Recent reviews by Popthiccle

Fun game with friends and/or strangers, but

[FAILED TO JOIN ROOM]
Game does not exist

Oh my god, this game is so good.

My review: buy it. Pick it up on sale or whatever, but buy it. It's totally worth it.

Rock and stone.

An extremely fun little game.

Hey VRChat, if you want people to stop installing QOL mods, how about you actually give VRChat Plus some value and do what the mods do, but better? Instead it's just "Nope, screw you for wanting to be able to teleport to our friends and save more than 100 avatars. That'll be $10 a month, please."

Game is buggy and frustrating.

A buggy, broken, horrid mess of bought assets mangled into a subpar survival "game." Balance does not exist in this game, and you WILL die and lose everything to a group of roaming T-Rexes--if you don't fall through the ground first.

Absolutely stay away from this game.

EDIT: Tried playing again, and yeah, it's all terrible. If I could refund this game I would.

Don't buy it unless you like lining the pockets of the Chinese Communist Party.

PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE BUYING THE GAME!

TemTem is NOT the "Pokemon Killer" some would have you believe. I was excited for it to release, but I will be refunding the game as soon as I am done creating this review.

When I first started the game, I was greeted by a queue, where I was #98540 in line to get in. I get it, it's early access on the day of release, but the wait times just to get in are terrible. I waited over 40 minutes before I was disconnected, and had to re-queue.

When I FINALLY got into the game, I got to make my character. The character creator is fairly limited, but it gets the job done. I'm sure if I got further into the game, there would be more clothing and hair options... If I could actually finish my character. It took me THREE WHOLE ATTEMPTS to create a character due to me getting booted out while I'm making them, have to re-queue AGAIN (for around 30+ minutes), and then try again.

Another issue is the naming system. I get that it's an MMO that's always online, so people can't have the same names. That being said, it's nearly impossible to find a common name of any kind without putting random numbers or letters thrown in. What's wrong with using your Steam name? The entire system is more complicated than it needs to be.

Now on the the worst part of the entire game, and the main reason for this review: the load times. Between finally finishing my character, leaving my house, getting my starter, and getting into my first battle, it took TWENTY MINUTES. TWENTY. That's not even counting the time it took to load the battle itself, which took 44 seconds of staring at a black screen, wondering if my game crashed or not. Once I finally got into the battle, simply PICKING AN ATTACK was like pulling teeth. Targeting an enemy Tem took around 11-20 seconds each time--hardly the thrilling battle I was promised. Battles became a chore that stopped me from exploring entirely. This is not a game you can pick up and put down on the fly.

I was very excited for this title to release, because I was hoping I would finally have something to play that isn't Pokemon Sword or Shield, since they've shown that they clearly don't care. But at least THEIR game is playable. I have a gaming laptop that can run Skyrim on max settings, and yet TemTem chugs on low settings, native resolution, and borderless windowed mode. The game as it is now is simply unacceptable.

My rating: 2/10 - The game looks fun and has some fun visuals, but you need to dedicate an entire hour to getting past the title screen.

EDIT: Since I played more than 2 hours of the game (by waiting in queues and loading screens and remaking my character several times), I am no longer eligible to refund the game. Brilliant strategy, Crema.

(This message also added as a thread on the Discussion board.)

EDIT: This review says I have 0.0 hours on record. I can assure you, I have played this more than I would like.

If you've read any of my reviews for other games, you would know that A Hat in Time one of my favorites. That being said, I think that the added content for this game is not only absurdly difficult, but also poorly implemented.

I got the "Seal the Deal" DLC on the day that it first released, for free. I was super excited to try it out, so the first thing I do is go to the Snatcher, who is now sitting at the edge of my pillow fort. I talk to him, and he sends me on a few missions. He said it would be hard, but I didn't know HOW hard. "Whatever, I'm game", I thought.

I was utterly FLABBERGASTED at the difficulty of some of these challenges. The VERY FIRST mission was hard enough, but with enough tries (and eventually easy mode, after I died enough), I managed to beat it. I didn't get any of the bonuses, but I beat it. The next mission entitled "So You're Back From Outer Space" was SOMEWHAT easier, but again, the bonuses are next to impossible to obtain. Once again, I activate easy mode to change the 65 second time limit to 3 minutes... Unfortunately, I don't think anyone told the game itself that, because every time I get to the 1:05 mark on my timer, it says I failed the bonus.

Although the last two challenges were bafflingly difficult, they both pale in comparison to the next mission I did: refighting the Mafia Boss. I was in actual shock at just how difficult this boss fight is. Not only is it difficult, but it is E X T R E M E L Y L O N G A N D D R A W N O U T. With easy mode enabled (after dying a dozen times within the first minute), I finally managed to beat him... After waiting about 5 minutes for the fight to end. Seriously, if anyone can keep up with this guy and not get hit for 5 whole minutes, I will personally start bowing to them as a god. This is the kind of thing that feels like you NEED tool assistance to get frame-perfect input to beat this.

On top on the difficulty is the amount of glitches and poor implementation that plagues this expansion. It honestly seems like there was zero testing done with this, and it was just shipped out haphazardly to please the masses clamoring for an add-on to this wonderful game--myself included. Even so, I would gladly wait another YEAR to recieve this DLC if it meant that all of my gripes with this expansion were alleviated.

Gears for Breakfast, we understand. Some have called out "A Hat in Time" for being "too easy", and this DLC is your answer to that. With that being said, having an easy main game and a stupid, grossly difficult side mode does not balance this grade out. Consider a different sort of "challenges"; ones that can actually be completed. And if you still want your unbelievablly tedious and neigh-impossible challenges in, consider making easier versions for those of us who don't want to give themselves an aneurysm attempting to beat the unbeatable? I mean ACTUAL easier ones, not just an "easy mode" that gives you an extra few seconds on a timer (after mocking you for using it).

Oh, the seals were cute though. Great job on the seals. Everything else is rubbish.

I have played a LOT of platforming games in my day, with Super Mario 64, Banjo-Kazooie/Tooie, and Sonic Adventure being some of the staples I grew up on. A Hat in Time recaptures this sweet era of gaming... If not for a breif moment.

I picked up A Hat in Time JUST after I had finished refunding Yooka-Laylee for it's awful movement and controls, among other things (as well as getting the taste out of my mouth). However, unlike the former game, I was not met with what appeared to be a soulless game birthed out of a necessity, but a fun and charming recapturization of my past platforming fun. It's full of tight gameplay, fun and replayable levels, and most importantly: oodles of collectables. Not to mention the fact that this game just OOZES charm wherever you look--you can really tell that the developers poured their souls into making this game.

Now for the bad bits... I played and beat the story in 13 hours total, PLUS an additional 2 hours to 100% all three of the main levels. If you have nothing to do for a full day, you can beat this game before dinner if you wake up at a decent time. I was by no means speedrunning either; I wouldn't dare skip a character's dialogue or overlook a small detail that was hidden with such care. Without going into any spoiler-territory, the actual ending of the game was a bit lacking, and the end-game cutscene's premise overdone (yet still giving me an uneasy, deep sadness). I REALLY hope that the "ending" is addressed in the newly announced DLC for this game, "Seal the Deal".

If you want a fun platformer with a cute protagonist, loveable npcs, and solid tried-and-true gameplay, then this game is for you. However, the length may be an issue for those of you looking for a deeply-engaging experience. Simply put: A Hat in Time was an extremely pleasant experience that gave me four plates of delectable appetizers, and then handed me the bill before I could get to the main course--it left me wanting more. SOOOO much more.

Final "Score"
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8.8/10

+ Solid Gameplay
+ Fun visuals
- Way too short