For those who fall into guilt, sir, the one responsible for all the faults that follow, is it not always who, first, brought about the fall?
Lionel Snill Daniel Mullins did it again: after that incredible authorial work that he is Pony Island, the Indie developer has embarked on a far more ambitious job than the first, which delves deeply into the roots of the gaming medium. But reviewing The Hex will be a titanic undertaking: the slightest word out of place, the slightest unnecessary detail, any little thing could lead to irreparable spoilers on the whole experience - and there's so much to say, about the madman Mullins new effort.
If you haven't played Pony Island yet, we encourage you to get it back as soon as possible, or just read on our review to get an idea of Mullins' style. This is one of those cases where the author makes a difference, and quite a lot: Daniel Mullins has an exquisitely meta-narrative style, a style that must first of all be appreciated. Pony Island, despite its flaws, is a great starting point to get to know the author.
Ma The Hex it goes far beyond what its spiritual predecessor had already done: The Hex digs even deeper into the gaming medium, scratching the truths that not everyone will want to hear.
Life of Lionel
The Six Pint InnSix odd, dodgy-looking figures all find themselves at Six Pint Inn, an inn run by a friendly wheelchair-bound barkeeper on a stormy night. The man receives an anonymous phone call that warns him of a terrible danger: someone in that room is planning a murder. But what will begin as a curious videogame thriller will soon turn into something completely unexpected, with a disarming narrative depth; in the style of dear Daniel Mullins.
The Six Pint Inn is a drifting venue, more of a non-hangout than something truly tangible. Many times, the inn seems to be a point of arrival, an "end of the race" for all the characters who have come across it, often for reasons beyond their control. In turn, the player will control all six protagonists, which include a questionable middle ground between Crash Bandicoot and Super Mario, a space marine all too similar to Samus Aran, a boxer straight out of “Cooking Granny” and other similar marvels.
Soon, however, The Hex it shows its teeth and its true identity, proving that the videogame medium is composed of much more than characters and game mechanics: it is composed first of all of people.
The Hexagon of Genres
A point-and-click that is not a point-and-clickThe Hex it's a title that is practically impossible to fit into a genre. Although an early game disclaimer warns us that we can simply use WASD and the left mouse click to play, that “Unless otherwise noted” is more than enough to instill some suspicion; and the truth is that The Hex is more than just a point-and-click adventure.
The first character we will control will be Super Weasel Kid, the Crash Bandicoot parody mentioned above. And it is already with him, after not even the first half hour of play, that the genius of Daniel Mullens emerges once again after Pony Island: The Hex will find a narrative pretext to transform itself into a completely different videogame genre, in order to tell the story of Super Weasel Kid, his success… And his fall.
After completing the storyline of the second character, the narrative pretext behind the game is clear: the six are all former videogame protagonists who have suffered a fall of grace, for one reason or another. Things have gone terribly wrong, and all of them have been recalled to the Six Pint Inn for obscure reasons. But what matters is that each character personifies one or more different videogame genres, each character has its own story (always written and in any case with masterful care), and each story has its own game mechanics, created by the developer for the occasion. But most importantly, they all have at least one thing in common: they were created by the same developer, one Lionel Snill that seems to have forgotten them one after the other.
There is no two without six
Apparently dispersive structure ...It could be argued that six characters to control are a little too many, and that the experience turns out to be too dispersed. And, to some extent, you would also be right: the action and narration occasionally give the feeling of having been diluted, and in general the whole work has the aftertaste of a simple exercise in style by Daniel Mullins. If you only look at the gameplay, the variety of mechanics is just a mirror of lights, a clever special effect to distract the player from the simplicity of the basic point-and-click structure. Yet, everything still fits together perfectly.
Finishing a character's storyline inevitably leaves one with a bit of melancholy on the palate, and one is always, constantly impatient to know what will have happened to the next, or what other kind the dear "Lionel" has come up with. Each character is written with so much care that it continually pushes the player forward, waiting to learn more about their past and that of the other protagonists in the inn.
