Bottom Line: Hauntii is a gorgeous, melancholic adventure that turns environmental possession into a playground of quiet curiosity, though its twin-stick combat occasionally collides with its isometric camera. It is a stunning debut from Moonloop Games that values atmosphere above pure mechanical friction.
The Mechanics of Possession
At the center of Hauntii is its core verb: to haunt. By shooting energy at objects, you slip inside them, instantly adopting their movement, attack vectors, or utility. The design team at Moonloop Games deserves credit for making this loop feel incredibly tactile and varied. You might haunt a light-bearing beetle to safely cross a dark chasm, possess a towering stone turret to blast through barricades, or inhabit a simple tree to shake loose hidden collectibles.
This mechanic elevates the environmental puzzles beyond simple key-and-lock designs. It forces you to look at the screen not as a static backdrop, but as a collection of potential bodies, each offering a temporary superpower. The transition between Hauntii's base form and possessed entities is smooth, encouraging rapid-fire experimentation. The game succeeds most when it lets you chain these possessions together, solving complex navigation puzzles by hopping from one specialized creature to another in rapid succession.
Combat and the Isometric Curse
Where the game falters is in its marriage of twin-stick shooting and its chosen camera perspective. Hauntii employs an isometric viewpoint that, while beautiful, frequently interferes with spatial awareness. When the action intensifies and the screen fills with projectiles, judging distances and hitboxes becomes an exercise in frustration.
The twin-stick shooting itself feels functional but lacks the razor-sharp precision found in dedicated action titles. Fighting off the aggressive creatures of the dark often feels like a chore rather than a thrill, especially when the camera hides crucial terrain behind foreground geometry. Boss encounters, in particular, highlight this clunkiness. They demand a level of precise positioning and quick reaction times that the floaty physics and isometric angle struggle to support. Instead of feeling like a satisfying test of skill, these encounters occasionally devolve into battles against the controls and your own depth perception.
Pacing and Progression
Moonloop Games structures the journey around exploration and collection, utilizing a loop that feels remarkably organic. As you wander through Eternity, you gather Stars. These are not merely arbitrary collectibles; they are the currency of self-discovery. Placing these Stars into celestial grids to complete Constellations serves a dual purpose. It directly boosts your physical capabilities—granting more health and extra dashes—while gradually unveiling the protagonist's lost memories through beautifully directed, wordless cutscenes.
This progression loop creates a highly satisfying rhythm. You wander into a new zone, parse its environmental challenges through the lens of the possession mechanic, and receive both mechanical power and narrative context as a reward. However, the game occasionally stumbles into pacing dead ends. Certain segments require a high volume of Stars to progress, forcing you to backtrack and hunt down missed collectibles. This artificial gating temporarily derails the contemplative, melancholic momentum that the narrative works so hard to establish.