I remember the dev writing a really moving post about the influences for this game on the metroidvania subreddit. I guess this and islets will both be day one purchases, gotta support devs that truly love the genre
Seriously, more people need to know about this game it's so good. Beautiful animation, solid platforming, fun combat and loads to explore. Almost gives me batman-ish vibes but I don't know why, maybe because everything is dark and rainy with bits of neon lighting and the main character has a cape
By the way, the developers said that Haak means "black" from the Kwantung dialect. As they themselves say, the game is so called because of the predominant black color in the game. And it's funny that the main character is also slightly swarthy.
Big fan of the visuals with the 16 bit art style. Some nice touches in the background. Blasphemous has that Soulsbourne theme down but I think this has something a bit unique/refreshing to the genre.
I'll probably wait for the patch before purchase but I'm glad to hear that other than that it''s a well done game. I loved the art style when I first saw it and put it on my wish list. Definitely looking forward to playing this.
Check out the other Metroidvania ISlet which came out yesterday --> ruclips.net/video/faF5cf4nx1U/видео.html - Which one tickles your fancy more!? Mark
I am surprised and shocked for the first time I sent you a review request you guys have done it. Anyone on RUclips have fulfilled my request, you are supper man or Iron Man as you do read the comments which your subscriber write and take them seriously, simply awesome of you, huge thumbs up to you guys awesome you are. You guys made my day.👍😊🎉
This looks like a mark of the ninja copy to some degree from the gameplay and even stage pieces. Not that this one doesn’t have its own flare and narrative but if you haven’t picked up MOTN I’d suggest that one.
I'm all out of clever comments for the week so I'll just leave it at this: in a genre with such heavy hitters, its a very nice surprise to find two in such quick succession that offer such balance and overall enjoyment. I am torn as to which I'm going to play first but this one definitely deserves some of my attention.
im not usually into games like these- but as usual you've convinced me to get it on a sale or something-- URRGHH YOU GUYS ARE A HORRIBLE INFLUENCE ON MY PURSE!
Whoa, I’m late to this review but the upgrades throughout the game sounds awesome. Wishlist it is 👌🏽 (hopefully visual glitches are better once I pick it up)
What a great week for metroidvania fans such as myself. As i picked Islets and really enjoying, i think i'll wait for a small discount on this one. I like the design a lot and the overall aesthetic. Just wondering if the enviroments change as you progress , or is it mostly warehouses and city streets? Thanks for the review as always.
@Babe No Switch up has a review up. I'm halfway through the game. If you set difficulty on hard it's a nice challenge. The character feels great to control, especially when you get the wall jump and some upgrades, the movement is extremely fluid. Also the arrows are as useful as the sword so it's super fun to use both when fighting a boss. I highly recommend the game.
Man between kingdoms of Amalur and XC3, I don't know where I'll be able to squeeze these two metroidvania masterpieces in. But I'll definitely find some room. Lol
I agree that the existence of Hollow Knight is almost unfair to every new metroidvania game. It's certainly gatekeeping me from making any purchase, haha. This game went on my wishlist. Hopefully when I finish Hollow Knight, this would be patched.
I'm enjoying Islets right now, but the simple, sparse visuals take a bit away from the immersion (similar to their previous game Sheepo, which I also enjoyed but I tended to watch TV while playing it). This game looks better in that respect. More important, it's a metroidvania that doesn't suck, so I'll probably get it. ...I'd also like to go back to Souldiers, which I'm something like 70% through, but it really needs yet another patch to address the random crashes during saving and loading.
Interested to hear what they choose! People have been loving Islets over at the Metroidvania Reddit sub. It’s a good game, but the movement is very floaty so keep that in mind. This has been a big negative for me as it just makes the game feel cheap, but other people don’t seem to mind it. HAAK looks more my speed, excited to try it out
I really like the art style here, but I think it'll be going into the wishlist as Islet seems to fit my mood better at the moment. P.s. you say spiderman, ninja and grapplehook; I say batman 😉
What was the name of that game for the Mega Drive where you where a ninja and chucked food items at people or it was set in a cake based world. Reminds me of that. Was out about the same time as James Pond.
