When I first got my hands on Luckshot’s Big Hops at GDC last year, I thoroughly enjoyed what I played and needed more. Unfortunately after a few hours, it hasn’t been nearly as enjoyable.
This is a review in progress because I’m not done with the game. I’ve been a little busy spending time with my girlfriend and family over the holidays, our Game of the Year series, and also spent most of my gaming time playing a certain RPG instead of “catching up” on the rest of 2025.
Can’t tell if Hop is confused or unnerved.
The beginning of the game, which was pretty much the demo I played last year, is undeniably charming. Unfortunately in the hours I’ve played since, the middle hasn’t been nearly as enjoyable. The thing that makes Big Hops feel polished and special is in its controls and in turn, its traversal. The game is a 3D platformer at heart, and its fun taking control of Hop the frog. Hop can jump, dive, tongue swing, and use a bunch of environmental objects to do all sorts of other cool stuff to zip your way through the areas, which is nice because this is a platformer that requires you to both find your way from point A to point B and collect a bunch of shiny and glowy things as you go.
The best part about Big Hops‘ gameplay is its emphasis on letting you get through a level however you want. You can get creative with your jumps in the game much like you could in Super Mario Odyssey and Donkey Kong Bananza, or you can get creative with power-ups you have that can add more spring to your step. You can also climb; not nearly as much as you could as Link in the modern Zelda games, but it’s cool seeing all these nods.
You’ll come across a bunch of different fruit or environmental items. Eat them, or use them to change up the environment.
Plot is typically secondary in a game like this, and while this is still the case, so far it’s felt like it’s really gone out of the way to make me have a bad time. After you get through the game’s tutorial segment, you end up in purple, dark void and eventually come into contact with Diss, and this dude is a jerk you have to constantly deal with as you play. Maybe that makes him an ideal antagonist, but I absolutely hate listening to him whenever he talks, and he’s pretty damn condescending.
So far, that’s actually been the main vibe throughout my session. There’s this one city I came across full of rabbits, and all of them are so demanding and mean, and it makes me want to help nobody. Big Hops has more than its slew of sidequests to do, but everybody I’ve come across except for “The Masked Stranger” has been so mean to Hop that I see no reason to come into contact with anyone. That said, when it comes to the “main path”, that hasn’t been obvious, and this is the biggest reason why the game hasn’t clicked despite how long I’ve had it.
The trinket system gives you more perks and enhances certain abilities. Your start small, but eventually you can come up with some pretty cool combos.
Perhaps the main reason why I haven’t stuck to the main path is because I explore every nook and cranny, and while doing that, I’ve come across a bunch of hidden levels that you have to talk to Diss to access. Each of these challenges focuses on certain gameplay and traversal aspects you’ve just learned, but they really are challenges. There’s one that relies on your ability to run on walls that I kept dying in but eventually got through, and there’s another one centered on tight ropes with the hardest part of the challenge being swinging, which isn’t really the most intuitive move to in this platformer. They just haven’t been all that fun for me.
I’m at a point where I don’t know if I want to continue playing, but I really enjoyed the short conversation I’ve had with Luckshot’s lead Chris Wade. I love his view on platformers and what he wanted to do with Big Hops and I really want to see it through, but in all honesty, with where I’m at, I’m just not enjoying it the way I was when I first played it.
When I first got my hands on Luckshot’s Big Hops at GDC last year, I thoroughly enjoyed what I played and needed more. Unfortunately after a few hours, it hasn’t been nearly as enjoyable. This is a review in progress…
When I first got my hands on Luckshot’s Big Hops at GDC last year, I thoroughly enjoyed what I played and needed more. Unfortunately after a few hours, it hasn’t been nearly as enjoyable.
This is a review in progress because I’m not done with the game. I’ve been a little busy spending time with my girlfriend and family over the holidays, our Game of the Year series, and also spent most of my gaming time playing a certain RPG instead of “catching up” on the rest of 2025.
Can’t tell if Hop is confused or unnerved.
The beginning of the game, which was pretty much the demo I played last year, is undeniably charming. Unfortunately in the hours I’ve played since, the middle hasn’t been nearly as enjoyable. The thing that makes Big Hops feel polished and special is in its controls and in turn, its traversal. The game is a 3D platformer at heart, and its fun taking control of Hop the frog. Hop can jump, dive, tongue swing, and use a bunch of environmental objects to do all sorts of other cool stuff to zip your way through the areas, which is nice because this is a platformer that requires you to both find your way from point A to point B and collect a bunch of shiny and glowy things as you go.
The best part about Big Hops‘ gameplay is its emphasis on letting you get through a level however you want. You can get creative with your jumps in the game much like you could in Super Mario Odyssey and Donkey Kong Bananza, or you can get creative with power-ups you have that can add more spring to your step. You can also climb; not nearly as much as you could as Link in the modern Zelda games, but it’s cool seeing all these nods.
You’ll come across a bunch of different fruit or environmental items. Eat them, or use them to change up the environment.
Plot is typically secondary in a game like this, and while this is still the case, so far it’s felt like it’s really gone out of the way to make me have a bad time. After you get through the game’s tutorial segment, you end up in purple, dark void and eventually come into contact with Diss, and this dude is a jerk you have to constantly deal with as you play. Maybe that makes him an ideal antagonist, but I absolutely hate listening to him whenever he talks, and he’s pretty damn condescending.
So far, that’s actually been the main vibe throughout my session. There’s this one city I came across full of rabbits, and all of them are so demanding and mean, and it makes me want to help nobody. Big Hops has more than its slew of sidequests to do, but everybody I’ve come across except for “The Masked Stranger” has been so mean to Hop that I see no reason to come into contact with anyone. That said, when it comes to the “main path”, that hasn’t been obvious, and this is the biggest reason why the game hasn’t clicked despite how long I’ve had it.
The trinket system gives you more perks and enhances certain abilities. Your start small, but eventually you can come up with some pretty cool combos.
Perhaps the main reason why I haven’t stuck to the main path is because I explore every nook and cranny, and while doing that, I’ve come across a bunch of hidden levels that you have to talk to Diss to access. Each of these challenges focuses on certain gameplay and traversal aspects you’ve just learned, but they really are challenges. There’s one that relies on your ability to run on walls that I kept dying in but eventually got through, and there’s another one centered on tight ropes with the hardest part of the challenge being swinging, which isn’t really the most intuitive move to in this platformer. They just haven’t been all that fun for me.
I’m at a point where I don’t know if I want to continue playing, but I really enjoyed the short conversation I’ve had with Luckshot’s lead Chris Wade. I love his view on platformers and what he wanted to do with Big Hops and I really want to see it through, but in all honesty, with where I’m at, I’m just not enjoying it the way I was when I first played it.
by Danreb Victorio
