Hey there! If you enjoyed this video and want more then my Halo 1 campaign retrospective is out now on my channel. It's like this one but with more guns. Thanks again for watching! :D
I'm glad you liked it. I will say it's far easier to build on something that's already there than to make something from scratch, and I don't think Gears For Breakfast has a specific narrative designer so I imagine the chapter's stories are being done by the same people who design the levels and the movement etc, which is obviously more of a priority. Through that lens, it's remarkable that they were still able to create so many charming characters, even if the story they appear in is lacklustre.
Being an avid A Hat in Time player myself, I really enjoyed this video! You make great points and criticisms about the story and levels that have also crossed my mind while replaying and I hope to see more videos like this, it's some good stuff here! A little factoid about the "Mustache Girl just vanishing for the entire game" thing, They seemed to have planned cut-scenes (most likely playable moments like when she breaks into the spaceship.) where Mustache Girl would be in places before or after Hat Kid visited to find some Time Pieces. The only leftover for this idea was for a scrapped scene in The Subcon Forest where she meets "BOB", eventually kicking her out of the forest. I'm not sure if they planned any more encounters or moments like these though, but it would of been nice if they kept something like this in. Great vid! 👍💙
Thank you very much for the kind words! The game went through a long development cycle and comparing the plan on the Kickstarter page to the final product reveals a lot of differences. So it doesn't surprise me that there was more planned scenes with Mustache Girl that regrettably got canned. The game frankly needed more from her to make the final encounter work. If I recall correctly there is a graffiti of "Mustache Girl was here" or something similar in the final level of Chapter 2, but that's the only time I recall seeing anything Mustache Girl related outside Chapter 1, her invading the ship and the Finale.
I think the Empress putting a bounty on you works. Cats like to play with their prey. It would be too easy for her to kill you herself. I do agree though, the level itself is a bit lacking in, you know, rushing. Anyways, this video was awesome! A Hat in Time is one of my favorite games, i hope this video does well.
Thanks for the kind words, glad you enjoyed the video. :) Regarding The Empress, for me the idea of her playing with her prey works in a vacuum. However, I think my issues arise when that scene is combined with her leaving the door to her vault wide open, prematurely panicking in the elevator and the fact that she killed an underling earlier for stealing something of (presumably) less value than the time pieces. Individually all of these moments have plausible explanations, but when combined they paint the picture of an Empress whose just kind of incompetent, which goes against what the chapter had thus far built up. That's just my opinion though.
Hi! This is one of the best analysis videos I've seen in a while and extremely underrated so I figure hey, why not comment? A Hat in Time is an extremely fascinating game for me. When it shines, it soars, and I've been obsessed with it for years now, but I'm also equally fascinated with picking apart the points where it stumbles. I've really not seen a longform analysis that highlights both before as a lot of the fanbase seems inclined to gloss over those stumbling points - which I don't think really does the game justice. I really appreciated your critiques of the narrative and your suggestions for how to improve it, particularly in the DLC chapters. Your thoughts on making the Mafia Boss an antagonist in the Arctic Cruise and rewriting Nyakuza Metro's gameplay were some fascinating angles I haven't thought of before and really highlight what works about the game's most engaging chapters and how we can replicate that. I'd like to add something to your points about the overall narrative and Mustache Girl - I think the final resolution winds up feeling rushed and just kind of dumb? The comparison you made to Shovel Knight and Mario was very apt; those are games with simple stories but are internally and thematically coherent nonetheless. A Hat in Time tries to set up complex theming and a major moral dilemma going into the final act, like it's trying to have us take it seriously, but then the ultimate resolution is a Dorkly parody bit of "Mafia must explode to give child Heart Pons" and it really falls flat on its face. (I also just like Mustache Girl a lot and I hate how the game ends on the thesis of the Mafia Boss, the character who ruined her life, screaming "YOU'RE the bad guy actually" haha) All that said, thank you for making this video! I think this game has needed a video like this for a good while and I'm glad it exists now.
Thank you very much for the kind words, I'm glad you enjoyed the video. Regarding your point on the complex theming of the final act, I think the tonal disconnect is in part a victim of the lack of time we've had to get to know Mustache Girl and see more of what her deal is. Because of this, we can't really appreciate the serious moments when they happen, and the juxtaposition between those serious moments and the dumb stuff sticks out more. I do think it's possible to have dumb stuff and serious/emotionally resonant moments exist side by side- if you've seen Twisted by Team Starkid then it's a good example of that (I won't spoil it if you haven't seen it, would recommend). Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood is another example that comes to mind. But the reason they work is because we're given time to get to know the characters, get to care about the characters, and thus can take the serious stuff seriously. Sonic The Hedgehog frequently gets panned for trying to do more serious stuff in it's stories, and people have said it doesn't work because Sonic is ultimately a goofy blue hedgehog who runs really fast. But I think the reason those games' stories suffer is because the characters are never given any time to properly develop (and what development is there normally isn't very good) and thus we don't care when Sonic almost dies or whatever. What proves this even more is that people have pointed out that Gamma's story is surprisingly good in Sonic Adventure, and it's because his story actually shows us interacting and reacting to the world around him. I think if Mustache Girl was given the same treatment, the ending would've landed a lot more and would've even gelled with the silliness more. Sorry for the long paragraph but the more I thought about it the more I had to say haha.
