There is a hint option that doles out vague hints, but for the most part, you’re on your own. The puzzling is mostly illogical and downright frustrating, and whilst you can easily see the game through within an hour, without the aid of online walkthroughs you’ll spend a majority of your time wondering around aimlessly, trying to work out what you actually need to do.
When you aren’t hiding you’re completing puzzles, but this is where my biggest issue with Hide and Seek crops up it’s just not that fun. A majority of the time if you’re spotted you can just run until the AI forgets it’s even chasing you, because as soon as you’re out of his field of vision he usually returns to searching for you in the opposite direction. It’s these moments where the everything works as it should that make Hello Neighbour shine, but they’re few and far between as too often than not it doesn’t complete its quota. I expecting him to stutter and fall, but while it slowed him down for a second, he booted it back in my direction, throwing me off long enough for me to drop my guard resulting in my capture. As I ran I turned to see how close my brother was, launching a box I was holding to block him off. One noteworthy moment happened when the familiar tinkling of the chase music kicked in, signified that I’d been spotted, making me panic mid-puzzle to make my escape. When it’s good its terrifying, and the tense chases are genuinely horrible. The AI is one of the biggest draws in both titles, with the Neighbour and your brother having the ability to evolve as you play, setting traps and reacting to you when you’re spotted. These inaccuracies often lead to premature death, giving your AI brother a chance to gain the lead on you when he’s giving chase. Floaty mechanics make platforming difficult and it’s not uncommon to find yourself stuck between walls or have a much-needed item trapped in an inaccessible area. Texture pops and glitches are a common sight, but what’s more frustrating is the gameplay issues.
It’s not a particularly pretty game, but even by Switch standards it looks particularly gross and cutscenes aside, it looks more suited for mobile gaming rather than console release. There’s fantastic commitment to really nail the feeling of childhood whimsy, but unfortunately cracks begin to show rapidly with both visual and performance disturbances in abundance. The siblings adjust to each new environment too, to echo the adventure they’re acting out, for example in one particular level the brother appears as an officer trying to chase you down as you attempt to ‘steal’ money as a thief. Dusty deserts with giant birds, icy graveyards complete with zombies it’s a much bigger, elaborate experience and each area is genuinely interesting to explore.
The environments presented in the prequel are less confined and give more breathing space than in the previous title, with each map serving as a gateway into the children’s imagination. The atmosphere is well realised and despite the fact it looks cutesy enough the game harbours a sense of doom that spreads throughout each of its five distinct stages. As you progress more is revealed about the Neighbour and the dark goings on presented in the first game, and fans will appreciate how keen the developers are to give this seemingly run of the mill puzzler some depth. The game serves to give the first title a little more backstory, as this time you play as the titular Neighbours daughter Mya as her and her sibling play Hide and Seek throughout their childhood home. Hide and Seek serves as a prequel to last years Hello Neighbour and it’s pretty much more of the same you puzzle solve all whilst trying to avoid getting captured by a pursuing foe. Alas, it turns out I’m not the super sleuth I thought I was, but it wasn’t entirely down to my own shortcomings. Now, with turning thirty looming over me, I reckoned I could go toe to toe with stealth’s finest after all, Snake taught me the multifunctional diversity of cardboard boxes years ago. Easily spooked, too fidgety to keep quiet and hilariously bad at fitting into confined spaces, it’s safe to say as a kid I would have been pretty screwed in the Hello Neighbour universe. It’s probably been twenty years since I last played a game of Hide and Seek and I’ll admit, I was never very good at it.