If it wasn’t clear by the name, your goal in A Short Hike is to climb to the top of a mountain. It’s a simple premise backed up by both streamlined and satisfying game mechanics which makes for an incredibly zen experience. The art style is gorgeous, the soundtrack captivating and the audio design is very clever. However, the attention to detail in this game is what really sets it apart. There is some fantastic writing, with a speedboat captain telling you about the current fantasy book he’s reading being a personal favourite of mine, several fun minigames and even quality of life features like being able to adjust the pixel size. In a similar vein, the traversal in this game is both fluid and rewarding. Climbing, gliding and boosting into the air provides plenty of possibilities for ascending up and around the mountain. There is scope for these mechanics to be utilised even more alongside more varied environmental design, but that being said this is still a tight, well paced experience. There is plenty to explore of the beaten track and many collectibles to uncover, though I did find the inventory management system to be cumbersome.

That being said, I couldn’t recommend A Short Hike enough. It’s incredibly easy to just switch your brain off and get lost in this gorgeous island and charming characters thanks to the care and meticulous detail which went into crafting this wonderful bite-sized experience.

2019 Ranked
Indie Recommendations

Rise puts the hunting element of Monster Hunter to the side and is an experience tailored to getting you to the next monster fight quickly. For those that loved the world building and sense of discovery that came with hunting mechanics in MH World, this may be disappointing, but personally I enjoyed the loop of prepping for fights at the village and then getting stuck in straight away to monster slaying. Rise has mechanics like the wirebugs which let you dash in the air and the rideable mounts which accelerate how quickly you can get to the next monster. Not to mention the mounts are very cute and the wirebugs add several layers to combat and exploration with their verticality and moveset. Wirebug attacks are slightly stronger attacks which have a cooldown timer, so making sure you don't waste these means waiting for the right opening to deal some serious damage against a monster.

The monsters themselves are as good as ever with enough monsters, new and old, to maintain variety throughout the length of the main campaign and the tower defence 'rampage' battles were a nice diversion, albeit a bit gimmicky. The campaign is well paced and new mechanics such as monster riding are good fun. Seeing monsters clash never gets old and hopping on the monster who loses the clash to deal some serious revenge damage is a blast. There are some new mechanics which feel pretty insignificant but nothing new really compromised the experience for me and there are some welcome quality of life improvements.

However, once again I don't care about the narrative, which is uninspired and not engaging. Moreover, this game still has too much going on which isn't explained in an accessible manner for newcomers. I appreciate the depth that Rise has, but with so much going on it's easy for players to just ignore or not understand all the systems available to them. Finally, the maps that you hunt monsters on are great, with some nice verticality, diversity and landmarks, though these still feel like a slight step back from what World delivered.

Regardless, Rise is my favourite monster hunter game (exluding expansions) to date. It's not as big a step forward as World, but it has a greater sense of identity. Whether that identity gels with you more than world will be personal preference, but I appreciated the quick feedback loop of fighting monsters and then prepping for the next fight, backed up by great traversal and combat additions.

2021 Ranked List
Monster Hunter Ranked List

Combining a 2D action platformer with a match-em puzzle game sounds like a gimmicky concept. However, believe me, UFO is the real deal. There is a tonne of depth to its systems, while still feeling very accessible, and trying to complete objectives to progress to the next stage is surprisingly challenging. Like all great roguelikes, it encourages experimentation, whether that be with purchasing and trialling different weapons and abilities, learning stages and their hazards or mastering the movement mechanics and maximising your combo multipliers. There are lots of moving parts to multitask and it is incredibly satisfying when everything comes together and your screen is flooded with stars as you reel in the points.

The gameplay loop is incredibly addictive as you always feel like the next objective is within your grasp. What’s more there is lots of polish to the experience, whether that be with elegantly designed hub UFO or unique ‘challenge’ levels which offer creative levels that break the rules of the main game, whether it be you dodging falling spikes without access to weapons or time trials to destroy a certain number of enemies. In general, I only have a few gripes with some unevenness in pacing and wishing they pushed the concepts here further with more wacky and creative stage designs. However, this is still an exceptional combination of two very saturated genres, with the output being a breath of fresh air.

2023 Ranked
Indie Recommendations