If Cocoon remains our indie favorite of the Summer Game Fest, Haunti represents the happy discovery that we want to follow closely. Very young English studio founded in March 2022, Moonloop Games takes us on the adventure of a spirit in a world similar to purgatory. In this place of waiting, the little spirit will go in search of its forgotten identity to hope to reach the heavens, after being turned back at the front door. To do this, our little ghost will have to cross different lands, fight monsters and possess all kinds of objects to progress. But all that matters little in the face of this god-fire artistic direction that Moonloop offers us.
Just for your eyes
The color palettes and visual style are utterly lovely and what seemed like in the first few minutes of getting started another indie game with a nice art direction is going to take on a whole new dimension when you see the staging. of our first death cinematic, captivating as can be. And to top it all off, we move on very quickly with our arrival in the huge city of spirits as we cross a bridge surrounded by a huge structure below, not to mention the superb music that accompanies this beautiful moment. A great first impression under the amused gaze of two members of the team who watch us play discreetly behind us.
Obviously, we are in the first minutes of play and it is a question of impressing us, but for a first game the Moonloop team is already showing a certain know-how. From what we are told, we will explore different worlds in search of memory fragments and each will have a different hue. After this high-level tutorial, we land in a forest with a sepia color. If the graphic style is a real pleasure, Haunti does not always put it very well in value. Even if there is a scenario explanation for this, we are only following small paths to reach more open areas and the rest of our screen is deep black which will lead to game over if we venture there too long. A clever way to hide the limitations of the game in its art direction, but that doesn’t always work.
Total possession
If things are much less daring on the side of the gameplay, we must also make the distinction between what we have seen and what we are promised. The movements are pleasant and our little mind is very mobile, but we regret a targeting system that is sometimes a little too sensitive and lacks precision against opponents smaller than us, especially when our projectiles (which represent our only offensive potential) are limited. and require a reload time. We pick up lots of different resources without really knowing what they are for and we are assured that a progression and improvement system will be implemented in the final game.
The real selling point of the gameplay ofHaunti, it is its capacity to be able to take possession of many objects during our exploration. We can become a pole to make it grow and fetch otherwise inaccessible resources, a tree that we will shake to drop bonuses, a lamp to light our way, a turret to destroy our enemies and obstacles or even statues to move to unlock our path. In short, the possibilities seem numerous and if certain possessions are anecdotal, others will be essential to progress, which inevitably makes you want to test the limits of what it is possible to possess or not.