@@LordSparrowYT That's a really fascinating point about Twisted and how you can balance serious topics with silly moments. As a massive fan of that musical myself - it really is just fantastic - I've always been enamored with how well it manages to stride the line between extremely silly parody and telling a very heartfelt, genuine story about Ja'far and his wife. All that being said though I'd argue that that story works so well in part because it ends off with some extremely weighty, impactful moments. Despite the goofy tone of Twisted its climax doesn't get caught up in the silly premise and is honestly extremely emotional. In comparison A Hat in Time's finale feels very... slapdash? The meta-elements with the pon thing come straight out of nowhere and the game tries to pull a "my friends are my power" with characters who've hated us for the entire runtime (and Hat Kid dislikes just as much if her diary is to be believed). While I absolutely agree that Mustache Girl needed a lot more buildup, I'm a firm believer in the idea that a good ending can really patch up a lot of the weaknesses of what came before. My issue is that this just isn't a good ending, and elements such as Mustache Girl's fear of being alone (which shows up for a single line of dialogue) are severely underdeveloped and are sorta undercut by the resolution anyway. I actually wrote my own little fanfiction-y rewrite (akin to the ones you did for Nyakuza Metro and Arctic Cruise) myself a little while back but the gist is that Mustache Girl's time-meddling would cause time itself to start collapsing and she and Hat Kid would have to make amends to team up and destroy the source of time's collapse: www.reddit.com/r/AHatInTime/comments/1ba219z/a_hat_in_time_the_finale_rewrite/
I do agree that the entire cast of would-be murderers turning into our friends at the end does feel very forced. I feel the meta-pon thing in isolation was fine, and with sufficient buildup the characters sacrificing themselves to provide us with enough hearts to get through the battle and become practically invincible could've been thematically resonant. Emphasis on could've, because there isn't any buildup to make that event resonate- as you point out the friends spend all game trying to kill us and there's no point before now where an event occurs to meaningfully change anyone's opinion of anyone else. And yeah I agree, A Hat In Time's ending does have the classic MCU problem of not knowing when to drop the jokes and let serious moments shine. Whereas as you point out Twisted does. I used the example of Gamma's story from Sonic Adventure and yeah that story does too. It's an important balance to strike. I read your rewrite, which was cool btw, and as a slight amendment to your ideas I think Mustache Girl summoning more time power than she could control would be the perfect response to the invincibility our character gains. We've upped the ante with our invincibility, and now she's doing the same because she's panicking. She's panicking not just because we're invincible but because literally everyone around her is dying and she doesn't want to be alone. I imagine her collecting time pieces like Goku would collect his spirit ball, with more and more time pieces amassing above her head. Until the power gets too much to handle, it shatters, and there's a massive time rift which leads to the end of time boss. Tangentially, I didn't really bring it up in the video but I find it strange, or perhaps interesting, how few time shenanigans there are in A Hat In Time. Beyond the main time rewrite with Mustache Girl in the ship it doesn't really get brought up much. I know the original premise was to have Hat Kid going around fixing time, but in the end she mostly gets up to goofy side adventures. Which is fine in and of itself, which is one of the reasons why I didn't really bring it up in the vid because I wasn't sure whether to categorise that as a "problem" or just an oddity. Anyway sorry for long paragraph again.
love how unlike other games with cutsie protagonists, it's not some humanoid animal, it's a lil girl with a top hat and she's pecking adorable as peck, god I love this game Edit: the camera works fine with the mouse and keyboard, much smoother to control
A 2 hour video covering one of my favorite games of all time? Sign me up! Amazing video. Watched the whole thing. Im so happy to see this game get some love.
A Hat In Time is my favourite 3D Collectathon Platformer for the humor, movement and level design. We all have that 1 part that we don't like; that's the Death Wishes for me. Great Retrospective! Editing was top-tier, and you deserve more attention!
Thank you very much for the kind words. I really enjoyed A Hat In Time, even though I was harsh to certain aspects of it. I think it's constructive (and fun) to analyse shortcomings in the things you love. I enjoy doing that anyway.
This was a fun and engaging video essay! You're style of commentary, humour and perspective are coming on nicely when looking back on your Shovel Knight video. Be encouraged with every view, and keep up the hard work!
So refreshing seeing actual constructive criticism for once in the internet. Said what was right and what could use more work while providing examples on how to make things better. Truly an amazing video.
Fun fact: every single thing in the game that requires the time stop hat can also be done with the scooter. The time stop hat is completely optional. It does make death wish bosses easier, though, so I’ll give it that.
I do find it strange that the only time hat in a hat in time is so under-utilised. It's not strictly a problem, being able to approach gameplay in multiple different ways can be great, but it is strange given the context of the game.
@@LordSparrowYT There are actually mechanics in modded levels that make use of the time stop hat without the scooter also being able to do it, but as far as I’m aware, you can completely 100% every other aspect of the base game without ever stitching the time stop hat.
Yay!! I love when people talk about this game! I appreciate the emphasis on the main point of talking about the game, which is its simplicity. It's one of the main aspects of the game that I love and is a really important part of its charm. While I do think all of your criticisms of the game are valid, (like the camera, the narrative, and some of the filler acts) I disagree to empress actions to being completely out of character. Yes, it would have made more sense for her to try and kill you outright, but I think it's plausible for her to let you run, like a predator playing with its prey or something. Not a full defense of the finale, as it could have definitely been better, but I think calling it character assassination was an overexaggeration. Otherwise, I loved your video on the game! I'm happy that you enjoyed your time with it. A Hat in Time is my favorite video game of all time, so I'm happy to hear people's opinions on it.
I'm glad you enjoyed! I think if it was just The Empress letting you run I'd have chalked it up to her being overconfident, or as you say her playing with her prey. But it's the cumulation of that alongside the vault door being left open and the entire scene in the elevator that really did the character in for me. Still, my opinion is just my opinion, and as you've said one of the things I like about "video-essay-esque" content is hearing other people's opinions, and I always find it super interesting to hear what other people think, including those who disagree with me. So thank you for commenting! :)
I love this game a lot, seeing such a great video on it almost 8 years after its release makes me really happy. Considering this is the SECOND video on your channel, damn, you’re amazing. Keep up with the work, I believe in you! I love the ideas you presented there, and the criticisms are actually good, too. I’m excited with what you’re doing next! Its rare for anyone to hook me in their commentary for 2 hours, let alone someone with THIRTY FIVE subscribers. Again, keep creating videos, I’ll be there to see them! About the game itself, I really, REALLY love it. Such a simple premise of a little alien girl collecting junk she accidentally dropped on a foreign planet, with so much love and care put into it, and thats now one of my favourite games of all time. Its unbelievable how an indie team with just less than 10 members could create such a great result as their first ever. I wish there would be a sequel in the future, because I would kill to play this game for the first time again.
