Hazel Sky Reviews

story doesnt really make sense.

This demo-length game is as if a student project was given a list of the top five things you should never do when designing a video game- and then deliberately set out to add as many of those things as possible to Hazel Sky. The core adventure principals of the game are solid, but every step of the way you will be reminded that this is an "independent" game made by auteurs who don't care if they waste the player's time [Awkward, unreliable controls with a sprint feature that is often disabled,] insult the player's intelligence [Yes, Shane, I know that I NEED to put the object I just picked up somewhere...Stop telling me with incorrect inflection every three seconds...] and then has the audacity to bore the player to tears with unskippable, interminably slow dialogue sequences with a girl you never meet. [She speaks so slowly and there are such long pauses in every conversation that I began LOATHING every forced "conversation." Lastly, many reviews mention a plot that doesn't make sense. I disagree. The plot makes sense if you view it from the perspective of someone living in a communist regime or from a culture with familial expectations regarding livelihood, duty, etc.,. Since most of the English speaking world has progressed beyond this type of thinking decades ago, I understand why it might seem like nonsense. (Don't get me wrong- there is plenty of nonsense, but it is in the in-game books and letters, which are either; written by AI, poorly translated while under the influence of drugs and alcohol, or just the purplest, most pretentious prose this side of the Pacific. It might be poetry at its finest, but since all we can read are these laughable, rambling passages with vague connections to New Age philosophy or classic tragedies...I cannot recommend this to anyone except the curious. Buy it only at a deep discount!

Atrocious control. Underwhelming story. I reeeeeally wanted to like this game. I was looking forward to a plot twist due to what I thought were 'bad omens' they sprinkled here and there. Well, pretty much nothing happened. Despite the very bad controls, I persevered till the end of Chapter 3 (last chapter), but despite solving all puzzles, the game wouldn't let me continue to the next part. I saw a discussion about the same issue in the community hub. Yeah, by then, I was in no mood to continue. I just watched the ending (the last 5 minutes or so) on a walkthrough. Luckily, I got it at 90% off. If you must, get it when it's heavily discounted.

This is trying to be a gameplay-light, story-focused coming-of-age story, so it would be unfair of me to bash the game for it's linear and uninteresting gameplay. It is, however, even more egregious for a game like this when the story is a badly written, badly paced mess. I would get a refund if I could.

True hidden gem: It's so much better than the reviews suggest. The only really gripe is that it actually is very short for the full price, but as it gets discounted often and steep, I will overlook that. Yes, there are some bugs, yes, the controls can be a bit wonky, BUT: it is an indie 3D action adventure. This is just what they do. If you have love for the genre, it's all here. Vibrant colours, fun exploration, an intriguing story (that needs polish, but): this is a full on 3D debut with world building and everything going on. Give it the benefit of the doubt. It definitely offers more than its lacking.