Hob

 PC
User Score
7.5

Generally favorable reviews- based on 131 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 80 out of 131
  2. Mixed: 32 out of 131
  3. Negative: 19 out of 131

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  1. Deothor
    May 9, 2018
    7
    The first half (up to "water level" is very good. Unfortunately the second half feels unfinished and badly thought out. Sometimes camera is awful, especially in second half of the game. M+K are infuriating at times. Last boss is an overkill of challenge. Thankfully devs fixed crashes on PC with some patches.

    Game is really unique and beautiful. I'd say check it out if you can.
  2. nitorita
    Apr 20, 2020
    7
    Hob is nice. It's a sleek, sweet-and-simple adventure game where you have to rely on your own intuition to find your way around. Without any narration, you must understand the world yourself based on what you see. There are a lot of different environments and intertwining paths for you to explore.

    The only issue with this game is probably the lack of story. Without one, you don't feel    Hob is nice. It's a sleek, sweet-and-simple adventure game where you have to rely on your own intuition to find your way around. Without any narration, you must understand the world yourself based on what you see. There are a lot of different environments and intertwining paths for you to explore.

    The only issue with this game is probably the lack of story. Without one, you don't feel compelled to learn about what goes on in the game. I admire how the game has a well-crafted world, but that's all it offers. Just a world to explore. Although Hob was built not to have a story, it doesn't really benefit from that. Frankly, I think it was just a cheap excuse not to add one.

    Instant load times and a seamless map are praiseworthy. Sometimes there's frame drops, but they're insignificant. You can get lost from time to time, fall off ledges because of realistic physics, encounter monsters that are sometimes more annoying than challenging, and go through puzzles that aren't hard at all. But that's just me nitpicking.

    Overall, the experience was nice, but not particularly memorable. I felt inclined to quickly finish off the game after a while. The world was certainly unique and I liked how progressing through the game shaped it. However, the ending felt anticlimactic and being able to choose whether you wanted the good or bad end was silly considering the events that go on throughout the entire game.    … Expand
  3. ChesterField
    May 1, 2020
    7
    A good adventure game, without more. Good artistic section. I have lacked a little more difficulty and less simple puzzles. However, we will closely follow this development study in its future games.
  4. kantlax
    Jul 13, 2021
    7
    Nice graphics, good platform type puzzles. The best is the design of the map and how it change.
    When playing it gets repetitive and a bit confusing sometimes.
  5. Rudal
    Jun 19, 2018
    6
    I was waiting for this game. Loved Torchlight 1&2 and... Console controller happened...
    Why on Earth developers keep insisting on limiting PC players and enforcing on them poor console controls... That's just lazy....
    Overall good game but controls threw me off completely....
  6. Dranakar
    Oct 7, 2017
    7
    Hob is beautiful, it's hard to argue against that, it has beautiful environments and have a highly stylized art-style, which makes the game enjoyable to look at. And that's it's saving grace. The game has everything going for it, has no bugs for what I've experienced (except maybe a couple of unintentional navmeshes), but the level design.

    Jesus guys, the level design and the puzzles    Hob is beautiful, it's hard to argue against that, it has beautiful environments and have a highly stylized art-style, which makes the game enjoyable to look at. And that's it's saving grace. The game has everything going for it, has no bugs for what I've experienced (except maybe a couple of unintentional navmeshes), but the level design.

    Jesus guys, the level design and the puzzles are unfortunatley very lacking to say the least. Most of them revolves around a 'do this' kind of mentality that makes 'puzzles' more of a chore and not something you have to figure out.
    Non of the puzzles made me feel clever cause I was handed the solution seconds before encountering it. And the payoff is usually a very flashy and good looking animation of the world changing, which is cool, but after getting the same reward everytime, you come to expect it and it becomes a bit boring.
    The world design in general is really nice and the world ties together beautifully and shortcuts you unlock makes the world easy to traverse.

    But the level design... It's such a wasted opportunity for such a polished game.

    The 'dungeons' are extremely linear and usually reveals a key before a door, making the challenge non-existing. At the same time, you don't have any idea what you're trying to achieve in the dungeon, before you've actually achieved it which makes you go 'huh, that's neat' but not more than that.

    Basically there are only 1 way to go and I found myself trying to explore (cause I love to) but whenever I tried, I wasn't rewarded for it.
    Once In my 4 hours of play did I find a side path which led me to a cave that I'd been teased earlier in a vista, and I was so ready to be rewarded for finding it. The reward... a glowing wall... presumably story related, but not rewarding for such a build-up.

    I'm about 50% through the game as of writing this review and I'm unsure if I'll finish it since the challenge of the game was so lack-luster. It's really a shame, cause most of the level-design could have been fixed in an early blockout phase.
    I'm giving the score of 7 - while the gameplay smoothness and the artstyle alone would score a 10/10 on both fields, the level design I would rate 1 or 2/10 cause it drags the experience so much down.

    I'm not sorry for buying the game, as long as the team looks on some of these reviews and take notes. You're next game better up their level design :)    … Expand
  7. Keskin
    Jul 20, 2020
    7
    sckd vks vk sk skd s fka fhka faskf sa fkhashkfakh fhka fhkas fhahk fkasfk afk af
  8. bancandrei
    May 18, 2020
    5
    I was looking for a 2d zelda and this ain't it. Picked it up after I saw this description in YouTube reviews. Lesson learned: Trust first impressions.
  9. kyuy
    Jun 29, 2022
    7
    The visual style is at a good level, but landscape isn't various (simply, there are 3 types of terrain - grassland, desert and [steam/mana]punk temples).
    Most puzzles are interesting (especially the metroidvania-like parts), but sometimes a quest is simply "find a not-obvious path".
    Enemies are not a danger at all.
    It sounds like I didn't enjoy the game, but it can entertain you for 10 hours.

Awards & Rankings

82
#82 Most Discussed PC Game of 2017
71
#71 Most Shared PC Game of 2017

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
76

Generally favorable reviews - based on 29 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 17 out of 29
  2. Mixed: 12 out of 29
  3. Negative: 0 out of 29
  1. Games.cz
    Jan 21, 2018
    70
    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.
    Read full review
  2. CD-Action
    Jan 10, 2018
    65
    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]
  3. Hardcore Gamer
    Nov 22, 2017
    60
    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.
    Read full review
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