Thank you very much for the kind words, it genuinely means a lot. And yeah the game is great, I am very interested to see what Gears For Breakfast do next. It's been a few years since their last in-house DLC so I wouldn't be surprised if we see their next project at some point in the next couple of years.
43:14 - 43:25 Watched this part on mute while playing BFG Division on a separate tab. Pecking worth it, fits perfectly. My shenanigans aside - an entertaining video! Keep it up, and you'll have lots of subscribers; here's +1 =)
If you want my Chapter tier list, with 1 being the best and 7 the "worst" (although none of them are bad chapters by any means) I think it would be: 1. Battle Of The Birds 2. Nyakuza Metro 3. Subcon Forest 4. Welcome To Mafia Town 5. Arctic Cruise 6. Alpine Skyline 7. Time's End But honestly those bottom 4 positions could be switched if you catch me on a different day, and it's difficult to compare Time's End to the others because it's just one level.
@@LordSparrowYT My favorite has to be battle of the birds and nyakuza metro. Nyakuza Metro has this absolute banger on youtube by man on the internet, recommend it as a good watch.
I just thought the name Bob fit his general vibe. Plus I didn't know he was called "The Snatcher" until after I had finished the game so I had to call him something in my notes. It's stuck now, I can't see him as anything other than "Bob".
26:28 the sequel of this has better stealth segments. You can tackle guards while tazering them, and up fuck their shit majorly. Much more aggressively two. Yeah but this one? wouldn't dare touch it. Point made. I think the most fun I've had in stealth was the sly cooper series, and the forsaken fortress from windwaker.
ship shape made me really mad, but the thing that really makes me rage is time rifts... LIKE WHY CANT THEY JUST BE SIMPLE???? But I honestly find rock the boat super fun and cute, i love saving the babies and seals!!! Seal the deal, subcon forest, and nyazuka metro are definetly my favorite chapters! Like you said, the vibe of subcon forest is super kewl and Bob is so cheeky lol. Seal the deal was super cute and felt like a relaxing break, even when playing ship shape surprisingly. And nyazuka metro.... Don't even get me starteddddd!! It showed a whole new side of a hat in time and I loved everything about it! I love dressing up hat kid in all those cute little outfits:)
I didn't really talk about it but the Purple Time Rift for Arctic Cruise was the hardest platforming sequence in the base game for me. I know Death Wish can get a bit difficult too.
AHH, thank you so much for making such a great video about my favourite game!!! I loved the video, your story improvements, humour, explanations were really well done and thought through. Excited to see more great content from your channel. Also, just asking if you have done the 100% route of the game, since when you do that you get a final time rift that gives you mustache girl's backstory.
Thank you so much, tbh my completion is at 90 something percent so I was unaware of the final time rift with Mustache Girl. I still think we should've definitely had more of her backstory in the main story, but it's a cool 100% reward nevertheless.
Hey if didn't know there's a secret passage in the beginning in vannessa's manor that let's you skip the entire horror section. Unluckily you didn't know it so yeah.
No I didn't, it makes sense though as a fun and clever way to make use of the assets that they created. I think there's a lot of story/lore stuff regarding Vanessa and the mansion that G4B either wanted to keep vague or didn't have the time/resources to fully expand. I find it interesting that she's the only named character not to be present at Mustache Girl's judging tribunal.
I think the reason the Emperess put a bounty on you instead of killing you right then and there, is because she wanted the thrill of the hunt. She was playing with her prey. You know, like a cat.
I can understand that in theory, but we get shown the Empress is willing to kill on the spot when she kills the other cat thief no questions asked. And the stuff we've stolen seems to be of more value to the stuff that other cat was trying to steal. Tbh, her letting us run off would've been more palatable to me if it wasn't paired with her leaving the door open and needlessly panicking in the elevator. I get that all those events could have explanations- maybe the door open was her testing our loyalty, cats can be skittish so she was skittish in the elevator- but nevertheless they combine together to make her appear as incompetent overall and take the wind out of the climax. Still, I enjoy hearing differing opinions, and the idea that she's playing with her prey wasn't something that crossed my mind whilst I was making the video. I still don't think it makes the presentation of the finale that much better, but I appreciate the perspective nevertheless. :)
Two points about the camera. If you're playing on mouse and keyboard, there's no camera problem. And IMO if you turn off the top down view in the menu then there's no problem with the camera using a controller. Another point, because you were missing relics, you missed the Cruise's main time rift, and that rift is very important and teaches a lot of movement mechanics (ie., you'll never make it through the level if you don't learn them). I feel like that rift is a highlight of the game.
The camera might be better with different settings but I still feel it's valid to point out the flaws with the default settings. My camera woes are partially on me for not exploring the settings further though. I played the Cruise's rift but didn't really bring it up specifically in the video because I thought it was more concise to explain the time rifts in a single section. While the specific platforming challenges and difficulty vary between the rifts if I was to describe them all I'd be using very similar rhetoric. If you want my specific thoughts: it was a very difficult time rift, and the most difficult non-death wish level in the game. Aesthetically very pretty, most of the platforming is well designed, although I felt that some of the difficulty came from the camera. Not the zoom problems I mention in the video, but rather in the sections where you have to platform around a cylindrical object. The camera doesn't, or at least didn't for me, auto-rotate around the pillar as I went. This meant I had to manually rotate the camera alongside inputting precise platforming commands. Now personally I found that aspect cumbersome, though I also realise it could just be me or that to some learning to effectively move the camera alongside platforming is part of the challenge and thus part of the appeal. So I decided it wasn't worth bringing up as I couldn't call it a "fault" with the level. I did still like it overall even if it took me a while to beat.
