Before tackling the porting as such, let's focus on the adventure itself. Completely silent, the narration sets aside any dialogue or monologue, whether written or spoken. We understand all the same easily that the creature that we embody must fight against the forces of evil, which corrupt a once peaceful universe. Some environments have become dangerous, while some monsters come to sow discord. To make matters worse, our hero has his arm cut off at the very start of the game. Fortunately, a generous robot then gives him his mechanical fist. The relatively poetic atmosphere has everything it takes to seduce some players, but anyone with a solid video game culture will still find that the whole thing lacks originality. We are dealing with an emulator of Zelda crossbred with Metroidvania and that's all.
Never too complicated, the fights like the puzzles are rather pleasant and the main flaw of the game comes from its propensity to lose the player. We look far too often for our way, which affects the fluidity of the adventure.
Hob still manages to impress with his ability to play with architecture. The mechanisms that serve as a support for the puzzles sometimes have the effect of transforming the scenery: pillars that lower, platforms that spring from the ground, when it's not a whole section of the terrain that changes location! In addition, the mute hero's fist and sword see their abilities evolve over the course of the adventure, so much so that we end up being able to use a grappling hook, a shield and very powerful blows. Never too complicated, the fights like the puzzles are rather pleasant and the main flaw of the game comes from its propensity to lose the player. Above all, don't forget to look at your map very regularly, because if you ever rely on the level design to guide you subtly, you will quickly end up going in circles. We look far too often for our way, which affects the fluidity of the adventure. Unsurprisingly, we therefore find the qualities and faults of the original Hob in this Switch version. However, some specificities try to justify the "definitive" character of this edition...
AND HOB LA!
The presentation of this Switch version highlights "exclusive features such as HD vibrations and touch screen". Gadget therefore, especially since it is absolutely not reasonable to play in portable mode. On the one hand, the readability of the adventure suffers from the reduced size of the screen. But above all, the game is of a rare ugliness in this mode, the resolution being then much too low. Between pixelated lines and runny colors, you have to have a strong heart to support such visual mush. This state of affairs is all the more incomprehensible since the game does not display anything really advanced and that Panic Button has carried out in the past, and successfully, much more ambitious Switch ports. The TV mode is therefore mandatory to be able to enjoy Hob in acceptable conditions. And even so, it's not really a party. Admittedly, the game permanently displays thirty frames per second and is much more aesthetic than in portable mode, but we are still far from the finesse of the PC and PS4 versions. As a result, the latter remain preferable if you have one of these machines. Switch purists will still be able to console themselves with the possibility of launching the game in two different modes: “original” and “guided”. The first resumes the adventure of 2017 identically, while the second seeks to improve it on certain points. Reworked interface and menus, less punitive falls into the void, and some reworked passages thus answer the call. Nothing that really justifies the qualifier of "Definitive Edition". We expected a brighter swan song for Runic Games' ultimate game...