Nice review, but I am of the opposite opinion on the "pausing to allow more precision". It looks like it kills the flow of the game, so it's a pass from me.
Here we go again, for the trillionth time... "game looks awesome, I'll wait for the patch." Seriously though, I will buy the game once it's patched. I'm done buying games hoping for a patch to come sometime afterwards.
@Babe No It's fine that you like it, or anyone for that matter, but it's all people talk about. It overshadows other games, and the fandom always bashes anything that comes remotely close to it, like crowsworn or haiku the robot. People act like it's the only great game out there
@Babe No not you specifically but i see a lot of HK fans complain and bash other games. Just recently i played darkest tales, which was a fun and well made game. When i finished it i went to check out the store page and saw only 65% positive. I checked the negative reviews and half of them were people with HK profile pictures bashing the game unjustly. I see this a lot, even with haiku which was a fine game even if it did take a lot of inspiration
Yeah this one was promising, looking good, now looks like it's a buy! On another subject : What happened to The Indie Gaming Guild? Did Geoffrey delete his channel? If I remember well you were pals so maybe you know something about that sudden total vanishing... Thank you.
The first thing that jumped out at me about this game was the idea that the protagonist was some kind of superhero - the hood / cape, and the footage of him levitating and glowing before sending out shockwaves of electricity. That - combined with the graphical style (very shocked to hear you could *lower* the resolution) - makes this a no for me.
I can't imagine a worse punishment for death in a game than it making things easier for you. That's basically the game telling you, "well I guess you suck so much that you can't play the baseline difficulty of our game. So we're going to make you play baby mode." Must feel likes shit.
1:48 Mark why would you leave us hanging with such a cliffhanger of a dialogue choice... now we gotta pirate the game to see what the game says if we profess to be sailing the seven seas plundering and shanty-ing!! J/k
So I bought Aspire because you guys talked about it in an upcoming games video and it looked really good, then you NEVER followed up with a review! The FPS in that game makes it unplayable, even after patches. Since you brought it up, you SHOULD have mentioned the FPS in a separate video. This game has FPS issues? HARD PASS for me. Stop trying to sell me broken games.
Oh dear, that’s not good mate. I don’t want to “sell” you anything just talk about games. I’ll ping the developers and ask when a fix is coming if you’d like? Mark
@@SwitchUpYt thanks for the reply man. Watched ALL your videos since the start, even when you still showed your face. I must have bought over 100 games on Switch due to your recommendations, most of them great matches for me. But lately it feels like you're really promoting some games because some developer asked you to. Feels like you're selling stuff, sometimes, instead of just talking about what you actually liked.
@@fredbk6858 Oh but it's an opinion, One I don't agree with. Didn't Mark say the visual art style was great? I don't know why you think it looks amateur. Because to me it doesn't
@@SwitchUpYt Yes you are right Mark. Some folk make the assumption that certain games are dark because the art or graphics are poor or the devs are lazy. To me it's obviously a stylistic choice, keeping with the tone of the game.
Two Metroidvanias back to back? My wallet says yes, my wife says...well...let's find out
🤣🤣🤣
Brilliant!
😂 hilarious
😂😂
@Travis Smith Sorry, I don't get the joke. Can you explain it to me?
This is the first and only review I've found of Haak, so far. Nothing else anywhere.
Hopefully it’s the only one you need! 😂
I love it when you guys review indie games
reminds me of the time eastward, tails of iron and death's door were reviewed in a short span of time
Yeah, they’re very often the real gems these days! Mark
I remember the dev writing a really moving post about the influences for this game on the metroidvania subreddit. I guess this and islets will both be day one purchases, gotta support devs that truly love the genre
Thank you
Seriously, more people need to know about this game it's so good.
Beautiful animation, solid platforming, fun combat and loads to explore. Almost gives me batman-ish vibes but I don't know why, maybe because everything is dark and rainy with bits of neon lighting and the main character has a cape
By the way, the developers said that Haak means "black" from the Kwantung dialect. As they themselves say, the game is so called because of the predominant black color in the game. And it's funny that the main character is also slightly swarthy.
The visible weight, effort, and speed in the movement animations is SO good.
Glad this is reviewing well! Just picked this up yesterday and I’m excited to try it out!
