simply as The Bird Game, differentiated from The Goose Game - all the time to simply catch fish, fly from the top, race the characters around the loop, and just generally exist in a world the same way I did as a kid with video games, and that is something that can't be taken way, nor taken for granted.
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ColinAlonso
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Re: 550: A Short Hike

Post by ColinAlonso »

Sad to see ye wont get to cover Final Fantasy Tactics this year, but you've replaced it with A Short Hike! Wonderful!

I played A Short Hike in June 2020, it was a nice afternoon in the middle of lockdown and I was feeling slightly down. Not depressed, just a slow day where I didn't feel like doing anything, not even leaving the house. I downloaded A Short Hike and started playing. I stubbornly went the reverse way around the base of the island and what a lovely journey that was. There were all sorts of nooks and crannies to explore, charming NPCs to talk to and small things to get involved in such as collecting shells or playing beachstickball all set to nice chilled cute music. When I reached the start of the island, I immediately did another lap of it. I loved it.

At this point, I felt much happier and took a break to go for a walk myself.

On returning, I loaded the game and headed up the mountain and the island continued to be a joy to explore. Controlling Claire is great and gliding is particularly fun. I completed it after 2 and a half hours of exploring all I could and I was beaming after playing it. It was my 2nd favourite game I played in 2020 and is still a game where I smile when it's mentioned.
Spoiler: show
On the beach, there's a hut that hands out toast but will only do it after a certain time of day (it was 5pm for me). This isn't just a meaningless line or an ingame time (there is no ingame clock), you can go back after the real world time to get toast! This is the only time the game pulls anything like this so it was a small surprise. :D
Adam Robinson-Yu gave a talk about the game, and while this would definitely would be picked up by the C&R crew anyway when researching for the podcast, I'll leave it here.

17:55: No, I won't go down your tunnel Adam! :D
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SludgeWizard
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Re: 550: A Short Hike

Post by SludgeWizard »

As somebody who would rather play a short game twice than a bloated game once, A Short Hike was a great surprise.

In and out in a few hours, you’re done before anything gets old.

Also, love the art style.
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Jobobonobo
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Re: 550: A Short Hike

Post by Jobobonobo »

This chill adventure through a national park with Animal Crossing type characters and aesthetics was a lovely little treat. The main protagonist being a bird was a genius touch as flying and gliding around the island made navigation a true joy. Everytime I got a golden feather and found I could climb a bit further, fly a bit higher pushed me to scour the island for more treasures. Exploring the island was delightful with a lot of fun activities to do such as fishing, parkour racing, boat racing and Beachstickball. Special shout out goes to the beautiful soundtrack by Mark Sparling. “Somewhere in the Woods” has to be one of the most gorgeous tunes I have heard in video game music in a long time and is almost enough to elevate the soundtrack to greatness on its own in my opinion. No other tune encapsulates the atmosphere and charm of a Short Hike better than that piece.

Occasionally in gaming spaces you will get debates on whether a game needs violence/combat in order to be enjoyable or compelling. A Short Hike, with its lush and gorgeous world full of secrets ripe for exploration is strong evidence for the side saying that such themes and mechanics are not needed to make a great video game.

Three Word Review: Lovely, just lovely
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seansthomas
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Re: 550: A Short Hike

Post by seansthomas »

What a wonderful little game. I loved hanging out in this world for a few hours, and return to it occasionally with the kids even now. It's joyful to swoop and run around in, and it's characters are a delight, with a style all of its own. A gem of a game that left me wanting more and pining for the great outdoors.
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Joey Jo Jo Jr
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Re: 550: A Short Hike

Post by Joey Jo Jo Jr »

Picked this up as soon as it was released on Switch after Eurogamers glowing recommendation, was not disappointed! A sublimely relaxed adventure across island dense with characters to meet, activities to do and collectibles to find. While part of me wishes the game was longer simply to spend more time in the world, I think stretching it any further would likely have been to the games detriment.
Brilliant soundtrack too, found it a great OST to listen to at work!
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Nicktendo
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Re: 550: A Short Hike

Post by Nicktendo »

This game wasn't on my radar at all. Then suddenly during lockdown in 2020 another podcast I listen to (Filthy Casuals) reviewed it and recommended it as a short, happy indie. So I went in and so glad I did. A Short Hike had me grinning from ear to ear with it's "nostalgic" DS-era aesthetic, charming characters and simple objective. Collecting feathers and making your way up the mountain and partaking in all the various activities was a simple joy. While A short hike is well...short, memories of playing will live in my mind for a long time. When my kids are a little more capable of playing videogames, I look forward to watching them play this beautiful title.
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KarlDaFrog
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Re: Our next podcast recording (17.12.22) - 550: A Short Hike

Post by KarlDaFrog »

I played A Short Hike during a period of lockdown in Sydney. It was a welcome reminder of the bigness of even small places. As an hiker and former camp counselor, I’m astonished at how well A Short Hike translates the experience of being outdoors to video games. I was grinning the whole time I played it. It’s a personal, polygonal, animated adventure, with diorama drama.

Does what it says on the tin.
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Will Marley
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Re: Our next podcast recording (17.12.22) - 550: A Short Hike

Post by Will Marley »

This is indie gaming at its best for me: A succinct, personal experience which leaves you wanting more. It's mechanically quite simple but the basics of traversal are very satisfying and encourage exploration. The characters are concisely written but distinctive and memorable. Each new goal feels so tantalisingly close that you can finish the game in one sitting and wonder how it flew by so quickly. While so many big name indie games pad out their runtime with rogueish structures, backtracking and repetition, A Short Hike is delightfully economical.
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