Avaliações

• gamedeal user

  Dec 2, 2021

  tl;dr

  Really fun, but buggy, dev already fixing it, go try it!

  Problem with the CreatorDLC

  Devs clearly put love into this

  First of all, if you're like me and feeling not so sure about the mixed reviews at the moment, don't let that affect you too much. Although I myself isn't a fan of the "launch broken, fix later" mentality, I believe this isn't the case here. This isn't a low effort cashgrab that we see too often in gaming scene nowadays. The new map is beautiful and well designed, the rewards you get from playing the game is well made, there are lots of game mechanics to shake things up. Point is, the team behind this CreatorDLC really put a lot of thought, time and effort into it, the bad reviews isn't because the devs don't care.

  Why the mixed review?

  So why are there so many bad reviews then? Well you see Hat in Time isn't really built for a multiplayer game of tag like this, online multiplayer is intended to be a fun little feature, but now it has to be as polished as possible to ensure the game feels fair. The team behind this CreatorDLC did what they could in private testing, but they probably did not realise how much more chaotic the game would be in public. In public, people will come online mid-game, people will quit mid-game, people will try to cheat, people will have unstable internet. No matter how you put it, this DLC is rough at launch, lots of bugs need to be ironed out, and understandably people are frustrated.

  Devs are already fixing issues

  If you're apprehensive about the rough launch, keep in mind that the devs are already hard at work fixing all the issues, the DLC as it stands right now is already a significant improvement compared to day 1. So this isn't a "dev says they're gonna fixing it, but then never fixed anything" scenario, cause they already fixed some bugs within a few days of the DLC's launch.

  Okok, so what's good about the DLC anyway?

  Of course, no amount of "devs put tons of effort into this y'know" would really matter if the DLC itself isn't any good. Although not everyone's cup of tea, Vanessa's Curse as a game mode can be scary, can be tense, can be heart pounding, and most importantly, can be really really fun! Moments of the game where you are being chased on all sides can be incredibly exhilarating. On the other hand it can be an incredible sight watching your whole team working together to bring down someone who's really good at the game. The game mode offers plenty of opportunities to outplay your opponent, and it feels satisfying when you managed to pull off some tight maneuver.

  The rules

  This DLC is similar to those infection game of tags, you have 2 teams, the taggers (cursed kids), and the runners (normal kids). each game start with a few taggers proportional to the size of players participating. Every runner that's caught by taggers are also converted to taggers. Taggers win if all runners are caught and turn to taggers. Runners win if they collect enough crowns scattered throughout the map (proportional to size of players) or if time runs out, which is about 5 minutes. As you can imagine, taggers start weak but gradually gain momentum as the game goes on. The crowns spawn in waves instead of all at once, so even fast group of runners usually can't just finish the game before taggers have a chance.

  The events

  There are 2 events that really shake things up during the game, the group reveal and the roulette. Usually runners only see the position of all the crowns and taggers only see the position of other taggers. The group reveal happens periodically and gives a period of time where everyone can see everyone else's position. Runners can see where taggers are coming from and taggers can find runners that are hiding around. Group reveal is usually immediately followed by a crown wave, giving runners a reason to stay on the move during this time. Roulette on the other hand, only happens once at the mid point of the game. It's a set of randomly selected buffs/debuffs/environment changes that usually benefits the losing team but sometimes benefits nobody. The roulette changes only have a set duration and the game revert to normal once the roulette event concludes.

  The map

  So far Vanessa's Curse only have 1 map, which doesn't sound impressive but the map is not only gorgeous but packed with tons of little gameplay details too. What the DLC lacks in quantity it made up for in quality, this mansion map that you'll spent most of the time playing in is surprisingly interconnected, along with many map elements that you can use to your advantage, ranging from balloons you can use to get somewhere, to dweller bells you can ring to block opponents. Whenever you slow down to look at the map in detail, you'll often discover shortcuts, hiding place or contraptions that you didn't know is there before. In my opinion this speaks volumes to how complex the map is. On top of all that, the map scales with the number of players playing the map too. The more player are playing the map, the more area that is unlocked for player to explore, which means the map isn't too exhausting to search through when there aren't many players playing, and when there are lots of players, it can be exciting to explore areas you might not have fully explored.

  The strategies involved

  All this long winded description is really me trying to say that a lot of thoughts have been put into this game mode. Every game have moments of quiet and moments of frantic running. You can hide around the map or be constantly on the move, focus on collecting crowns or waiting the time out, relentlessly chase behind a runner or try to cut them off ahead. There isn't just 1 playstyle you have to adopt, leave you room to decide how you want to play. The map design compliments well the good movement that Hat in Time already has, and the fact that this is a 3D platformer. The map isn't just flat, there are pillars to land on, tunnels to dive into, platforms to climb up to. So even closing in on someone or running away can involve some thinking, and not just holding down the sprint button. Putting all of this together is how you get heart pounding moments that I mentioned earlier, being one of the last few runners alive running for your dear life is one of the few instances where no matter I win or lose, I still had a blast. Hopefully I've convinced you that this game of tag is so much more than just running around in circles with someone chasing you. Being good at this game requires a good mastery of Hat in Time's movement, and being good at this game means you have to be devious and quick thinking on your feet.

  So what's the takeaway after this huge wall of text?

