Hue Review (Switch)

When I heard they were releasing Hue for the Switch, I have to admit that the first thing that came to my mind was “Finally!”, because I could think of no other console more worthy to have this title 

What is Hue?

Hue is something of a unique blend between a platformer and a puzzle-solving game, and both elements are centered around the way you make use of colors.

In the beginning, everything was dark and grey

You play as the eponymous hero, Hue, and you start off in a world filled with nothing but shades of black and grey. As you progress aimlessly throughout the world, you will discover more and more colors you can make use of, and they will be crucial for you to advance within the story.

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A gameplay mechanic as fresh as spring green

The way you use colors is rather unique, as the various obstacles and passageways around you will be colored in a certain way. You will have to select a color from the color wheel interface and in that moment your entire background will turn that color, while all objects that shared that color will disappear, blending in with the environment. Let’s say that, for example, you need to get past a wall that is blue, in order to reach a doorway that is also blue. You’ll first have to select blue from your color wheel in order to make the blue wall disappear, but then you’ll have to select any other color BUT blue, which will make the wall you’ve just passed reappear, but so will the doorway you need.

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The music may get you all blue

Given that we are talking about a game where everything is 90% brain activity and 10% quick reflexes of your fingers, you’ll probably be glad to know that few games have a more relaxing soundtrack than Hue. Admittedly, depending on who you ask, the music can be considered a bit sad during certain moments, since the piano tunes could go just as well as background music while reading a good tragedy or horror story.

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Will you accept the challenge, or are you yellow?

Regardless of the game’s difficulty, the story is there to keep you going, as exploring more and more will allow you to find letters addressed to Hue. These letters tell the story of two scientists who tried using the power of colors, but with disastrous results, and it is up to Hue to undo what they’ve accomplished. As far as the lore goes, the story is incredibly compelling, and it does have its fair share of sad moments, as it  touches on themes of love, loss, existence and remorse One of the few things I didn’t like about the game was that it was way too short, as a complete walkthrough without knowing any of the puzzles beforehand could take about 5 hours to complete.

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You may turn red with anger

Clever use of the color wheel (sometimes in the context of split-second decision making) will mean the difference between life and death, along with figuring out where to put various objects and in which order. The problem is that it is literally impossible to get a lot of the puzzles right the first time, especially if it is your first time playing, so most often than naught what may start out as a casual 10-minute gaming session may turn into torture for either your brain or your nerves. This is further enhanced  by the fact that the difficulty ramps up pretty quickly, especially as you gather more and more colors. Of course, those of you who’ve already tried the game on the other consoles probably know this already, but the reason I’m reminding you of the game’s difficulty is because you are going to be playing it on a handheld console, which is rather fragile and does not fair too well with rage-induced high-velocity impacts against flat surfaces, such as walls or the sidewalk.

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The Good

The Bad

Conclusion