A Short Hike - A Retro-spective Review

I had been aware of the quirky little game for a number of years, always 'meant' to play but never actually played it. The first time I played it was on stream and the entire time through, I had a smile on my face.

There are many reasons for this: the charming art style, flawlessly relatable dialogue, as well as the story behind this seemingly simple game. It is just one girl making her way up a hill to get reception for a call, but part of what makes this game as memorable as it is, are the people you meet along the way. For example, there is a raccoon attempting to paint the perfect picture around areas of the island, but every time you run into him the paintings look a little better each time, until he manages to find the perfect spot. There are several cute little quests like this dotted all over the map on your way up the Hawk Peak Trail, and stood out as one of my favourite set of quests I've ever played through. Instead of typically doing quests for achievements, I saw myself doing them because I wanted to help the people on the island, a very wholesome revelation.

The dialogue was as charming and relatable as the characters speaking the lines.

"This atmosphere, coupled perfectly with some astoundingly relatable dialogue makes it a relatable and comforting experience, perfect for a quiet afternoon."

That being said, I did still insist on giving one of the island residents 15 shells, thinking it was the quest that would tie the whole story together. Nope, the child stole them from me and made me do more work for free. This subversion of expectations was simultaneously entertaining and infuriating. However, the island is full of not-so-nice characters trying to take advantage of our protagonist. From the shell squirt, to the pushy climber, to a boy who bought all the sought after golden feathers and then tries to sell them back to you for 5 times the original cost. It doesn't shy away from providing small antagonists. Instead of there being some plot to destroy the island, they just exist to make your day a little worse, a parody of Saturday morning cartoon villains almost.

The flight mechanics were perfect for scenic trips around the mountain.

As for the ambiance of the game, my goodness. It perfectly encapsulates each of the areas of the island in an adaptive soundtrack, coupled with the calming and reminiscent visuals of the 8-bit era. It is a good move to use this particular style with the experience the game was trying to give. Calm, nostalgic, and very familiar. This atmosphere, coupled perfectly with some astoundingly relatable dialogue makes it a relatable and comforting experience, perfect for a quiet afternoon.

Speaking of atmosphere, the aura of positivity of A Short Hike is tempered to perfection, too much and it may seem a bit passive to the player, too much and it may be too tricky to fully relax to. The few troublesome citizens scattered over the island meld well with a plot that only reveals itself in it's entirety in the last moments of the game. If you've seen the stream, you'll know the moment I'm talking about, but if you haven't seen it and still intend on playing the game, then spoilers ahead!

The phone call young Claire had been so desperate to make was to her mother, who had just recovered from surgery prior to her heading to the island with her aunt. In a touching sequence of dialogue that admittedly hit very close to home, it felt very rewarding to have had all our hard work pay off in such a spectacularly emotional way. That is what this game is amazing at, eliciting emotion. If it's anger at the child who just stole all 15 of my hard fought shells (still mad) or the hope in helping an athlete get their treasured lucky headband back, or the joy mingled with sadness seeing a daughter connect to her mother despite the literal mountain in her way. It inspired a lot from me, and left me wanting to call my own mam after the stream had finished. Games that make you feel, if it be good or bad, are some of the best out there. And you can quote me on that.

A Short Hike is available for £5.79 through Steam, Epic, Nintendo and Itch.