This game could have been tailor-made to my interests. Great soundtrack. Thoughtful and multi-dimensional characters. GORGEOUS environments just begging to be explored. A solid story but no sense of urgency to complete it. There's so much exploring to do and I know I didn't do everything but that just means I get to play again. I didn't actually WANT to do everything the first playthrough specifically so I COULD replay it without having to repeat myself. It's that kind of game. You want to leave some parts unexplored because you don't want the experience to be completely over yet.

I found myself getting a little lost while wandering around, but I'd be willing to chalk that up to my own well-below-average ability to orient myself in space. A minimap might have served me particularly well but might not be necessary for like, normal people who don't get lost in their own house.

When all is said and done, A Short Hike is the balm I sorely needed to soothe the agony of this roaring dumpster fire of a year that 2020 has been. But even without the element of good timing, it still stands tall and proud on its own as an excellent game, one of those games I played every moment I could, thought about nonstop when I couldn't, and continue to think about even days after I beat it. And it'll likely continue to stick with me for years to come. 

It's wonderful, beautiful, inspiring, fun, charming, playful, and definitely a formative gaming experience for me personally. I'd give it more stars if I could. I'd give it the whole damn sky if I could.