Hilda (video game)

Hilda is an episodic graphic adventure video game developed by Giant Sparrow and co-published by Annapurna Interactive and 505 Games for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and Series S, Valve Steam Deck, Microsoft Windows, Linux, iOS, and Android. Based on the graphic novel, the game will be released in five episodes periodically from January to September. Physical copies have been released on October 8, distributed by 505 Games.

Hilda was formed with an episodic format in mind, for reasons both financial and creative. Player feedback influenced the adjustments made to the episodes. Story and character arc serve as the central point in the game. Unlike the graphic novel and the TV series, the game has recieved a "Teen" rating from the ESRB due to blood, mild fantasy violence, mild language, and suggestive themes. The decision of having a T rated Hilda game was made so that developers can get out of their comfort zones and think about deeper topics but at the same time keeping it kid friendly for ages 13 and older.

A prequel, Hilda: Before Trolberg, will be released three years later, in that prequel we'll play as young Hilda, and the game will tell the stories when she used to live in the wilderness. and a sequel, Hilda 2 will be released two years after that, and it will be a continuation of the third season. An additional installment to the series, Hilda and The Watercolors, will be released three years after that. Other Hilda games will be released in the future.

Gameplay
Hilda is a graphic adventure, played as protagonist Hilda from a first-person perspective. The player can examine and interact with objects, which enables puzzle solving in the form of fetch quests and making changes to the environment. Items that are collected will be kept in the inventory.

The player can explore various locations of Trolberg and communicate with non-playable characters. Dialoge exchanges can be rewound while branching options are used for conversation. Once an event is reset, the details provided earlier are permitted to avail themselves in the future. In some instances, choices in dialogue will alter and affect the story through short or long-term consequences. For each one of the choices, something good in the short term could turn out worse later. The player is able to collect many items and weird objects for many uses, heal, defense, and some magic powers.

On some of the worlds are many enemies to fight, like salvaged vitras, and other enemies that never appeared in the original books, and the series. like evil thunderbirds, pig monsters, etc. the player can use some items to confront some mini bosses, like the bloodthirsty trolls, who are not like the normal trolls since they have red eyes and they are more bigger. among the weapons hilda can use are swords, harpoons, and also some acient weapons. at some point of the episodes there will be an boss fight.

Some sequences will have quick-time-events where if the player fails to press the buttion at certain time, the player will start from the previous checkpoint prior to the QTE. Most of the quick-time-events are some boss fights.

The player can also play as david, frida, johanna, and other characters. and you can buy cool stuff at the trolberg's shop. in every episode, there are collectables to earn extras like bonus cutscenes where we see how hilda is having fun with her friends by many forms. unlock extra modes like an time attack mode where the player can play the levels he played before and try to complete them as soon as possible, and the best part is that once the player completes an episode at 100%, the game will reward you with giving you one of the books of hilda.

Once you get the 100% in episode 1, you'll get the graphic novel of hilda and the troll. once you get the 100% in episode 2, you'll get the graphic novel of hilda and the midnight giant, once you get the 100% in episode 3, you'll get the graphic novel of hilda and the bird parade, once you get the 100% in episode 4, you'll get the graphic novel of hilda and the black hound, once you get the graphic novel of hilda and the stone forest, plus the three first tie-in books. but sadly the mountain king book and the other three tie-in books are not available in this game, which was somewhat disappointing for some people, but is forgivable since this game will have a sequel after the prequel game.

The player can explore various hubworlds which are basically the known locations from the original books, such as trolberg, the forest, and among others. in every hubworld there are some entrances that will send you to fun levels where you can explore and find many awesome things like creatures, locations, and acient objects to have them in your collection. in some of these levels there will be an mini boss to beat and earn many coins and items for your inventory. and when you meet the creatures, the friends, and the enemies mini bosses and the big bosses, you'll note them in your diary to know more about them and see a description of these characters given by hilda.

And for last, every character has his own skills and weaknesses.

Synopsis
The synopsis is a curious case. This game was supposed to contain the stories of the original books and the series, but for some reason they decided to make separate canon from the original product. where events occur that never happened in the graphic novels, the novel series, and not even the tie-in series. The story tells us how a blue-haired girl named hilda, together with her mother, her pet twig, and an elf known as alfur, move to a city called trolberg, a city where people were sheltered by the protection of the trolls, beasts made of rock that were very dangerous, so in the city were created huge walls to prevent the passage of those creatures. now hilda must adapt to her new life, where many adventures await her along with her new friends frida and david. she must also go through many adventures. now hilda must adapt to her new life, where many adventures await her with her new friends frida and david. she must also go through several situations like dealing with a giant dog that was in the city, save her friend david from the trolls, and also meet victoria van gale and her laboratory. but it won't be easy, because lately many strange creatures have been appearing and also other creatures like the vitras have been becoming wild for some reason.

Another thing that was criticized was that the video game used several elements from the tie-in series. like the big raven being amnesiac for several days and he has to recover his memory back by eating blue nettles, and the order of how the chapters of the original series go being changed. at least several events from the tie-in series do not happen. at least several events from the tie-in series don't happen. like frida and david getting mad at hilda for having to get them in trouble in the part where hilda and frida go to cauldron island to save david from bartell's clan, or that the rat king does appear. but also, there are many events that never happened in the series, like the explanation of what happened to hilda's father and where is he now, the revelation of how the marras got their powers, and also its revealed why hilda has blue hair instead of a normal hair color.

The story also adds characters never seen before, such as a girl named Gravis, who is David's cousin, and the wood man's family.

Trivia

 * 1) Retail versions will be available on October 8.
 * 2) The video game universe of Hilda will be targeted to an older audience due to certain content only suitable for 13 and older.
 * 3) The PC, iOS and Android versions will have controller support.
 * 4) The game will have some simularities to the Life is Strange franchise.
 * 5) The video game universe will be a separate canon from the graphic novel and the Netflix series.
 * 6) Physical copies will contain bonus items.