Hela Hands-On Preview: A Scandinavian Stuart Little adventure packed with charm

When you see so many games and play so many games at one time, it can become difficult to get truly lost in one. Especially at Gamescom, where you're fluttering from one appointment to the next like you're on a university bar crawl. Hela, the co-op adventure from the minds behind Unravel that shifted over to Windup Games, had no trouble in pulling me in and keeping me wanting more after a short play session alongside the developers.

Hela is a game where up to you and three other players take on the role of mice in an enchanted forest. Initially, I thought we had been cursed by a witch to live as anthropomorphic mice, but I was quickly informed the witch is a kind albeit very old soul, who we serve out of our own goodwill. With our froggy backpacks and the friendly critters around us, we'll explore a large, open space to complete missions and prove that we can do the witch's job for her when she's not quite well enough to help out around the forest.

Hela is a very open game. Coming from Hazelight's more linear co-op experiences, this was somewhat of a surprise to me, but certainly a welcome one. Windup has put a lot of care into making sure that even if the game is open, it's not going to result in players just going off in different directions and not interacting as a pair or group. In Hela, you can leave Shades behind as you travel. These mouse ghosts remain exactly where you put them, and can be teleported to at any point. You can also teleport to your friends if they've found something cool and you want in on the action.

In their main role, Shades serve as a way to ensure you don't feel like you're missing out if you don't have a full party of four. As an example from the preview session, we had to get four mice resting at certain points within a puzzle to complete it, and so the developer and I left Shades behind so that we'd have all the points completed. It's nice when a game does this, as you won't feel overcrowded for having four players, nor will your party feel incomplete even if you just have the one player.

There wasn't any real narrative I experienced during the playtime with Hela, but that mattered little. The gameplay itself was the star of the show here, and it proved to be incredibly satisfying. Swinging around the woods, using the tongue of your froggy backpack was about as enjoyable as the web-slinging in Insomniac's Spider-Man games. Dashing around the forest feels like running through one massive playground, where Windup has put plenty of things for you to mess around with. From animals to race to potions to make, there are a bunch of secrets hidden around the map and exploring it feels simply fun thanks in part to the charming visuals and designs of the characters. You get the sense a fairytale has come to life while playing Hela, and you're thrown back to nostalgic co-op experiences of old as you dig deeper into its systems.

Hela has a great sense of momentum in its movement. Through a Breath of the Wild-style stamina system linked to your backpack, you might think at first it'll take you ages to get from point A to point B. But, once you've figured out the swinging and unlocked ways of travelling more quickly, you'll soon realise that this forest isn't nearly as overwhelming as it first appeared to be. There's not a fast-travel mechanic in Hela, but there are ways of travelling fast, if you get me.

I really enjoyed the time I spent with Hela. So much so that I was extremely glad when some other press/creators walked into the appointment and declined to take the controller from me. Pure, simple fun is the best way to describe it, set to a wholesome fairytale backdrop. My only concern lies in the unknown existence of a central narrative. If there's not a proper story to piece this sandbox together, I fear the mechanics might only stretch the fun to a couple of hours at most.