2024 is proving to be the year of the indie, as we have another essential title here, Hauntii. This game from Moonloop Games and Firestoke has been ambiguous from the moment it was announced, haunting people and objects with supernatural tomfoolery and transcending to… let’s not skip ahead of ourselves. For those who are impatient to read a review, let me tell you that this is fantastic.
Welcome to a limbo that the Eternians run. You play as the titular character who finds themselves in absolutely stunning surroundings (honestly, if this is what the afterlife looks like, pass me another Red Bull – I’m gonna fast-track it), yet they’re quite… new. The locals show you the ropes, and you’re wooed by some glowing entity that leaves you behind. Maybe it’s not so great after all.
Ah, but we can shoot stuff with glowing thingys and said glowy thingys let us possess what would otherwise be an inanimate object and then make it live – no, thrive. Like the life before it, it’s temporary as these are just mere playthings in Hauntii, not necessarily to scare the crap out of passers-by, but to fulfil your destiny and reunite with whatever that setpiece was at the beginning.
A regular statement made in these reviews: screenshots don’t do the game enough justice. The line art is beautiful, but it’s only once you actually play the game that you fully appreciate just how intricate, immersive and otherworldly they are. If it weren’t for all the pixelation, I’d happily have the backgrounds as my desktop wallpaper. Even better than a static image; you can interact with it.
But, spoiler alert, Hauntii is a game, not just something to gawp at. As indicated, and with no further spoilers, you’re trying to reconnect – even communicate with the ethereal character you meet at the beginning and to do that, you need to solve some puzzles by interacting with ‘things’ using your twin-stick shootin’ ghostly powers.
There’s a lot of freedom in the afterlife, or as is known locally – Eternia, but nothing to do with He-Man. Paths are clear, and you can follow them accordingly, or cut through the darkness with interesting consequences. The fact that you can stray off the track from the outset is a decent social experiment, as most will inevitably look for shortcuts. However, with the wavy screen and ominous tones, the subsequent ‘death’ and respawning at a checkpoint would indicate there are some rules to follow.
Fortunately, you can overcome any beefs you have with restrictive play areas by haunting trees, shaking them good and proper, forcing some light to splash on the ground, temporarily making the place safe from the darkness. All the while, the Mononoke-like kodama act as voyeurs in the trees above, perhaps in awe. Who knows, as they don’t have anything to say, much like the bulk of the characters.
There’s no solid dialogue in Hauntii, and as a narrative-driven experience, that might prove to be a problem for some. If a picture speaks a thousand words, then the visual style makes War and Peace look like a half-arsed novel. That said, if you’re expecting something linear that annotates your every move, then maybe reconsider. Less is more, and by showing rather than telling, Hauntii captures the essence of discovery.
I’m pretty intoxicated with the presentation, though the gameplay is fun, too. We’ve seen characters possess others before, but not so much in this context. And if we’re going to go all out, there are customisation options very early on where you can give Hauntii a hat. Surely that’s a 5/5?
Would I be as complimentary about the game if it had a different aesthetic? Realistically, it probably wouldn’t have gotten the same amount of interest at face value. However, the mixture of an enchanting story, interactive environmental gameplay, and custom hats makes this yet another recommendation. The indie game scene has never had so many decent releases, and Hauntii is yet another beaut.