I might have done something where since the Mafia and other guys owe us you have I would have gone in the Metro one where you have essiently a gang war where all the former characters in the game start helping you out with the differnt guys like the Mafia suddenly bailing us in one section of the metro much to the Empress's surprise as the different characters are taking over sections of the Metro. Snatcher forcing cat's to sign contracts. Some of the Goats intimidating some of the cats in another sections. DJ Groves and the Conductor actually working together by turning this area of the metro into a Movie shoot and you have Caw Agents, Owls, and Penguins in another area taken it over and suddenly you have the cat Gangsters suddenly recruited into their new movie as they are suddenly torn between the bounty and being in a movie. This could seriously cause interesting changes to the level as you have all sorts of new stuff suddenly moved into the Metro as the escape is progressing. Then you can have an end area where in Free Roam you see the after effect where you have them still moved in and the Empress's territory and power is not only shunken she has to deal with all the new guys who have moved in and make their own territories.
This is a cool idea as well, a final hurrah for those who played this level last after everything else. The Nyakuza Metro is genuinely great which is what makes them dropping the ball with the finale even more disappointing.
@@LordSparrowYT Oh also did you know their is a hidden 3rd floor in that manor. apparently their is a bit of story to that it was that their was a dark clone blocking you in an area. Although something kept not working and the developers kept not liking what resulted in it. although it's still in the manor I found this when someone did some exploration code in the game. Also interestingly enough another interesting part where you fight the mafia boss if you use a code that lets you T pose around the area you find out that theater is actually massive and extreamly well made their is a massive golden stature in it which was surpring how much work they put in that. Also Metro area their is a hidden boss apparently someone discovered it at one point but even though they shared it a bit they didn't reveal where the location is other than it's high up.
@@jasonsaalbach5786 I think there's a reference to Goro Majima from the Yakuza games in the Metro somewhere, didn't come across them myself. I didn't know about those other points though. Thanks for sharing.
Yeah I watched a speedrun video where someone also opened a chest and held on the item get screen to break the death state that's meant to occur if you lose. Whatever you do, just don't massively overthink it and start heading in the opposite direction.
Regarding the empress choosing to put a bounty on you instead of killing you like with the other henchmen, cats are well known to play with their prey after catching them, and I think this is meant to represent that. She probably knew that her henchmen she killed wasn’t really guilty, but hatkid is 100% stealing what could be her most valuable items, HK’s an actual person she would want to go after
I can understand that in a vacuum, but when combined with her panicking unnecessarily in the elevator and leaving the door to her super important vault wide open it paints a picture of a character who is incompetent, which is dissonant to what the game is trying to portray her as and lowers the stakes of the final confrontation. Maybe all of those events have individual explanations, and maybe they all do a good job of making her seem like a cat person. But that comes at the cost of making her a threatening villain, and that trade-off is in my opinion to the game's detriment.
This is one of my favorite games of all time. While I definitely agreed with a lot of your criticisms, I feel like the game's sense of charm, silliness, and fun are fantastic. After beating A Hat in Time, I started Mario Odyssey and... couldn't get into it. While Mario definitely had better polish, more mechanics, better pacing, and a larger scale - it just didn't have that special something that A Hat in Time was able to provide for me.
Charm is definitely one of A Hat In Time's greatest strengths. And games are weird in that different factors influence each other in subtle ways. This means a game can be technically better than another on paper, but lack something nebulous or difficult to define that makes another game special.
You can indeed. From what I understand the differences are mostly cosmetic. Although the Conductor wielding a knife feels very expected, comfortable even. There's something increasingly deranged about DJ Grooves whipping out a knife and screaming "I'll kill you darling!" But maybe that's just me.
Hey there! If you enjoyed this video and want more then my Halo 1 campaign retrospective is out now on my channel. It's like this one but with more guns. Thanks again for watching! :D
The new ending idea for nyakuza metro basically makes the chapter perfect damn
I'm glad you liked it. I will say it's far easier to build on something that's already there than to make something from scratch, and I don't think Gears For Breakfast has a specific narrative designer so I imagine the chapter's stories are being done by the same people who design the levels and the movement etc, which is obviously more of a priority. Through that lens, it's remarkable that they were still able to create so many charming characters, even if the story they appear in is lacklustre.
Woah, Habboi - the 3d lead at gears for breakfast saw your video, and even told people to "watch it or perish" on his twitter, congrats!!
That's surreal haha. Thanks for the congrats. :)
Being an avid A Hat in Time player myself, I really enjoyed this video! You make great points and criticisms about the story and levels that have also crossed my mind while replaying and I hope to see more videos like this, it's some good stuff here!
A little factoid about the "Mustache Girl just vanishing for the entire game" thing, They seemed to have planned cut-scenes (most likely playable moments like when she breaks into the spaceship.) where Mustache Girl would be in places before or after Hat Kid visited to find some Time Pieces. The only leftover for this idea was for a scrapped scene in The Subcon Forest where she meets "BOB", eventually kicking her out of the forest. I'm not sure if they planned any more encounters or moments like these though, but it would of been nice if they kept something like this in.
Great vid! 👍💙
Thank you very much for the kind words!