And anyone who knows Daniel Mullins will inevitably pay attention to everything, even the smallest details, knowing full well that nothing is entrusted to chance: even a rubber duck could have a very specific meaning, and underestimating the details is a mistake that The Hexhe will not forgive you easily.
Life of Daniel
And then, it happens: the “Black Mirror” Effect, already experienced by Mullins in Pony Island, which distorts the entire storyline and reveals all the secrets of the Six Pint Inn.
The Hex becomes more than a simple video game, or even more than just a "simple" experience with an alternative voice: becomes a metaphor for videogame development, an interactive report on success, business, industry, passion and love for the medium. The Hex reminds us of the people behind a video game: it reminds us that inspiration can also come from our pet, that internal tensions should not be ignored, and that power and money can corrupt innocence if not properly managed. In a subspecies of Toy Story of a videogame mold, The Hex reminds us of respect our past and never deny it on the basis of our reputation, but rather learn from it every single day.
The Hex it is a message; one that every lover of the medium should listen to and live on their own skin.
A game that shows an extraordinary background cultureAnd it is inevitable to think of Six Characters in Search of an Author, the unsurpassed Luigi Pirandello, when reflecting on the structure of Mullins' latest game. Nor is it unlikely that the good Daniel has read Pirandello, from his little den in Canada. The main influences of his Theater are all there, both in Pony Island and - above all - in The Hex: heavy and conscious meta-narrative, reflections on one's self and identity, a certain non-negligible degree of absurdity, and many other aspects that we, as compatriots of the late playwright, have learned to love or hate by studying him at school. Other equally impressive names, such as Samuel Beckett, they are the first to come to mind when viewing works like The Hex; demonstrating that culture and creativity can go hand in hand, and, when they do, great things await anyone willing to hear their stories.
Jerry swept the floor, Jerry wanted more…
An experience, before a video gameAnd, therefore, this is The Hex. A heavy experience to live, intense to play, and beautiful to read in the incredible and characteristic authorial voice of Daniel Mullins. The game also has some little secrets, like the collection of quarters that, when inserted into a special machine, will unlock interesting clues about the plot and about some secondary characters. But it must be said that, as easily as it can be considered a defect, analyzing The Hex by relying mainly on gameplay would be an unforgivable mistake: the game is first of all a story (or a set of stories) to be experienced on one's own skin, to be assimilated, to breathe and fully appreciate. In this scenario, the playful part takes a back seat (although it is able to give more than a moment of joy), preferring to give space to the characters and their voices. While minor gameplay issues exist, The Hex must be played, especially if you love experiences that focus on storytelling. And, if you are not, it does the same: however, there is a lot to learn by playing it. Both as gamers and, even more drastically, as video game lovers in general.
Currently, The Hex is available on Steam less than € 10,00. And we couldn't recommend a purchase more highly than that.
Small side note: during the game, we ran into a terrible game-breaking bug that allowed us to go off the map, then compromising a loading without any remedy. The autosave betrayed us, and there was no going back; we are confident that Daniel Mullins will fix this asap, but in no way should a bug force you to start the experience all over again. This, sadly, was a gigantic point against the otherwise flawless technical side of the game. Verdict 8/10 Walking / Fighting / Jumping / Shooting Simulator Comment The name of Daniel Mullins has already earned a reputation on these pages, after the Supreme Webmaster tried Pony Island and came out with some more trauma. The Hex may not have the shattering effect of its spiritual predecessor, but nonetheless, it's an incredible project with a burning ambition, full of twists and turns and written with a maturity that could already be seen on the island of ponies. Mullins' new effort is a human story, told in his classic meta-narrative style and structured with an extraordinary attention to detail. Anyone who loves highly narrative video games cannot ignore it or set it aside: there is a lot to learn, in The Hex, about ourselves as human beings before the videogame medium. And, after its splendid 6 hours of gameplay, you won't regret buying it for a second. Pros and cons ✓ Straightforward graphic style, but with identity✓ Masterful writing
✓ A cauldron of different kinds
✓ Exquisitely insane, but with a conscience x Some technical problems and at least one serious "game-breaking bug"
x Gameplay sector tends to be repetitive
x It may appear "diluted" in some stages
