Haiku, the Robot Reviews

I heard it said once that the worst thing a game can do is make you think of another game. This game made me think of Hollow Knight. A LOT.

While not unlike Hollow Knight, it takes everything wrong with HN and fixes it. Like how HN bilks you for an equipment point to put a marker on its stupid, overlarge, labyrinthian garbage heap of a map. Which still makes me fighting mad to this very day. Haiku by comparison is fun and cute and controls well, and is neat and simple and satisfying. It's also graphically pristine, a great little use of time overall with nothing that particularly bothered me.

Just like the characters, the game is clanky as heck. Checkpoints are placed so far from each others that it's a chore to go back to where you died. Healing is WAY TOO SLOW so most of time you can only heal 1 to 2 times in boss fights.

I'm not the biggest fan of how spongy your character is. In my original playthrough, you could tank just about every source of damage without really giving the enemies much thought at all. This changed so much in corrupt mode. Corrupt mode is a "die in one hit mode", so it actively forces you to understand enemy patterns and the game's obstacles. For me, it made my experience of the game way more enjoyable and I am very glad it is in here. Genuinely, this mode made me love the game, whereas I was very indifferent before.

I saw the trailers, some bits of the gameplay and I thought "Okay, this is a Hollow Knight copy" and I thought I was fine with it. I am perfectly aware, that if you want to make a metroidvania in 2D, there will be similarities. But I was wrong. I could only stand half an hour of this plagiarism. That Ancient Wastes is just a copy of Forgotten Crossroads. At the very beginning, a fall from above. Then a critter behaving just like Tiktik. A screw jumping just like Leaping Husk. A tall room with platforms. Even the first boss that I have encountered is making rocks falling of the ceiling. Pure coincidental similarity to False Knight, huh? And without the sale, this game costs more than Hollow Knight. Funny. I've seen a review telling that it's better to just play Hollow Knight once again. I thought it could not be that bad. It was. I'm going back to HK.

obnoxiously derivative, i don't really mind most of the core systems being lifted from hollow knight but almost every enemy i encountered was too (and even parts of the map!) and that's just too much. areas felt too similar aesthetically, characters failed to hook me, identity feels poorly established overall. considered sticking it out to see if it ever did anything fresh since i got it on sale but other reviews are telling me the copying doesn't get any better. yikes

overall this game is really fun. I adore the art style, and this game is going to be undoubtedly fun for hollow knight or just casual metroidvania fans. but there are critisisms that I have. one is the overheat mechanic, limiting how much you can dash, and healing. And while this is not bad outright, i do feel it hampers movement. This may just be a me problem tho, and if anyone dose not mind it then they are by all means free to enjoy the game how they want to. The bossfights are fun, and can be really enjoyable to partake in once you memorize all the attack patterns, but there is the probelm of them having what feels like little to no heal windows. finaly is a mechanic i genuinly dont know how to feel about, with certain parts of the in game mini map being obscured until you destory a device. I feel like this slightly discourages exploration, but some people might enjoy it, and they are free to. All in all, it is a very fun game, but I personaly, feel as if this game just isn't for me. this is by no means meant to be a negative review, and if you enjoy the mechanics, then you are more than free to

The game itself is fun! Cute and charming, with satisfying, albeit simple gameplay. Movement feels nice enough, controls aren't too bad. As far as being a metroidvania? I'd say it's middle of the pack. I have an issue however- And it's how blatantly "inspired" it is by Hollow Knight. The game has its own visual charm and the skill is clearly there to implement new things! But just about everything that I found in this game, save a few niche elements, had a 1 to 1 counterpart in Hollow Knight! The story, the abilities, the enemies, the level layouts, the NPCs, ALL of it! Even the grubs!!! I enjoyed my time with this game, I really did, but I really can't recommend it! Unless you just REALLY like the aesthetic, or want something a bit on the easier side, (Or just are far too impatient to wait for silksong) just go play Hollow Knight instead! It's just everything this game offers, and then some.

全成就玩家，最后类”神居“也是全徽章 这游戏真不错，类空洞，有很多致敬，也有很多自己的东西，例如那个跑酷球配合芯片落地自动变跑酷球，后期跑图真的挺爽；总体手感也可以 Boss难度总体不高，随机性较少，多打打都能无伤，除非是神居锁能力，有些可能比较费劲

A great Hollow-Knight-like metroidvania that's just challenging enough, without gleefully curb-stomping the player every step of the way. It's also just lengthy enough to feel like a complete experience without outstaying its welcome, though I would say it doesn't come anywhere close to its main inspiration, Hollow Knight, in terms of sheer content density, but then again - very few games do! While I didn't love its muted graphical presentation, Haiku's visuals eventually grew on me. It's also notable that some later areas become much more colorful and interesting to look at. Bosses range from okay to pretty good, but never raise beyond that, and none of them are particularly memorable, though some seem like they've been "borrowed" from Hollow Knight wholesale.