The game went through a long development cycle and comparing the plan on the Kickstarter page to the final product reveals a lot of differences. So it doesn't surprise me that there was more planned scenes with Mustache Girl that regrettably got canned. The game frankly needed more from her to make the final encounter work. If I recall correctly there is a graffiti of "Mustache Girl was here" or something similar in the final level of Chapter 2, but that's the only time I recall seeing anything Mustache Girl related outside Chapter 1, her invading the ship and the Finale.
I think the Empress putting a bounty on you works.
Cats like to play with their prey. It would be too easy for her to kill you herself. I do agree though, the level itself is a bit lacking in, you know, rushing.
Anyways, this video was awesome! A Hat in Time is one of my favorite games, i hope this video does well.
Thanks for the kind words, glad you enjoyed the video. :)
Regarding The Empress, for me the idea of her playing with her prey works in a vacuum. However, I think my issues arise when that scene is combined with her leaving the door to her vault wide open, prematurely panicking in the elevator and the fact that she killed an underling earlier for stealing something of (presumably) less value than the time pieces. Individually all of these moments have plausible explanations, but when combined they paint the picture of an Empress whose just kind of incompetent, which goes against what the chapter had thus far built up. That's just my opinion though.
Ah r/AHatInTime , still giving me good content
I'm glad people from the subreddit have hopped on over. Thanks for watching. :)
I often question why I got A hat in time only a few months ago when I could have gotten it so many times.
I hadn't played it before this year either. Always kept meaning to and just never got around to it until recently.
Same
Hi! This is one of the best analysis videos I've seen in a while and extremely underrated so I figure hey, why not comment?
A Hat in Time is an extremely fascinating game for me. When it shines, it soars, and I've been obsessed with it for years now, but I'm also equally fascinated with picking apart the points where it stumbles. I've really not seen a longform analysis that highlights both before as a lot of the fanbase seems inclined to gloss over those stumbling points - which I don't think really does the game justice.
I really appreciated your critiques of the narrative and your suggestions for how to improve it, particularly in the DLC chapters. Your thoughts on making the Mafia Boss an antagonist in the Arctic Cruise and rewriting Nyakuza Metro's gameplay were some fascinating angles I haven't thought of before and really highlight what works about the game's most engaging chapters and how we can replicate that.
I'd like to add something to your points about the overall narrative and Mustache Girl - I think the final resolution winds up feeling rushed and just kind of dumb? The comparison you made to Shovel Knight and Mario was very apt; those are games with simple stories but are internally and thematically coherent nonetheless. A Hat in Time tries to set up complex theming and a major moral dilemma going into the final act, like it's trying to have us take it seriously, but then the ultimate resolution is a Dorkly parody bit of "Mafia must explode to give child Heart Pons" and it really falls flat on its face.
(I also just like Mustache Girl a lot and I hate how the game ends on the thesis of the Mafia Boss, the character who ruined her life, screaming "YOU'RE the bad guy actually" haha)
All that said, thank you for making this video! I think this game has needed a video like this for a good while and I'm glad it exists now.
Thank you very much for the kind words, I'm glad you enjoyed the video. Regarding your point on the complex theming of the final act, I think the tonal disconnect is in part a victim of the lack of time we've had to get to know Mustache Girl and see more of what her deal is. Because of this, we can't really appreciate the serious moments when they happen, and the juxtaposition between those serious moments and the dumb stuff sticks out more.
I do think it's possible to have dumb stuff and serious/emotionally resonant moments exist side by side- if you've seen Twisted by Team Starkid then it's a good example of that (I won't spoil it if you haven't seen it, would recommend). Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood is another example that comes to mind. But the reason they work is because we're given time to get to know the characters, get to care about the characters, and thus can take the serious stuff seriously.
Sonic The Hedgehog frequently gets panned for trying to do more serious stuff in it's stories, and people have said it doesn't work because Sonic is ultimately a goofy blue hedgehog who runs really fast. But I think the reason those games' stories suffer is because the characters are never given any time to properly develop (and what development is there normally isn't very good) and thus we don't care when Sonic almost dies or whatever. What proves this even more is that people have pointed out that Gamma's story is surprisingly good in Sonic Adventure, and it's because his story actually shows us interacting and reacting to the world around him.
I think if Mustache Girl was given the same treatment, the ending would've landed a lot more and would've even gelled with the silliness more. Sorry for the long paragraph but the more I thought about it the more I had to say haha.
@@LordSparrowYT That's a really fascinating point about Twisted and how you can balance serious topics with silly moments. As a massive fan of that musical myself - it really is just fantastic - I've always been enamored with how well it manages to stride the line between extremely silly parody and telling a very heartfelt, genuine story about Ja'far and his wife.
All that being said though I'd argue that that story works so well in part because it ends off with some extremely weighty, impactful moments. Despite the goofy tone of Twisted its climax doesn't get caught up in the silly premise and is honestly extremely emotional.
In comparison A Hat in Time's finale feels very... slapdash? The meta-elements with the pon thing come straight out of nowhere and the game tries to pull a "my friends are my power" with characters who've hated us for the entire runtime (and Hat Kid dislikes just as much if her diary is to be believed).
While I absolutely agree that Mustache Girl needed a lot more buildup, I'm a firm believer in the idea that a good ending can really patch up a lot of the weaknesses of what came before. My issue is that this just isn't a good ending, and elements such as Mustache Girl's fear of being alone (which shows up for a single line of dialogue) are severely underdeveloped and are sorta undercut by the resolution anyway.
I actually wrote my own little fanfiction-y rewrite (akin to the ones you did for Nyakuza Metro and Arctic Cruise) myself a little while back but the gist is that Mustache Girl's time-meddling would cause time itself to start collapsing and she and Hat Kid would have to make amends to team up and destroy the source of time's collapse: www.reddit.com/r/AHatInTime/comments/1ba219z/a_hat_in_time_the_finale_rewrite/
I do agree that the entire cast of would-be murderers turning into our friends at the end does feel very forced. I feel the meta-pon thing in isolation was fine, and with sufficient buildup the characters sacrificing themselves to provide us with enough hearts to get through the battle and become practically invincible could've been thematically resonant. Emphasis on could've, because there isn't any buildup to make that event resonate- as you point out the friends spend all game trying to kill us and there's no point before now where an event occurs to meaningfully change anyone's opinion of anyone else.
