Haiku, the Robot

haiku the robot is, in my opinion, the best metroidvania since hollow knight. it's the only game i've encountered so far with the same type of nonlinearity, which should be enough for you to play this on it's own. you've seen how good the graphics are already, and the combat isn't quite as smooth as hollow knight, but my main criticism of haiku is the length. my full, almost 100% playthrough clocked in at under 10 hours, which isn't a lot, especially considering the price. i should mention though, those were some of the longest hours in my life, and i mean that in the best way possible.

Fun, concise little metroidvania. I have to admit, the initial 2-3 hours did not leave the greatest impression on me, the close-relation to Hollow Knight is very evident from the get-go and didn't inspire much confidence, but I pushed on due to a friend's recommendation, and I'm glad I did! This game was a delight, and I especially loved the late-game areas/exploration. Nothing groundbreaking, but the basics here are done well.

This is a solid, basic metroidvania. It's basically HK with easier bosses (although some might take a few tries). The movement is very polished and the powerups are basic (dash, double jump, rappel is the equivalent of crystal rocket thing from HK). The game gets especially more fun once you get these abilities.

Two complaints: 1. Getting around is a hassle - fast travel trains are too far apart. 2. The game lacks direction early on. There are some hints from NPCs. But what is vexing is there is a chip-slot ability you can use to mark where you need to return once you get a different powerup. Problem is, there are some places that it doesn't mark - so you think you must currently have the ability to make it past that point, except you don't. There are a couple spots like this. Wasted a lot of time trying everything and approaching from different angles, when it was a waste of time.

Very solid 'Vania. Wears its Hollow Knight and Metroid inspiration on its sleeve but is still very much its own thing. Great atmosphere and well-balanced difficulty. My only complaint is there was a bit much backtracking and while there is a fast travel system, it's points are spread a bit too far apart.
Big recommend for fans of the genre.

Straightforward and fun metroidvania. If you like Hollow Knight you should definitely give it a try!

Very fun bite-sized Hollow Knight light, with a more casually tuned difficulty than Hollow Knight, which it was very obviously inspired by. Highly recommend to fans of the genre looking for something that isn't to demanding.

Cute little Metroidvania with a story not so convoluted. You can easily clear it in 7-8 hours, or around 10 if you want to get all achievements.

It's more than obvious that this took inspiration from Hollow Knight, but it's not a bad thing.

What I liked:
- Character Design. Haiku is very cute, and the NPCs you find along the way are cool.
- Story. I think it's simple but solid. Realizing what the game is about, what Haiku is, what is happening in Arcadia, kept my interested during my 2 playthroughs.
- Abilities. While there are not many to get, they are cool. The morphing ball reminded me immediately of Metroid. Overall, nothing too flashy, but what is there works,
- Exploration. Even that the map is not that big, I think it's good enough to keep you looking for new routes or secret rooms, especially if you want to get the 100% completion achievement.
- For people who find it, the message asking if Silksong has already been released. We all know that it will be released tomorrow... yeah... right?

What I didn't like
Saying that I didn't like the following things is exaggerated, but I think they could be improved.
- Train stations. Yeah, you're supposed to get to one near your objective and go from there, but if you play this game totally blind (meaning, no guides or internet search) left me wanting another way of fast traveling. I found the locations a bit annoying. On my second play, since I already knew what to do and where to go, I didn't need to open all of them

- Boss difficulty (Old Arcadia does not count). I think it's leaned to the easy side. Each boss has at least 2 attack patterns, but none of them was particularly difficult to figure out.


That said, this is definitely a must if you like light Metroidvanias. Also, one last piece of advice if you want to get all achievements and don't want to go on a second run: Be sure to read the achievements before starting. There is a very important decision you must do at the beginning, that you won't realize unless you take a look at the achievements.