Year: 2021
Platform: PlayStation 5
Genre: Platformer
Review Date: 2/13/26
Rating: ***

Hoa is a tiny fairy whose leaf canoe gently lands on the sandy shore of what used to be her home. As she traverses a beautifully hand-painted forest full of friendly bugs, we learn that she is the last of her kind, having miraculously survived a calamity where giant robots hunted and exterminated her entire race. Her peaceful journey leads her back to the factory where the robots originally came from, with dire results.

"Hoa" is a beautiful and serene game, with gorgeous art direction, simple and mostly stress-free gameplay, and an absolutely stunning soundtrack. The gentle and friendly presentation is a stark contrast to the whole genocide backstory, and the downbeat ending is a disappointing emotional gut punch that makes you question the entire point of the game.

For the most part, the game is extremely simple and has Hoa performing rudimentary platforming fetch quests to open up new areas. The factory chapter finally introduces some challenging elements and then the final spirit world chapter ramps up the difficulty considerably with annoying changes in perspective. These forced me to retry jumps dozens of times and made me want to quit out of frustration. Fortunately, the game is only about three hours long, and I was determined to get through the entire thing. However, given the depressing and unresolved ending, it might have been better to just quit.

Overall, if you're looking for a quick bite-sized game that doesn't require a lot of skill and commitment, "Hoa" is a good choice. If you like art games, you'll love the beautiful graphics and moving music. There's no combat, danger, or threats, and the biggest challenge comes from timing certain jumps. So sit back and just soak it all in.