  If you would rather not support the idea of DLC or elevated paid mod like Vanessa's Curse, fair enough. If you are not into multiplayer game mode in a 3D platformer, fair enough. But if you have any interest in this CreatorDLC, hopefully I have done a decent job at recommending you to give this a try despite it's flaws. The reason why I even wrote this review is because I didn't think much of Vanessa's Curse at first but are pleasantly surprised at how much fun I've been having. Of course it would be nice to support the modders who developed this DLC so more modders are inspired to create ambitious expansions for Hat in Time. But I believe at the price tag at the time of writing this, Vanessa's Curse is more than capable of standing on it's own merit.
• gamedeal user

  Oct 8, 2022

  all those reviews you see about the dlc being "buggy" are outdated, its actually pretty polished now. The only problem is that it might be hard-ish to find a group to play with and the manor is quite small but other than that, pretty good
• gamedeal user

  Dec 5, 2021

  That's good, but i want a solo story DLC
• gamedeal user

  Nov 29, 2021

  UPDATE: Public lobbies tend to be a lot more stable than not. I'm changing my review to reflect this. However, games are still buggy, the balance is incredibly off (with the vast majority of games heavily slanted in favor for Vanessa's puppets) and nearly every single game has lasted for less than five minutes with the puppets always winning. The "all eyes" debuff that shows the locations of everyone occurs way too frequently and lasts way too long; Vanessa's minions can obtain buffs that benefit them when they're already winning by a landslide. I want to like this expansion. It has a lot going for it, but the longer I've been playing the more I realize the core balance is not good. If you are only going to join and play in public lobbies do not buy this. I can only really recommend if you have a group of friends to play this with. Because as it stands, it's not fun otherwise. ========= I really hate giving this creator dlc a negative review, but as it stands it is simply unplayable in its current state. The concept of mod creators having the ability to release mini expansions is a novel and amazing concept. However, Vanessa's curse is IMPOSSIBLE to play at the time of writing this review. In the few hours I've played I've only had ONE normal game that didn't have game breaking issues. The other dozens upon dozens were filled with bugs, hackers, and matches that legit lasted less than a minute.
• gamedeal user

  Nov 28, 2021

  This DLC is literally unplayable at the moment, wouldn't buy until its fixed (PUBLIC PLAY). Playing with friends in private lobbies works fine. Playing in public lobbies was terrible with so many glitches and bugs. Games would restart for no reason and collecting one crown would give you over 6000 points worth of stars, letting you get literally every cosmetic in the DLC. Did I mention that even if a game starts you get kicked after about 10 seconds? I also saw James May sniffing Samus so if you're into that buy it I guess. I give 10/10 bungle points. If this gets fixed (Which it will), I will happily update my review to positive, I like the game. Much like, big wow.
• gamedeal user

  Jan 4, 2022

  the DLC is fixed and playable now! its very fun! even if youre not into PVP stuff its still nice that this game is getting DLC after all these years :)
• gamedeal user

  Nov 28, 2021

  Something went astronomically wrong with this DLC and ive only been able to play four-ish normal-ish rounds amidst around 25 buggy messes with people getting infected in the lobby, ending early for no reason, etc. wait for patches, the normal rounds that were there were pretty good i guess (edit: i played more rounds and my numbers have been adjusted accordingly)
• gamedeal user

  Nov 28, 2021

  I've heard of bad Day one releases... but this rivals No Man's Sky in terms of a poor first impression. Bugs EVERYWHERE, one of the worst lobby systems I've ever seen, hackers are ALREADY instantly winning games with existing codes... And that's if you can even get into a game to begin with. This needed at LEAST 2 more months development and a public beta or two before releasing... This is honestly so depressing...
• gamedeal user

  Nov 29, 2021

  I love A Hat in Time, but it simply cannot support realtime online multiplayer. As a result, this DLC just sucks, on top of other grips: - There is no indication on how to play the DLC once you get into the game. They just assume you know you have to use the TV in the Hub to access it. Mind you, prior to this DLC, that TV was purely just a gag interactable that served no purpose other than a silly joke. - Once you get into the DLC Hub, the opening cinematic is janky as all hell. The level of polish you'd find in the regular base game cinematics, and the other subsequent DLC, are not present here. - Getting into a game is just a mess. There is a room and party system, but it is weakly explained and simply unintuitive. They have a sign that says 'you can join party rooms tag1, tag2, tag3, tag4' but it isn't clear how you do it. Turns out you have to go to the online settings and type the party name to join it. Its like playing a mystery game. There is no room/party browser. - There is little to no UI to explain what of anything that is happening within the room, that you'd expect in any standard multiplayer game. - If you join a game, there is no simple way to just, back out and leave. You have to exit to the Main Hub, then go back to the DLC Hub. Example: I joined the waiting area so i can join the next match. No one was coming because I wasn't in a popular room. So I was suck in that zone. There was no way to exit. - Finally, the game itself is just laggy. All other players stutter-step and rubberband with their movement. I joined a game, then before I even realised it started, particle explosions started happening out of nowhere and apparently half my team was already infected by somebody that I couldn't see through all the smoke and stars. Beyond that, there was just a big empty mansion to walk around in, until I, for some reason, was despawned and stuck spectating some other person. There is no "waiting for the next game". No information on what is happening and why on a moment-to-moment basis. I played again just to give it another chance, and it happened again. It was as if the game took my soul out of my character and put it in someone else's. I even followed them around after the game, watching them spend points at the shop. I couldn't find any button or command to get me back to normal. This DLC just flat-out sucks...
• gamedeal user

  Dec 19, 2021

  dont care + didnt ask + bugs are fixed + fun dlc + ratio