Hatchwell

[h1]A [i]Zelda[/i] homage with an [i]Earthbound[/i] feel...[/h1] Although [i]Hatchwell[/i] is clearly an attempt to replicate the top-down feel of the older [i]Legend of Zelda[/i] titles, the characters, dialogue, music and story (graphics, too) all feel like they took something from [i]Earthbound[/i] as well. It isn't as good as any of the titles from which it derives, [i]Hatchwell[/i] is a fun romp in a very contained world that only barely outstays its welcome. The world is large, but constrained in ways that feel unfortunately artificial. There is a path early in the game that literally tells you that it is beyond where you can go in the game. In this respect, [i]Hatchwell[/i] makes you explore vertically into dungeons and caverns instead of expanding horizontally, making the town of Hatchwell your playground. Much of the world is gatekept by items in the familiar Zelda formula, and for the most part the items do fit with the game's theme. Exploring is also like opening up the worn pages of a beloved children's book, bombing cavern entrances and (once you are able) swimming to find new paths to treasure only previously visible but just out of reach. This is a indie love-letter to the games we enjoyed in the 90s. There are a few flaws that merit mentioning. Controls are a bit janky in that spikes and other deadly obstacles seem to have a hit box far too advantageous toward the game. You will lose more hearts to falling or getting pushed by spikes than you will the enemies. The dodge doesn't seem to have any iframes, which is fine in general but against some boss attacks feels unfair when trying to avoid numerous projectiles. These are minor issues in the grand scheme of things. My other complaint revolves around the story and length. I think the first 3/4ths of the game have a clear pattern and direction, but the last quarter is uninspired. I wondered if they ran out of ideas and ended up rushing to wrap things up. The story isn't anything to write home about in terms of complexity; it is about what you would expect (not that it needs to be) but it could use some polish as I felt like there were elements not explained. Characters don't really get any sort of closure and the story ends abruptly. There is no endgame content; you will start back before defeating the final boss on your save. The final couple of bosses are also sort of wishy-washy. Compared to earlier bosses in the game, the level of difficulty is minimal and the strategies simpler than what you needed against foes you faced when you were muddling through the midgame. I also was ready for the game to be done as it seemed like the last boss or two were there only to artificially extend the length of the game rather than for meaningful plot purposes. The biggest complaint? Menu navigation is atrocious. You don't have the ability to remap controls, and not all of the gamepad controls are used. Silly button sequences to get to the save menu are inexcusable (I can't just press start > save?!?). The UI never remembers your fullscreen selection, so the game always starts minimized which is irritating on my 4k display. Why in 2023 are these types of issues still common? I know the indie label can cover a multitude of sins, but this is the easy stuff that should be resolved without a second thought. In spite of these flaws, [i]Hatchwell[/i] does a good job at being a 90's Zelda-lite. You could do a whole lot worse at this price point. I would be interested in playing a sequel or something similar from this developer.

refunded because of the dungeon music

Really satisfying little dungeon crawler/puzzler that checks my number one box: It's cute. You can buy a ball to throw to your pet/familiar/friend. Just the right amount of challenge/puzzles/mazes, and tricky bosses.

Hatchwell is the kind of game that i adore. Adventure with RPG aspects and a lot things to collect. It surprise you from the start with cute character (and pet) creation tab. The combat and puzzle difficulty lvl is decent. Talking about dungeons they are well designed, somehow easy to get lost in but in the end you have map to navigate to make it easier to get on truck where to go. Between every dungeon there is always something to do in city and events that make the villagers more lively. It still have few things that needs fixing but the game really shows how much care and love author put into details (my biology knowledge striked in 4th dungeon). I recommend it for every person who wants good old zelda game experience. Except few minor/major bugs (that are getting fixed really fast when you report it) the game is GREAT.

Oynanışı, atmosferi Super Nintendo'daki Zelda'ya benziyor. Fiyatına göre gayet eğlenceli.

Couldn't get either of the gamepads I tried to use to work. Launching the game with a Nintendo Switch Pro Controller connected to my MacBook via Bluetooth caused the mouse cursor to go totally haywire (???). Launching the game with a classic SNES-style controller connected worked, but the D-pad was not recognized by the game as directional input; the game apparently expected and would only accept directional input from a joystick-style L stick. (I have successfully used both of these controllers to play various Steam games on this same computer in the past. For example, the Switch controller with Phoenotopia and with Hades; and the SNES-style controller with Dead Cells and with Axiom Verge.) I couldn't find any way within the game to remap/reassign controls (to try and map directional controls to the D-pad). Refunded.

Gameplay: https://youtu.be/bSpY3BdzmFM Jogo fofo e misterioso ! hehe Infelizmente não tem em português! :( Gostosinho pra quem curte 2D!

Cute little take on 2D Zelda!

Buon Zelda-like. Il vari dungeon sono molto fluidi e non ci sono bug. Forse l'unica pecca è la poca varietà di ambientazione.

Delightful.