Hauntii Review – A Calming Spirit Adventure

Hauntii is an indie adventure video game developed by Moonloop Games and published by Firestoke. It is the debut title from Moonloop Games that includes a classic collectathon-inspired approach with an asymmetric camera angle over the main protagonist. With the collective genres of collectathon mixed with adventure and action, you probably think of a game like Super Mario Odyssey. Well, Hauntii is also focused on the same genres but unlike the platformers, it stays to the ground to let players explore the realm as they progress through the story.

Story

You play as Hauntii, a Ghost Spirit woke in the world of ghosts in search of memories to find out what happened to them. The memories are obtained by the stars scattered around the realm of ghosts. Upon finding enough stars to unlock the memories, a guardian angel will help Hauntii step into another realm to find more locked memories of their past. With each memory unlocked, a cutscene will play which indicates the progression of the main story.

Gameplay

Waking up in the world of ghosts will take you across the big forests of giant mushrooms and largely scaled cities where you will see a bright and dark pattern. Venturing along the bright pattern will keep you safe whereas, going over to the dark side will kill you and restart at the previous checkpoint.

As you explore the realms, you will come across the glowing stars. These stars can be found both out in the open as well as by solving puzzles. Each puzzle requires almost a unique solution making you work for it. Picking up the stars will allow you to make them into constellations which then unlocks the memories for you and allows you to progress ahead in the game.

However, the constellations are not only for unlocking the memories but they are also used for strengthening the character like an RPG. Hauntii has three main attributes that can be enhanced using the constellations: Heart, Dash, and Essence. The heart is mainly the Health of Hauntii whereas, the Dash and the Essence are their abilities. You can use the Dash ability to dodge the AOE attacks of the enemies in combat and use the Essence to shoot at the enemies.

It is a very creative way of enhancing the use of an item/collectible that is mainly required for story progression. As unlocking memories does not require all stars to be found, players can certainly find each star in every realm to strengthen Hauntii.

Furthermore, Hauntii has a special ability to haunt the items in the environment. It will allow Hauntii to turn into various forms like becoming a Lady Bug to fly around, becoming a tree to drop items, and much more. There are several possibilities for the Haunting ability and it allows players to come up with unique approaches during both exploration and combat.

Moreover, there are two currencies in Hauntii that players will gather throughout the adventure. These can be used to either buy stars from the shops or hats from every checkpoint of the game. The hats are the only cosmetics option in the game and it surely does add some sort of character customization to the game.

Alongside all the exploration, solving puzzles, and taking out the enemies, you can also have a little relaxation time by helping out the characters in various areas throughout the game. You might think it is a side content but the characters can provide you with an additional star as a reward. Moreover, there are also mini-games in which you can participate to earn the currencies.

Sound & Visuals

Although the game doesn’t include any voiced dialogues, the actual sound design of the game is brilliant. The sounds of the characters and the world itself are designed beautifully, whereas, the music is where it shines the most. The piano and the orchestra music as you explore the world to find the memories keeps you engaged throughout.

The visuals of Hauntii are crafted very brilliantly. The hand-drawn characters and the world design fit perfectly with the calming and soothing music in the background. Furthermore, as you progress in the realm, the camera angle will change to a much wider angle showing you the beautifully designed world.

Verdict – Score 8/10

Hauntii does a fine job of providing a calm adventure through the beautiful world of ghosts with several puzzles along the way. Despite the drag on the story with the star system to reveal the story, it does stand within the collectathon genre and provide what it is intended to do. However, combat could use some more abilities or a bit of fast-paced combat could have a better effect on the gameplay, but it is understandable for a slow-paced and calming adventure.

Hauntii is now available on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PC, and Nintendo Switch.

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