Hob

Hob never loses momentum as you dive deeper and deeper into the game. It constantly rewards you by making the game easy to consume and feeling like you can go for just a little longer. As a result, this is one of the few games that I’ve ever had trouble putting down. The gorgeous artwork might draw you in but the content will not let you leave.

Hob is like working on an exotic island during your holiday. Yes, you are responsible for some things, but during puzzles and fights you can thoroughly enjoy nature, architecture and culture of a strange world.

Hob is a fantastic game and just be on a play list for anyone who enjoys puzzle platformers and wouldn’t mind some light RPG elements thrown in. The story is told organically and beautifully through gameplay and has some of the best sound design I’ve seen in a game.

A pretty good action-adventure, with a fantastic world design. The combat system is a little bit too simple, but the experience is really positive. Recommended.

Hob is an action adventure that stands on the shoulders of giants like Legend of Zelda, and offers an experience based around a constantly-growing world. There are some camera and technical issues, but fans of the genre should definitely consider it.

Hob is a charming action adventure that shows the journey is more important than the destination.

We wanted to explore the world of Hob from the first minute we set our foot in it, thanks to the attractive visuals and its precise gameplay controls that helped made platforming a joy. It’s too bad that combat seemed to be an afterthought, but nevertheless Runic crafted a beautiful, mythical environment.

Hob is a solid adventure game. If you can live with brief moments of frustration when you're lost and nothing is going on, you'll often be rewarded with a large chunk of the game where the pacing is just right and the balance between combat and puzzle elements is fair. Despite a few issues with stuttering, the presentation is exquisite, and the game comes in at a satisfying length. Adventure fans would do well to give Hob a look.

A fascinating trip into as living world full of mysterious puzzle machines.

Good, but with some camera and combat flaws, Hob will be enjoyed by those in search of a good Zelda-like.

Hob is the reflection of one of the best developers of our time. A team brave enough to change completely genre moving away from a golden goose like Torchlight in order to create a little gem of level design and exploration. A puzzle game full of mysteries and wonder. [Recommended]

Despite its technical hiccups and frustrating early hours, Hob is a worthwhile experience that rewards ardent explorers and delivers an exciting mystery to unravel. Each conquered dungeon feels like a mini triumph as you watch the desolate and dying world come back to life, and I loved the sense of wonder and each "a-ha" moment of discovery. Even after I finished the main story of Hob, I was excited to jump back in and search for more secrets hidden within the world.

Runic Games take you on a wondrous mysterious journey through fantastic environments making HOB well worth your time.

You should not expect a grown-up action adventure in the Zelda format, because Runic Games relies entirely on the fun exploring and leaves a lot of potential unused.

Hob is a beautiful Zelda-like puzzler with fun combat elements that takes place on an enchanting world where nature and machinery alter the landscape as easily as a twist of a Rubik's cube. The wordless approach to the story creates some confusion and the fix camera sometimes results in unnecessary deaths, but never does the time spent with Hob feel wasted.

A gorgeous world eager to be explored with satisfying puzzles and fun, if occasionally clumsy, action.

The occasional design issue aside, restoring Hob’s ramshackle world is satisfying, with its cel-shaded art style and tech-infused nature concealing a complex network of pulleys, valves and hidden paths.

A beautiful, vibrant environment that literally shows off megalomaniac miracles in a small space. It is slightly undermined by the occasional drop of fps, its controls and the fixed isometric camera. Still, the Hob is a decent farewell of Runic Games studio. Although it does not match the Torchlight series, it offers interesting duels and funny platforming.

Perhaps this is due to my less than favorable inclination for puzzle/platformer action games as I seldom search out for games of this genre, but Hob felt lacking an identity- a clear element to call its own that really makes it standout amongst the rest of the games in the genre. While it most certainly looks pleasing to the eyes and feels competently made, I never felt excited to get back into the world of Hob after picking up a controller for another play session. As much as I would love to say that Runic Games went out after creating their best work yet, I cannot in good conscious as Hob is a solid, albeit unremarkable game.

Death is forgiving in Hob in that progress isn’t lost in the way of items collected or enemies defeated. However, respawning in Hob takes a long time and the checkpoints can sometimes be inconveniently far away from where you died. Backtracking is usually easy enough since most enemies don’t respawn and sometimes there are shortcuts that can be opened to quickly reach where you had been before. But running through the parts I had already done felt like a chore, especially if my death was less my fault and more to do with Hob’s wonky platforming mechanics.

Hob has a lot of style, just not much heart. The game is far more than a walking simulator but its stripped-down approach to combat, loot and character development can leave the player unsatisfied. The visual elements can be striking and beautiful, and the platforming is generally mechanically sound, but Hob's progression feels aimless and ultimately disappointing. Despite the attractiveness of the world, there simply isn't enough story or emotional content to support the game's ten or so hours of play.

It's good to have such game from Runic as Hob, but it's bad to not have Torchlight 3.

Hob is made for gamers who love to explore, tinker, and problem-solve. Combat is present, but not as a central element. Gameplay consists, by a considerable margin more, of looking for ways to inventively raise, lower, move, open up, or interact with the environment. While, some puzzles are clumsy puzzles, each has a logical solution – though it reaching this point might require a temporal investment.

I see two principal flaws in Hob. First of all, none of the game’s elements is outstanding. The second problem is the repetitiveness of goals, puzzles, combat. Hob might relax you, but it will definitely not excite you. [13/2017, p.52]

Though it pains to proclaim such a promising title as this — given how obviously ambitious its world-building stands, how undeniably strange-but-enticing its organic-mechanical aesthetic is or how inviting the otherwise isolating ambience of its sound design is — Hob may well be one of the more disappointing showings for the genre this year when all is said and done. What starts off in its first half as a platformer rife with engaging mystery and many an incentive to know more quickly devolves into a rehashed and seemingly never-ending loop of puzzles unlocking puzzles unlocking more similarly-deprived puzzles without fruitful meaning or purpose. Though it tries to maintain the facade and continually promise greater things to come, it soon becomes apparent that Hob is somewhat deprived of an end goal — interested solely in the long-distant allure than it is the up-close-and-personal meaning and value behind it all.

Hob is a beguiling action adventure that's hamstrung by its platforming and a sub-par second half.

Hob is a beautiful but unoriginal Zelda-like that lacks an interesting story and has mind-numbingly dull combat and exploration.