You hear the term ‘cozy’ get used a lot when describing certain types of games. Usually these are experiences that are low-stakes, low-stress, light-hearted, and colorful. Meaning, there is no great darkness descending on the world and no great evil to slay. That describes A Short Hike down the middle. Its title describes exactly what you can expect: it’s a short game about taking a hike in the outdoors. Nothing more, nothing less, and it delivers on its promise.
The story and gameplay are about a young bird named Claire who is spending the summer with her aunt in the great outdoors. She needs to make an important phone call, but can’t get cell phone reception. The only way to get it is to climb Hawk Peak to its very tippy-top. So she sets out on her hike. There isn’t much more to the story than that. Claire meets other animals along the way, some who need help, some she needs help from, some who want to stop and play a mini-game, or just talk.
Being a bird, Claire can fly. As she explores using her wings and her climbing ability, or interacts with other animals on the island, she’ll be rewarded with golden feathers that increase her stamina, which gives her the ability to fly higher and climb further, and thus get her closer to the top of Hawk Peak. Mechanically, the sense of freedom while flying felt great when jumping off a high precipice and gliding, and that freedom increases as you progress and attain more golden feathers.
She’ll acquire other useful items along the way, like a pick-axe, shovel, fishing pole, etc. that allow for interesting diversions. No weapons though. There are no enemies in A Short Hike. Everyone Claire meets is a friend or a potential friend. There’s a fishing log that keeps track of the fish you’ve caught and which ones you haven’t. You can sell all your fish to one of the locals who will reward you with money or fishing bait.
Even if there isn’t much in the way of story, the dialogue between characters was somewhat grating. The characters are talking animals, but they talk to each other using contemporary slang and vernacular. Lots of unnecessary interjections: ‘uh’ ‘oh’ ‘umm’ ‘like’ ‘that sucks’ pepper the dialogue and had me rolling my eyes at the beginning. Even though A Short Hike takes some obvious cues from Animal Crossing, how characters talk isn’t one of them. None of the Animal Crossing charm is in the writing, but I did appreciate the overall story the game tells. It has a touching ending that was done well.
My only other real complaint about A Short Hike is its brevity. Some games overstay their welcome, but A Short Hike understays. When it was over, I wanted more to do and more areas to explore. It can be beaten comfortably in under five hours straight through, with maybe another couple hours of exploration and other side-activities afterwards. I squeezed as much gameplay out of it as I could, but I absolutely would’ve kept playing if there was more to do. If there’s ever a sequel made, there’s plenty of room for expansion.
VERDICT
In keeping with the spirit of A Short Hike, I’ll keep this review short, as there isn’t much more to talk about. It’s a great stress-free diversion that respects your time that is only eight dollars full price. For the game journalists who are always complaining games are too long, every one of them needs to play A Short Hike. There isn’t a ton of gameplay, but what is there is engaging, memorable, and polished, and I would love to see the developer take a bigger swing if a second game is ever made.
The Gamer's Standard 