And yeah I agree, A Hat In Time's ending does have the classic MCU problem of not knowing when to drop the jokes and let serious moments shine. Whereas as you point out Twisted does. I used the example of Gamma's story from Sonic Adventure and yeah that story does too. It's an important balance to strike.
I read your rewrite, which was cool btw, and as a slight amendment to your ideas I think Mustache Girl summoning more time power than she could control would be the perfect response to the invincibility our character gains. We've upped the ante with our invincibility, and now she's doing the same because she's panicking. She's panicking not just because we're invincible but because literally everyone around her is dying and she doesn't want to be alone. I imagine her collecting time pieces like Goku would collect his spirit ball, with more and more time pieces amassing above her head. Until the power gets too much to handle, it shatters, and there's a massive time rift which leads to the end of time boss.
Tangentially, I didn't really bring it up in the video but I find it strange, or perhaps interesting, how few time shenanigans there are in A Hat In Time. Beyond the main time rewrite with Mustache Girl in the ship it doesn't really get brought up much. I know the original premise was to have Hat Kid going around fixing time, but in the end she mostly gets up to goofy side adventures. Which is fine in and of itself, which is one of the reasons why I didn't really bring it up in the vid because I wasn't sure whether to categorise that as a "problem" or just an oddity.
Anyway sorry for long paragraph again.
love how unlike other games with cutsie protagonists, it's not some humanoid animal, it's a lil girl with a top hat and she's pecking adorable as peck, god I love this game
Edit: the camera works fine with the mouse and keyboard, much smoother to control
A 2 hour video covering one of my favorite games of all time? Sign me up! Amazing video. Watched the whole thing. Im so happy to see this game get some love.
I'm super glad you enjoyed it. :)
A Hat In Time is my favourite 3D Collectathon Platformer for the humor, movement and level design.
We all have that 1 part that we don't like; that's the Death Wishes for me.
Great Retrospective! Editing was top-tier, and you deserve more attention!
Thank you very much for the kind words. I really enjoyed A Hat In Time, even though I was harsh to certain aspects of it. I think it's constructive (and fun) to analyse shortcomings in the things you love. I enjoy doing that anyway.
You are one of the best content creators out there.
You deserve way more attention.
Thanks! I appreciate anyone who takes the time to watch what I do.
This was a fun and engaging video essay! You're style of commentary, humour and perspective are coming on nicely when looking back on your Shovel Knight video. Be encouraged with every view, and keep up the hard work!
Thank you very much. :)
So refreshing seeing actual constructive criticism for once in the internet. Said what was right and what could use more work while providing examples on how to make things better. Truly an amazing video.
Thank you very much, I'm glad you enjoyed. :)
Fun fact: every single thing in the game that requires the time stop hat can also be done with the scooter. The time stop hat is completely optional.
It does make death wish bosses easier, though, so I’ll give it that.
I do find it strange that the only time hat in a hat in time is so under-utilised. It's not strictly a problem, being able to approach gameplay in multiple different ways can be great, but it is strange given the context of the game.
@@LordSparrowYT There are actually mechanics in modded levels that make use of the time stop hat without the scooter also being able to do it, but as far as I’m aware, you can completely 100% every other aspect of the base game without ever stitching the time stop hat.
Yay!! I love when people talk about this game!
I appreciate the emphasis on the main point of talking about the game, which is its simplicity. It's one of the main aspects of the game that I love and is a really important part of its charm.
While I do think all of your criticisms of the game are valid, (like the camera, the narrative, and some of the filler acts) I disagree to empress actions to being completely out of character. Yes, it would have made more sense for her to try and kill you outright, but I think it's plausible for her to let you run, like a predator playing with its prey or something. Not a full defense of the finale, as it could have definitely been better, but I think calling it character assassination was an overexaggeration.
Otherwise, I loved your video on the game! I'm happy that you enjoyed your time with it. A Hat in Time is my favorite video game of all time, so I'm happy to hear people's opinions on it.
I'm glad you enjoyed! I think if it was just The Empress letting you run I'd have chalked it up to her being overconfident, or as you say her playing with her prey. But it's the cumulation of that alongside the vault door being left open and the entire scene in the elevator that really did the character in for me.
Still, my opinion is just my opinion, and as you've said one of the things I like about "video-essay-esque" content is hearing other people's opinions, and I always find it super interesting to hear what other people think, including those who disagree with me. So thank you for commenting! :)
theres an impressive amount of quality for a 2nd video :0, i love long form videos about my special interests
Thank you very much. :)
I love this game a lot, seeing such a great video on it almost 8 years after its release makes me really happy. Considering this is the SECOND video on your channel, damn, you’re amazing. Keep up with the work, I believe in you! I love the ideas you presented there, and the criticisms are actually good, too. I’m excited with what you’re doing next! Its rare for anyone to hook me in their commentary for 2 hours, let alone someone with THIRTY FIVE subscribers. Again, keep creating videos, I’ll be there to see them!
About the game itself, I really, REALLY love it. Such a simple premise of a little alien girl collecting junk she accidentally dropped on a foreign planet, with so much love and care put into it, and thats now one of my favourite games of all time. Its unbelievable how an indie team with just less than 10 members could create such a great result as their first ever. I wish there would be a sequel in the future, because I would kill to play this game for the first time again.
Thank you very much for the kind words, it genuinely means a lot. And yeah the game is great, I am very interested to see what Gears For Breakfast do next. It's been a few years since their last in-house DLC so I wouldn't be surprised if we see their next project at some point in the next couple of years.