Okay so if you HAD to choose, SwitchUp, which one of these two metroidvanias would you recommend more?
I asked the same question 😂
This one
Big fan of the visuals with the 16 bit art style. Some nice touches in the background. Blasphemous has that Soulsbourne theme down but I think this has something a bit unique/refreshing to the genre.
Love the visuals and the mood of it all. Might have to pick this one up. Thanks SwitchUp!
I'll probably wait for the patch before purchase but I'm glad to hear that other than that it''s a well done game. I loved the art style when I first saw it and put it on my wish list. Definitely looking forward to playing this.
Check out the other Metroidvania ISlet which came out yesterday --> ruclips.net/video/faF5cf4nx1U/видео.html - Which one tickles your fancy more!? Mark
Will you Crack the Code? Or will you find that you just can’t Haak it? Let’s find out!
Got there in the end! Great game, thanks Mark!
@@GrinningWolfGames nice one mate
@@kaidorade1317 haak haak haak - good one as always! Mark
Fun fact: in Dutch haak means hook. This looks great!
And black in Cantonese
@@GrinningWolfGames Haha I was going to say this too
I am surprised and shocked for the first time I sent you a review request you guys have done it. Anyone on RUclips have fulfilled my request, you are supper man or Iron Man as you do read the comments which your subscriber write and take them seriously, simply awesome of you, huge thumbs up to you guys awesome you are. You guys made my day.👍😊🎉
You’re most welcome mate, just got you brother! Mark
Great review. I've been craving some 2D action so this is on my wishlist.
This looks like a mark of the ninja copy to some degree from the gameplay and even stage pieces. Not that this one doesn’t have its own flare and narrative but if you haven’t picked up MOTN I’d suggest that one.
I'm all out of clever comments for the week so I'll just leave it at this: in a genre with such heavy hitters, its a very nice surprise to find two in such quick succession that offer such balance and overall enjoyment. I am torn as to which I'm going to play first but this one definitely deserves some of my attention.
Looks fun! Love your channel!
Looking up a review for this game, getting a SwitchUp review. I knew you had my back !!!
Sounds interesting but it's a shame to hear about the bugs. I'll probably wait for a patch or a sale.
Yeah it’s just that frame rate randomly which you can fix with a little tweak
thumbs up to whomever it is that sets release time.
I actually got to start playing this at 5am today. good
game so far.
im not usually into games like these- but as usual you've convinced me to get it on a sale or something-- URRGHH YOU GUYS ARE A HORRIBLE INFLUENCE ON MY PURSE!
😂 You’ll thank us later…maybe 😂
It's 2023 and I accidentally found this game but I am bummed that it is not available in console. I really wanted to play this one.
Switch is coming out.
The graphics and animation in this are incredible!
Whoa, I’m late to this review but the upgrades throughout the game sounds awesome. Wishlist it is 👌🏽 (hopefully visual glitches are better once I pick it up)
Wow I love indie games so much it keeps the switch alive I’m going to be collecting them all 🤩
We are being spoilt with reviews! Thanks so much ^_^
What a great week for metroidvania fans such as myself. As i picked Islets and really enjoying, i think i'll wait for a small discount on this one.
I like the design a lot and the overall aesthetic. Just wondering if the enviroments change as you progress , or is it mostly warehouses and city streets? Thanks for the review as always.
@Babe No Switch up has a review up. I'm halfway through the game. If you set difficulty on hard it's a nice challenge. The character feels great to control, especially when you get the wall jump and some upgrades, the movement is extremely fluid. Also the arrows are as useful as the sword so it's super fun to use both when fighting a boss. I highly recommend the game.
This and Islet. I'll take both. Please and thank you.
WHAT A SURPRISE!! HAAK IS ONE OF MY FAVORITE METROIDVANIAS!!! Waaaaaay better than Hollow Knight
Really good game
@@SwitchUpYt the unfortunate thing is that it lags at certain parts, would you know who we could report this too?
@@enoa9692 Hello, you can report things on HAAK's discord, thanks!
Man between kingdoms of Amalur and XC3, I don't know where I'll be able to squeeze these two metroidvania masterpieces in. But I'll definitely find some room. Lol
Its not metroidvania masterpiece 🤔
I agree that the existence of Hollow Knight is almost unfair to every new metroidvania game. It's certainly gatekeeping me from making any purchase, haha. This game went on my wishlist. Hopefully when I finish Hollow Knight, this would be patched.
