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PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X have a plenty of reward over the Switch , but there ’s one advantage Nintendo never lose : games . While Sony and Microsoft battle to put out consistent exclusives , Nintendo always pull off to put outfairly mellow - tone gameson a monthly bases ( even if some late releases havefelt like filler ) . The fact that you’re able to only playSuper Mario Odysseyon a Nintendo cabinet will always be the company ’s ace in the hole .
Thankfully , enough developer have been influenced by Nintendo ’s design that it ’s not hard to find a great title that scratches the same itch as a Nintendo classic on competing platforms . Just look at games like thePikmin - inspiredTinykin . Xbox has been especially smart about seeking out games like that over the years and adding them to Xbox Game Pass . It ’s done that once again with one of its newest additions , the delightfulHauntii .
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Released last week on most major platforms and Game Pass , Hauntiiis a fashionable adventure biz about a slight spook on a quest to track down cryptical being know as Eternians . But before you dive into any of that , it ’s the art dash that ’s probable to catch your center . Hauntiifeatures a singular , hand - crafted world made up of pitch-black - and - clean squiggles . It ’s somewhere betweenGenesis NoirandBayonetta Origins : Cerveza and the Lost Demon — and it attend prominent . It uses that flair to craft an otherworldly adventure that name me feel like I ’m lost in the woods at night . It ’s both eerie and calm in the same breathing place .
While that might be enough to draw you in , it ’s the Nintendo - similar design that will really grab you . Hauntiiplays like a smaller take onSuper Mario Odyssey , successfully make for on several of its best feature of speech while adding some unclouded duplicate - joystick shooter combat . The essence lure is that player can possess a variety of objects , each of which has their own usance . Inhabiting a tree will let player shake out some currency , while jump into a ladybug will let them fly and climb . While nothing is as complex or visually silly asMario Odyssey‘s self-possession , that gameplay hook shot encourage players to try interacting with the surround as much as potential to learn its rule .
That alone would warrant a Mario comparison , but it ’s the potent collect - a - thon gameplay loop-the-loop that really seals the comparison . In each biome , players can collect stars that can be send in a constellation to pull in rise like wellness and focal ratio boosts . Those stars are hidden behind little result that player of course chance upon while explore . See a glowing tree diagram ? sample haunting it and you may find a star hidden within . Are those people pelt along each other ? jump off in and go through some basketball hoop to see a surreptitious star . It ’s a satisfying gameplay loop thatMario Odysseynailed ; chomp - sized activities like these make even the shortest geographic expedition Roger Huntington Sessions feel worthwhile .
That ’s not to say thatHauntiiis as dressed as a Nintendo plot . Though its art style is impress , it does make for some hard platforming thanks to some confusing nontextual matter and geometry that make it hard to visualise out where precisely you ’re standing . That slow - construction issue culminates in a late - game boss fight built around a spinning whirl that ’s so unmanageable to pilot that you might put down your control for good .
Even with that frustration , Hauntiireally captures the spirit of a good Nintendo game better than a lot of its compeer . It understands that an inviting digital macrocosm should feel like a playground or an amusement park ( coincidently , the adventure ’s ripe biome is exactly that ) . It ’s loaded with small attracter that players can bounce between quickly before any one idea gets old . It ’s a collection of delightful vignettes wrap up in one creepy cute adventure .
So sure enough , you ’ll probably never be able to playSuper Mario Odysseyon an Xbox . But that just means you have more time to try out creative indies like this that are build on Nintendo ’s groundwork with wonderful results .
Hauntiiis useable now for PS4 , PS5 , Xbox One , Xbox Series X / S , Nintendo Switch , and PC . It ’s also uncommitted throughXbox Game Pass .