FINALLY a video about A Hat in Time in 2024
"and causally use it to beat him to death" what a sentence. Great video! :)
Glad you enjoyed!
43:14 - 43:25
Watched this part on mute while playing BFG Division on a separate tab. Pecking worth it, fits perfectly.
My shenanigans aside - an entertaining video! Keep it up, and you'll have lots of subscribers; here's +1 =)
I think it says a lot about Hat Kid's character that the Doom OST could probably fit most of the game. Thank you very much for the kind words. :)
16:35 option 1 would make a Helluva Tier List.
If you want my Chapter tier list, with 1 being the best and 7 the "worst" (although none of them are bad chapters by any means) I think it would be:
1. Battle Of The Birds
2. Nyakuza Metro
3. Subcon Forest
4. Welcome To Mafia Town
5. Arctic Cruise
6. Alpine Skyline
7. Time's End
But honestly those bottom 4 positions could be switched if you catch me on a different day, and it's difficult to compare Time's End to the others because it's just one level.
@@LordSparrowYT My favorite has to be battle of the birds and nyakuza metro.
Nyakuza Metro has this absolute banger on youtube by man on the internet, recommend it as a good watch.
@@Angel-Dust-The-Prostitute i love that song too! I also really like his “your contract has expired” cover
46:14 hey! Thats what I named Cohozuna from Splatoon 3 :D
I just thought the name Bob fit his general vibe. Plus I didn't know he was called "The Snatcher" until after I had finished the game so I had to call him something in my notes. It's stuck now, I can't see him as anything other than "Bob".
This is great. I hope this hits the algorithm so more people can see it!
You and me both haha. Glad you liked it!
26:28 the sequel of this has better stealth segments. You can tackle guards while tazering them, and up fuck their shit majorly. Much more aggressively two. Yeah but this one? wouldn't dare touch it. Point made. I think the most fun I've had in stealth was the sly cooper series, and the forsaken fortress from windwaker.
ship shape made me really mad, but the thing that really makes me rage is time rifts... LIKE WHY CANT THEY JUST BE SIMPLE???? But I honestly find rock the boat super fun and cute, i love saving the babies and seals!!! Seal the deal, subcon forest, and nyazuka metro are definetly my favorite chapters! Like you said, the vibe of subcon forest is super kewl and Bob is so cheeky lol. Seal the deal was super cute and felt like a relaxing break, even when playing ship shape surprisingly. And nyazuka metro.... Don't even get me starteddddd!! It showed a whole new side of a hat in time and I loved everything about it! I love dressing up hat kid in all those cute little outfits:)
I didn't really talk about it but the Purple Time Rift for Arctic Cruise was the hardest platforming sequence in the base game for me. I know Death Wish can get a bit difficult too.
@@LordSparrowYT That is the only time piece I dont have currently, fuck that time rift qwq
Haha yeah it took me an hour. On the final floor I just left with the minimum required pons.
AHH, thank you so much for making such a great video about my favourite game!!! I loved the video, your story improvements, humour, explanations were really well done and thought through. Excited to see more great content from your channel.
Also, just asking if you have done the 100% route of the game, since when you do that you get a final time rift that gives you mustache girl's backstory.
Thank you so much, tbh my completion is at 90 something percent so I was unaware of the final time rift with Mustache Girl. I still think we should've definitely had more of her backstory in the main story, but it's a cool 100% reward nevertheless.
I feel like everyone forgot about this incredible video game, thank you for talking about it in 2024 ❤
No worries, glad you enjoyed! It's a game I kept meaning to play ever since it came out so I'm glad I finally got the chance.
Hey if didn't know there's a secret passage in the beginning in vannessa's manor that let's you skip the entire horror section. Unluckily you didn't know it so yeah.
I only found that out afterwards. I'd have still played it through for the video though.
@@LordSparrowYT Did you also know that some of the frozen sculptures are scrapped charaters? Just tossing some facts out there.
No I didn't, it makes sense though as a fun and clever way to make use of the assets that they created. I think there's a lot of story/lore stuff regarding Vanessa and the mansion that G4B either wanted to keep vague or didn't have the time/resources to fully expand. I find it interesting that she's the only named character not to be present at Mustache Girl's judging tribunal.
@@LordSparrowYT Thanks, can't wait for your next video.
43:14 I love how you just keep whacking the conductor even though he probably has a concussion from all your hits
Oh he has more than a concussion.
I think the reason the Emperess put a bounty on you instead of killing you right then and there, is because she wanted the thrill of the hunt. She was playing with her prey. You know, like a cat.
I can understand that in theory, but we get shown the Empress is willing to kill on the spot when she kills the other cat thief no questions asked. And the stuff we've stolen seems to be of more value to the stuff that other cat was trying to steal. Tbh, her letting us run off would've been more palatable to me if it wasn't paired with her leaving the door open and needlessly panicking in the elevator. I get that all those events could have explanations- maybe the door open was her testing our loyalty, cats can be skittish so she was skittish in the elevator- but nevertheless they combine together to make her appear as incompetent overall and take the wind out of the climax.
Still, I enjoy hearing differing opinions, and the idea that she's playing with her prey wasn't something that crossed my mind whilst I was making the video. I still don't think it makes the presentation of the finale that much better, but I appreciate the perspective nevertheless. :)
You calling Snatcher Bob made me laugh
Two points about the camera. If you're playing on mouse and keyboard, there's no camera problem. And IMO if you turn off the top down view in the menu then there's no problem with the camera using a controller.
Another point, because you were missing relics, you missed the Cruise's main time rift, and that rift is very important and teaches a lot of movement mechanics (ie., you'll never make it through the level if you don't learn them). I feel like that rift is a highlight of the game.