Great review! Looks like something I would love. Metroidvania with a bleak cyberpunk feel to it? Oh yes…
Another Metroidvania game?! And a pretty good one too. Me likey! 😋
Would love to see you guys revisit this game after all the patches!
Any update about a performance patch here? :)
I just finished the dwmo on Steam Deck, I loved it! Im looking forward to experiencing the full game now. .
I'm enjoying Islets right now, but the simple, sparse visuals take a bit away from the immersion (similar to their previous game Sheepo, which I also enjoyed but I tended to watch TV while playing it). This game looks better in that respect. More important, it's a metroidvania that doesn't suck, so I'll probably get it.
...I'd also like to go back to Souldiers, which I'm something like 70% through, but it really needs yet another patch to address the random crashes during saving and loading.
So if you could only buy one of this or Islets, which would you get?
Interested to hear what they choose! People have been loving Islets over at the Metroidvania Reddit sub. It’s a good game, but the movement is very floaty so keep that in mind. This has been a big negative for me as it just makes the game feel cheap, but other people don’t seem to mind it. HAAK looks more my speed, excited to try it out
I saw both reviews. Haak. (But you might have meant that question for Mark or Glen).
Personally I absolutely love cyberpunk so while I’d buy them both, I’d probably get this first. Mark
This one looks good. Eastern switch games are interesting.
I really like the art style here, but I think it'll be going into the wishlist as Islet seems to fit my mood better at the moment.
P.s. you say spiderman, ninja and grapplehook; I say batman 😉
What was the name of that game for the Mega Drive where you where a ninja and chucked food items at people or it was set in a cake based world. Reminds me of that. Was out about the same time as James Pond.
There will be a physical release for switch on the 15th of february on Super Rare Games 😉
Look nice but maybe another time. My money goes for ANNO mutationem. Preload already and can’t wait to continue. Amazing art style
Looks fun. Definitely going on the wishlist.
Great Stuff, as always!
Been looking forward to this one
What is the other metroidvania everyone's discussing?
What is the other metroid vania game coming out this week?
Ugh , font box on these indie games is getting smaller and smaller 😓
Assuming the FPS problem is actually an easy fix and gets fixed in a patch I'm sold on this one
4:08 Harry Potter did that in movie 8. It's not that far-fetched a concept :P
Nice review, but I am of the opposite opinion on the "pausing to allow more precision". It looks like it kills the flow of the game, so it's a pass from me.
It’s very much optional you don’t need to fire using it. Mark
Here we go again, for the trillionth time... "game looks awesome, I'll wait for the patch."
Seriously though, I will buy the game once it's patched. I'm done buying games hoping for a patch to come sometime afterwards.
Yep I’ll feature it in the next All Patched Up
I discovered and played this game on Android, highly recommended
Same,works like a charm with a gamesir controler too.🎉gr8 game
What’s the other metroidvania?
Hi can you please do more local coop party games sometimes?
Looks great! I don't own any Metroidvania type games yet. 1 to consider.
@Babe No it's mediocre and overrated
@Babe No as i said, overrated. Same as Hades which is also like that. If you want a good MV play castlevania or super metroid
@Babe No It's fine that you like it, or anyone for that matter, but it's all people talk about. It overshadows other games, and the fandom always bashes anything that comes remotely close to it, like crowsworn or haiku the robot. People act like it's the only great game out there
@Babe No not you specifically but i see a lot of HK fans complain and bash other games. Just recently i played darkest tales, which was a fun and well made game. When i finished it i went to check out the store page and saw only 65% positive. I checked the negative reviews and half of them were people with HK profile pictures bashing the game unjustly. I see this a lot, even with haiku which was a fine game even if it did take a lot of inspiration
Yet another Metroidvania I gotta add to the backlog
Looks good but a big too dark and hard to see
Has this game been updated/patdhed?
Fast travel between toilets? That's a portal-potty.
Yeah this one was promising, looking good, now looks like it's a buy!
