HANA: Spacetime Fantasy
One of my absolute favorite PS4 games of all time was Lifeless Planet by Serenity Forge, which apparently has their headquarters just about an hour from me, in Boulder, Colorado. They had some concept art on display at the Denver Botanic Gardens once, and I felt lucky to see it. I’m pretty sure it made it onto our Favorite Games of the Decade podcast because it made me feel… things. And it was weird (complimentary). HANA: Spacetime Fantasy makes me feel things in the same way, and it might be even weirder (again: complimentary).
Originally released as two episodes on Itch.io, the Catalog version includes the whole game. There is a spot halfway through where it becomes more action-y versus a straight puzzle/exploration game, and I’m guessing that’s where the episodic break was. Unsure, though – I played the whole thing over a wild two days.
The most important thing I can say about this game was that I never had any idea where it was going. You’re a spaceman with your talkative AI spaceship, and you land on a planet to check it out instead of refueling and heading where you were supposed to (bad idea, surprise). Almost immediately after touching down, things get wonky. You occasionally find new items to help you advance, Metroidvania style, but it’s not a complicated game, either, and the world isn’t so huge that you get lost. It’s all about the story, which I don’t want to spoil for you.
What happened on this planet? Where is everyone? Why do these puzzles fit so well within the limitations of the Pulp engine? These are questions you get to answer while you wander around a lifeless planet with no friends besides your spaceship’s AI in your ear.
There were a few spots where I couldn’t quite tell what was a door and what was a wall, but that did nothing to get in the way of my enjoyment and sense of confused wonder. I do know this is the kind of game that just… doesn’t get made when you have a lot of people above you telling you what game to make. It’s rough, and strange, and doesn’t spell out everything for you (but it does explain enough to help you understand what you're doing and where you’re going and why). It’s one of those games that only an open ecosystem like the Playdate would allow. Highly recommended.