Heartwarming / A Hat in Time

"Ow! My heart!"

• Overzealous as she is to fight the Mafia, Mustache Girl and Hat Kid's friendship is rather adorable. While it lasts.
• When you're invading Mafia HQ, you can talk to the Mafia bartender. Mafia Bartender much nicer than most Mafia, consoles Hat Kid, encourages her, tells her she can overcome whatever problems she has, and even tells Hat Kid where Mustache Girl went.
• A minor one, but the Mafia encountered in the Time Rift level of Mafia town talks to Hat Kid much nicer than expected, helpfully explains how Time Rift levels work, opens a gate halfway for free, and even asks you to be careful and wishes you good luck! If only the rest of Mafia was as nice as him.
• After you save the Mafia Town from lava, they throw a celebration in your honor, thank you heartily and give you the time piece as a reward. They even make two golden statues of the Hat Kid!
• Accessing the Reassurance Application on the computer in Hat Kid's spaceship makes it give a lot of compliments while saying that You Are Better Than You Think You Are.
  YOU HAVE SELECTED THE REASSURANCE APPLICATION. YOU ARE REALLY LOOKING QUITE NICE TODAY. HAVE YOU DONE SOMETHING DIFFERENT WITH YOUR HAIR? YOU'RE LOOKING HEALTHY. DON'T FORGET TO CLEAN UP AND KEEP ON TOP OF THINGS. IT CAN BE STRESSFUL IF TASKS PILE UP. DON'T FORGET TO EAT ENOUGH. TRY NOT TO MISS BREAKFAST, IT'S IMPORTANT. IT'S NATURAL TO HAVE FLAWS AND ASPECTS OF YOURSELF YOU AREN'T HAPPY WITH. IT'S OKAY TO WORK ON THEM AT A PACE COMFORTABLE FOR YOU. YOU SHOULD GO OUTSIDE AND GET SOME FRESH AIR, IF YOU CAN. IT'S GOOD TO GET OUTDOORS FOR A WHILE. CLOSING REASSURANCE APPLICATION.
• When you gather all the memory photos in the Dead Bird Studio time rift, you can see the Conductor and DJ's backstory: They've been enamored with making movies ever since childhood, watching movies together. While it did turn into a bitter rivalry, they both stayed true to their dreams.
  • One of the points on the Fridge subpage builds upon this by suggesting that they still have some level of friendship, and that the tip Hat Kid receives over the phone towards the end of the chapter isn't in the name of revenge, but an attempt to stop the winner from going Drunk with Power like Mustache Girl did.
• If you choose "Hat Kid's Uncle's Sister" as the killer in Murder on the Owl Express, DJ Grooves reveals to have been the one who "murdered" one of the express owls. Why? The Conductor's movie was having some Troubled Production, so he decided to help by asking a random express owl to put on the act of being murdered to create an interesting plot. These birds are supposed to be rivals and the one who only won once after many other movies is the one to lend a helping hand. This doubles if this results in his next loss, as he sacrificed his own movie for the success of his rival's who would least likely show any appreciation in return.
• Both the DJ Grooves levels in Battle of the Birds show the Hat Kid having a wonderful time parading around as a movie star (both figuratively and literally). Several of the stages put her in stressful situations, including the entire rest of Battle of the Birds. So it's nice to see her able to have fun and dream big like the kid she is.
• Against the final boss of Battle of the Birds, whoever lost the award ceremony will show up to help defuse the bomb that the boss attaches to you — particularly heartwarming if it's the Conductor, who has been a Jerkass to you the whole time and at one point said he valued the safety of his train over your own life, yet he chooses to come by and save your life without so much as a snide remark even though you're the sole reason DJ Grooves won.
• Both funny and heartwarming. When the Snatcher gives her a contract that says he'll leave her alone if she just leaves his forest, Hat Kid changes the contract so that it says she can stay and have fun in the Subcon Forest and for Snatcher to be her BFF. Despite everything he's done to her, the young girl still wants the Snatcher to be her friend.
