Hauntii

As I left last year’s Gamescom, Hauntii was one of the games that left the biggest impression on me. It looked gorgeous and sounded even better. The story set up an interesting little premise, and the gameplay had enough interesting things going on to stand out amongst the masses. As such, I was more than happy to choose Hauntii, the twin-stick adventure game developed by Moonloop Games LLC and published by Firestoke, out of the sea of game releases this May to finally get my hands on the full version of the game that left quite an impression last year.

A puzzler and twinstick shooter that's just as pretty to discover as it is to look at. There's a hint of Super Mario Odyssey in there, too, if you're into that.

Hauntii is an adorable and rather unique little game where you play as a ghost exploring the afterlife and regaining your memories in order to ascend. Centered around a quirky object possession mechanic making virtually every enemy and object an element of experimentation, the game’s gorgeous presentation makes it effortlessly enchanting, despite some potential areas of improvement on the gameplay front.

While its lacking narrative and world-building comes off a missed opportunity that, despite momentary hints, never properly materializes, Hauntii and Moonloop Games' admiration and understanding of collectathon-styled adventures is what keeps this latest journey through the afterlife feeling anything but lifeless. The two-tone aesthetic and use of light-and-dark contrast, specifically in the context of level design, is where the game is at its most cleverly-orchestrated. Despite its minimalist appearance, this is a game whose subtle suggestions to maybe venture off the beaten path now and agai...

Hauntii has some flaws, but it's short enough with enough unique ideas that I'd say it's worth experiencing. The opening alone is a brilliant example of the type of artistic expression that games are capable of producing. Even if the majority of the rest of the game doesn't quite hit its lofty heights, it's still an enjoyable way to pass a weekend.

Hauntii is so beautiful that it's heartbreaking not to be able to recommend it right now. We can tell that it's made with love, but love isn't enough to overlook its flaws. We hope that the developers manage to fix the issues in the long term, because underneath them is something truly magical – but for now, it's just a ghost of what it could be.