On another subject : What happened to The Indie Gaming Guild? Did Geoffrey delete his channel? If I remember well you were pals so maybe you know something about that sudden total vanishing... Thank you.
Yeah, Geoffrey deleted his channel unfortunately. I believe he is looking into starting a new channel up though. Glen
@@SwitchUpYt Thx for the answer.
If there are any pc users here, Haak is 20% off on Steam atm. And also in my library lol
haha @1:30 kaneda!!!
the gameplay mechanic looks alot like ori and the blind forest.. ill check it
Looks sick I’ll grab
Looks Great!
😎🤙👍👍
Does anyone know when the patch (framerate) is going to be released?
Looks like they used a lot of animations and ideas from Mark of the Ninja. Not complaining!
Got a physical copy of this game 😊
So Who is the most interesting island or this ? Cause impossible to buy all 🤢😁
Solid Metroidvanias are a dime a dozen these days. This looks to be another decent indie game. Hollow Knight is still the king.
SEND HAAK!
👍🤣
😂
Is this on ps4?
Is no longer valid to compare this new indie games with Hollow knight, only with their equivalent price at the release time maybe 🤔
On Android this is a top tier game
fist is the better game and worth the money !!
The first thing that jumped out at me about this game was the idea that the protagonist was some kind of superhero - the hood / cape, and the footage of him levitating and glowing before sending out shockwaves of electricity.
That - combined with the graphical style (very shocked to hear you could *lower* the resolution) - makes this a no for me.
HAAK - so damn slow when the game is zoomed out...will wait playing it till an update will fix that.
The more cyberpunk on switch the better
I can't imagine a worse punishment for death in a game than it making things easier for you. That's basically the game telling you, "well I guess you suck so much that you can't play the baseline difficulty of our game. So we're going to make you play baby mode." Must feel likes shit.
Metal gear solid 5 does the same thing
The eshop web page sucks so much lol
interesting game
I’m wanting more money
What is the other one?
Islets - check the review of it - good game! Mark
1:48 Mark why would you leave us hanging with such a cliffhanger of a dialogue choice... now we gotta pirate the game to see what the game says if we profess to be sailing the seven seas plundering and shanty-ing!! J/k
Not feeling the character design and it's big bug eyes
I love Your channel Guys. But my wallet dont! Greetings from Poland.
So I bought Aspire because you guys talked about it in an upcoming games video and it looked really good, then you NEVER followed up with a review! The FPS in that game makes it unplayable, even after patches. Since you brought it up, you SHOULD have mentioned the FPS in a separate video.
This game has FPS issues? HARD PASS for me. Stop trying to sell me broken games.
Oh dear, that’s not good mate. I don’t want to “sell” you anything just talk about games. I’ll ping the developers and ask when a fix is coming if you’d like? Mark
@@SwitchUpYt thanks for the reply man. Watched ALL your videos since the start, even when you still showed your face. I must have bought over 100 games on Switch due to your recommendations, most of them great matches for me.
But lately it feels like you're really promoting some games because some developer asked you to. Feels like you're selling stuff, sometimes, instead of just talking about what you actually liked.
This game is unplayable on the Switch. Lags and freezes up every few seconds
there are some methods you can try. that sucks. i'm waiting for the patch
i gave up after 21+ hours ! game controls suck ass levels all look the same music is depressing !
So you DIDN’T like it? 😂
Another lazy dark game where the darkness only serve the purpose of hiding the horrible amateur art.
Mmmm not wrong...
@@fredbk6858 Oh but it's an opinion,
One I don't agree with.
Didn't Mark say the visual art style was great?
I don't know why you think it looks amateur. Because to me it doesn't
The footage used was unfortunately dark - there are far lighter sections. The game can be quite beautiful. Definitely not lazy. Mark
@@SwitchUpYt Yes you are right Mark.
Some folk make the assumption that certain games are dark because the art or graphics are poor or the devs are lazy. To me it's obviously a stylistic choice, keeping with the tone of the game.
No thx you
It is make by Chinese company
Islets or haak? 🫣
They are quite different tonalily.
@@ZamWeazle they both look cool but could only get one…
@@kingoppsanti5830 personally I’m all about the Cyberpunk vibes
@@SwitchUpYt you the best! Thank you.