Super Hiking Simulator 2020 Reviews

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goty

A thrilling experience, truly life changing,

Up front: While I enjoyed it, you get what you pay for. This game is not a technical marvel. It is not polished or fully-featured, or realistic, per se. In fact, it's a little janky. Don't expect AAA anything, or revolutionary anything. But you can probably figure that out from the description. You can probably also figure out that it has a sidequest ([spoiler]that, in fully-intended irony, eclipses the main trail in terms of content and interaction[/spoiler]). I enjoyed the game because of its unique charm and atmosphere. The actual hiking trail takes you in a long C shape beside and across a river, along hillsides. There are some steep slopes that are actually difficult to walk up, so, like actual hiking, you'll be trying to find the easiest places to climb. And/or use the double-jump. There are a few unique spots and structures, even a couple checkpoints. Though most of it is the same assets used in varying combinations over the whole trail, the slopes keep it from being too monotonous. And the flowers and trees are pretty enough to spend some moments absorbing along your way. I've definitely hiked more boring and repetitive mountain trails IRL. Once you complete the trail, you can replay and triple your walking speed, so I recommend you do that before you go crazy exploring off trail (which you should do if you're the kind to enjoy this sort of game, anyway). Also, there's a slow day/night cycle, which was nice! As for the sidequest, and the After DLC: It's an shooter, with some minor route-finding. It's nothing too scary or intense or difficult. It feels like a tech demo, not fully fleshed out or grammar-checked. But it is simple, short and enjoyable, [spoiler]as long as you view it as a tongue-in-cheek "addition" to the main game[/spoiler]. Accessible from the main menu is also a car mode, where you can drive on the main map, and a helicopter mode, where you can fly on the main map. The helicopter mode was a little buggy for me, in that I had to soft reset after I crashed. Both of these also feel like tech demos, best for a brief few minutes of catharsis, having your way with the map that you spent so long walking on. And man, driving full-speed on that super-hilly trail is wild! Some things could definitely be done better. The flashlight only works on the hiking trail, not the sidequest where it really could be useful. The day/night cycle reset when I re-loaded the game, which was disappointing, as it took me a long time to get to that really pretty twilight and night, and I wish I could have spent more of my first hike in it. For the shooting, it's hard to know when you've hit your target, as there's no indication, and I swear things take two headshots. [spoiler]For the NPCs you meet, aside from one scripted exception,[/spoiler] there's no way to interact; I mean, I guess there's no real need, and I wouldn't expect much dialogue, but it feels so strange for there to be just zero interaction potential. The increased walking speed (after walking the trail) is nice, but doesn't apply to the sidequest, and the "fellow" who can walk the trail with you later can't keep up with the increased speed. While I do want to go on the record saying I liked the game, honestly, I think you should be able to tell whether this game is for you by the description. It is janky but not trash, amusing, fun to mess around in, atmospheric, bare-bones, slightly challenging, a short game for relaxation and a fresh point of view. I think all that was worth the low price. Update 8/6/2021: There's a new DLC out, "Escort Rin". I quite like it. It's a natural progression from the other combat missions. There is s a nice numerical indicator of when enemies were hit, how much damage they took. There is the added difficulty of extra shots needed, finding enough ammunition as you don't start with enough to get all the way through, and finishing the mission quickly enough to make use of Rin's MP so that your HP lasts. I actually got a game over. The music honestly carries the tension fairly well, too. (Note to developer: By pausing/unpausing after my game over, I was able to keep playing even though the game over screen was still there. I couldn't see too well around the game over options, but since I didn't have to worry about HP, I could just center my screen on an enemy and shoot 7 times, point-blank, to get through the last little bit to the end. I thought the experience was quite charming, though I'm sure you may want to fix it.)

Yeah it looks good for a $2 price tag at launch, but NEVER let first looks deceive you. This game is nothing but what I started calling an A.R.S.M. many months ago (ARSM stands for Asset Reliant Sloppy Mess) It's absolute trash. For footage, check out my Steam here at about 2 hrs, 12 min into the livestream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cKB9Rnc0NY NOT RECOMMENDED.