The camera might be better with different settings but I still feel it's valid to point out the flaws with the default settings. My camera woes are partially on me for not exploring the settings further though.
I played the Cruise's rift but didn't really bring it up specifically in the video because I thought it was more concise to explain the time rifts in a single section. While the specific platforming challenges and difficulty vary between the rifts if I was to describe them all I'd be using very similar rhetoric.
If you want my specific thoughts: it was a very difficult time rift, and the most difficult non-death wish level in the game. Aesthetically very pretty, most of the platforming is well designed, although I felt that some of the difficulty came from the camera. Not the zoom problems I mention in the video, but rather in the sections where you have to platform around a cylindrical object. The camera doesn't, or at least didn't for me, auto-rotate around the pillar as I went. This meant I had to manually rotate the camera alongside inputting precise platforming commands.
Now personally I found that aspect cumbersome, though I also realise it could just be me or that to some learning to effectively move the camera alongside platforming is part of the challenge and thus part of the appeal. So I decided it wasn't worth bringing up as I couldn't call it a "fault" with the level. I did still like it overall even if it took me a while to beat.
Great video! It should have more than 952 views! Good luck with Death Wish
Glad you enjoyed it.
I might have done something where since the Mafia and other guys owe us you have I would have gone in the Metro one where you have essiently a gang war where all the former characters in the game start helping you out with the differnt guys like the Mafia suddenly bailing us in one section of the metro much to the Empress's surprise as the different characters are taking over sections of the Metro. Snatcher forcing cat's to sign contracts. Some of the Goats intimidating some of the cats in another sections. DJ Groves and the Conductor actually working together by turning this area of the metro into a Movie shoot and you have Caw Agents, Owls, and Penguins in another area taken it over and suddenly you have the cat Gangsters suddenly recruited into their new movie as they are suddenly torn between the bounty and being in a movie.
This could seriously cause interesting changes to the level as you have all sorts of new stuff suddenly moved into the Metro as the escape is progressing. Then you can have an end area where in Free Roam you see the after effect where you have them still moved in and the Empress's territory and power is not only shunken she has to deal with all the new guys who have moved in and make their own territories.
This is a cool idea as well, a final hurrah for those who played this level last after everything else. The Nyakuza Metro is genuinely great which is what makes them dropping the ball with the finale even more disappointing.
@@LordSparrowYT Oh also did you know their is a hidden 3rd floor in that manor. apparently their is a bit of story to that it was that their was a dark clone blocking you in an area. Although something kept not working and the developers kept not liking what resulted in it. although it's still in the manor I found this when someone did some exploration code in the game. Also interestingly enough another interesting part where you fight the mafia boss if you use a code that lets you T pose around the area you find out that theater is actually massive and extreamly well made their is a massive golden stature in it which was surpring how much work they put in that. Also Metro area their is a hidden boss apparently someone discovered it at one point but even though they shared it a bit they didn't reveal where the location is other than it's high up.
@@jasonsaalbach5786 I think there's a reference to Goro Majima from the Yakuza games in the Metro somewhere, didn't come across them myself. I didn't know about those other points though. Thanks for sharing.
You can 100% cheat the race with the Scooter. You can also win the race with enough sprinting skills.
Yeah I watched a speedrun video where someone also opened a chest and held on the item get screen to break the death state that's meant to occur if you lose. Whatever you do, just don't massively overthink it and start heading in the opposite direction.
Regarding the empress choosing to put a bounty on you instead of killing you like with the other henchmen, cats are well known to play with their prey after catching them, and I think this is meant to represent that. She probably knew that her henchmen she killed wasn’t really guilty, but hatkid is 100% stealing what could be her most valuable items, HK’s an actual person she would want to go after
I can understand that in a vacuum, but when combined with her panicking unnecessarily in the elevator and leaving the door to her super important vault wide open it paints a picture of a character who is incompetent, which is dissonant to what the game is trying to portray her as and lowers the stakes of the final confrontation. Maybe all of those events have individual explanations, and maybe they all do a good job of making her seem like a cat person. But that comes at the cost of making her a threatening villain, and that trade-off is in my opinion to the game's detriment.
🤠
I hope one day we get a sequel to this game
There's always a chance.
This is one of my favorite games of all time. While I definitely agreed with a lot of your criticisms, I feel like the game's sense of charm, silliness, and fun are fantastic. After beating A Hat in Time, I started Mario Odyssey and... couldn't get into it. While Mario definitely had better polish, more mechanics, better pacing, and a larger scale - it just didn't have that special something that A Hat in Time was able to provide for me.
Charm is definitely one of A Hat In Time's greatest strengths. And games are weird in that different factors influence each other in subtle ways. This means a game can be technically better than another on paper, but lack something nebulous or difficult to define that makes another game special.
This game got me a partner, sick af game dude, hope gfb eventually try a 2D platformer
I wouldn't be surprised if there next project gets announced sometime soon, it's been a few years since we last heard anything big from them.
51:26 says Queen Vanessa's mansion when it says on the screen Queen Vanessa's manor
Yeah I slightly misname things in games more than I care to admit haha.
You can fight either the Conductor or DJ Grooves in Chapter 2
You can indeed. From what I understand the differences are mostly cosmetic. Although the Conductor wielding a knife feels very expected, comfortable even. There's something increasingly deranged about DJ Grooves whipping out a knife and screaming "I'll kill you darling!" But maybe that's just me.
good stuff :D
Thanks! :D
Pecking "Bob" 😭The Noodle man didn't deserve this
I respectfully disagree, he got everything that was coming to him. :P
+1 subscriber
Thanks!
I'll come back to this video after I complete the DLC
Funny video!
Thank you very much.
oh boy
3:42 there is air inside the spaceship, where you are
This entire video is invalid
Crap I didn't think of that.
1:21:36 I´m waiting for it!