Hauntii is the most bizarre twin-stick shooter that you will play in a lifetime and beyond. Reducing Moonloop Games’ work to such label would be doing it a disservice, though; this is the kind of adventure that is more of an experience than what your standard game design offers, a journey through an abstract minimalistic world with few words, where images and actions speak louder. There are puzzles to solve and an intricate haunt mechanic to possess parts of the environment and characters in a bid to ascend and to discover more of your past. But is it hauntingly addictive?
A Ghost Story
The short demo that we played gave us a good idea about the potential of Hauntii to reach cult hit status, revealing much of what it has in store while paradoxically leaving us with even more questions than when we started this adventure. This is as far as it could be from your traditional action game, skillfully blending genres in a way that sometimes defies explanation and shatters expectations.
Hauntii, our little ghost finds himself stuck in Eternity without any recollections or a new purpose, and must roam this surreal place to learn about his past and discover a way to ascend. Something that in only a few minutes seemed like a real prospect swiftly turns into disappointment, as his newfound friend, an Eternian, suddenly vanishes. This is the motto for a trip to the unknown and the ominous, roaming through places that are as mysterious as they can be creepy.
The hand-crafted world is filled with meaning, both hidden and in plain sight, and promptly moves beyond the fleeting idea of a game with quirky visual design but devoid of interest. It’s charming, touching, passionate, with a hauntingly beautiful soundtrack that hits hard precisely during the most poignant moments.
Walking in this otherworldly landscape isn’t the same as us, mortals, are used to do. The path isn’t entirely linear or obvious, requiring some attention to safely move around, often tasking you with crafting your own way. Straying farther from solid ground will make the music go increasingly creepy and the screen starts to fade into oblivion, taking one of your lives in the process.
Shooting works in two very different but complementary ways – one is for taking out the evil organisms that you find along the way, the other to possess a piece of the environment or a friendly creature. So far, Hauntii seems to strike an enjoyable balance between action and puzzle solving, with a pace that allows you to breathe between battles and endows you with more than enough time to wrap your head around the riddles.
Possessing something may be crucial to solve a puzzle, like those stone monuments right at the start of the adventure. Interactions may vary for each object and so do the results, being up to you to analyze the clues and reach the conclusion: is this a valuable option or am I just wasting time? Not everything is straightforward in this peculiar world filled with odd landscapes and eccentric inhabitants.
The purple droplets that you pick up from destroyed mushrooms and other parts of the scenery are your haunting fuel, so to speak; in other words, your ability to act while possessing something or someone is limited to the amount of these collectibles, encouraging you to find more if you want to continue experimenting with this remarkable and vital skill.
Eventually you’ll find other items to progress in the adventure. Some of these are used to build constellations, which will take you into different places to help connect the pieces from Hauntii’s past.
A Journey in the Afterlife
Hauntii is shaping up to be one interesting and offbeat indie game, a wild ride through a very different world with impressive artistic vision and unconventional gameplay mechanics. The short demo ended as we were starting to meet more denizens in this eerie place, finding more puzzles and possibilities to fully explore the potential of the haunting mechanic. The excitement was abruptly cut short and the only thing that remains is memories of the exquisite art style, emotional music, and the loose narrative that seems to be purportedly assembled to hide those secrets until the very end.
In other words, Hauntii may be something meaningful like Journey and other games where emotions abound, and the outcome may resonate more with some players than others. One thing is certain, we left it with a hauntingly positive impression and can’t wait to see more of this sinister and mysterious world.
MP1st was given access to a preview build of Hauntii for our hands-on session. Hauntii launches on 2024 for PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.