Hoa

Hoa is a lavish visual feast with a lack of mechanics to match

A gorgeous, non-violent puzzle platformer with big Studio Ghibli vibes, Hoa is a brief but brilliant tale about the healing power of nature, and the cutest rhinoceros beetles you ever did see.

Face it, we all think that shrinking down and living amongst towering blades of grass and huge daisies is the best way to live. But what would being this size and living with the world actually entail? Who would we meet? What would we find? Luckily for us, Skrollcat Studios have brought this dream to life.

If you want a game to calm you down rather than rile you up, Skrollcat Studio believes they may have just the thing in their relaxing platformer, Hoa. Is this a short-and-sweet trip worth your time and a bit of your cash? Time to find out in our Hoa PS4 review.

Hoa is a peaceful experience that makes sure not to overstay its welcome. The environments are gorgeous, the gameplay is neat, and the soundtrack is captivating. More than anything, it makes me excited for what we’ll get from developer Skrollcat Studio down the road. It’s the perfect game to pick up and chill out with if you’re stressed, anxious, or just want a breath of fresh air.

Despite a non-existent and samey plot, Hoa offers a great, beautiful experience with tiny details that engulfed me into its world.

Similar to a light summer breeze, Hoa is meant to be a chill, low-stress experience. The plot is short and sweet, the gameplay and puzzling are entry-level, and the overall aesthetic is cute and charming. Be warned that the entire game can be completed in a single playthrough and doesn’t offer any replayability. However, if you’re in search of a beautiful experience that’ll warm your heart, Hoa isn’t a title to sleep on.

Let’s be honest – the world is a bit of a mess at the moment. Gaming for a lot of us is our refuge, our safe place, our haven away from the realness of this world that feels like we’ve woken up in a parallel universe ala’ Marty McFly in Back To The Future Part II. Playing Hoa, the new action-adventure puzzle platformer from Vietnamese devs Skrollcat Studios, filled me with the right kind of calmness I needed during lockdown. Its simplistic beauty made me remember how small things, lik...