• The Snatcher himself actually gets at least one moment before The Finale. In Act 5 of Subcon Forest, the Snatcher, a monstrous spirit that has stolen hundreds of souls from those unlucky enough to enter his forest, reveals that he regularly sneaks into mailboxes belonging to those living in the outside world. Why? It's in order to steal mail from them and deliver it all to his minions. The Snatcher's reason for doing this is that he makes it so "it's almost like someone cares about [the minions]", but this small act of genuine kindness makes it obvious that HE cares about them and simply doesn't state/admit it.
  The Snatcher: I'm not heartless!
• In Alpine Skyline, specifically The Birdcage area, you can find a pair of Crow fellows happily enjoying each other's company. If you wait a bit, you might even see little hearts pop up around them!
• Before the fight with Mustache Girl, you can choose to run away in fear. The game asks you if you really want to run away and if you choose to leave, a little animation is played showing Hat Kid running away in tears. She trips on the stairs and just lies on the ground feeling sad while the "credits" roll. After a few seconds though, her former enemies, now friends cheer her on and basically tell her to not give up. After hearing this, she gets up and goes back to the castle feeling confident.
• After the Final Boss, despite her attempting to use your fuel source to fuel her crusade, you can risk not being able to return home by giving Mustache Girl a Time Piece to use against the Mafia, especially when you find out from one of the DLC Time Rift Story Books that Mustache Girl used to live on the island in peace before the Mafia came along and ended up ruining her home, leading her to fight back... All alone.
• In the ending, Hat Kid is about to leave the planet when she is stopped by her former enemies, who have taken a liking to her after they worked together to defeat Mustache Girl and want her to stay with them. Though she brushes them off her ship, she waves goodbye to them in a friendly way and seems happy to have met them, shedding a tear at having to leave them.
• In Rock the Boat, Hat Kid rescues the cruise ship's passengers and crew without expecting any apparent award. She even delves back into the ship to retrieve the captain, when she could've instead gone after the Time Piece.
• Peace and Tranquility offers encouraging, reassuring messages to go with the calming music, with the narration trying to make sure the player doesn't feel bad for toning down the Death Wish, even saying "welcome to the no judgment zone". In today's age, many players and games provide anxiety from Easy-Mode Mockery. This is a welcome change in attitude, especially since Peace and Tranquility does not bar the player from receiving the rewards from Death Wish challenges.
• The seals. They're so ADORABLE!
  • As are the Conductor's itty-bitty toddler grandchildren. It's true that he left them in the playpen for the entire cruise so he could spend it all at the bar, but the fact remains that he brought them all on this expensive vacation with him.
    • When the boat capsizes and starts to sink, you need to rescue the Conductor from the Playpen area, even though he was above deck when the chaos started; he must have run back inside the sinking ship to rescue his grandchildren. It could also explain why he was so incessant on fleeing the sinking ship as quickly as possible; he was afraid for his grandchildren.
      Conductor: Aye... Thank ye, lass. The little ones haven't learned to swim yet.
  • The Conductor claims that he and the others will leave the sinking ship in the lifeboats without Hat Kid if she isn't back in time from saving the Captain. Sure, you DO have a time limit, but when you pick up the Captain, the Conductor instead calls out for Hat Kid again, and more urgently. Of course, you get more time after this.
• It's heavily implied that the seals view the Captain as a father figure. The implication is the strongest at one point during the first mission, when one seal has gotten hurt and wants to be taken to the Captain, expecting him to "kiss it better".
• As some of the DLC Time Rift photos reveal that the Moon Penguins wanted to protect DJ Grooves from overly harsh critics who'd throw tomatoes at him.
  • In another one, we see that after Vanessa's ice plague turned the children of Subcon into Dwellers, Snatcher was nice enough to give them bodies (after signing contracts, of course), and that was how the Subconites were born.
• In the Nyakuza Metro DLC, Rumbi gets his own Purple Rift storybook! It shows him being first assembled by Hat Kid, with the two forming a bond from the start, as well as recounting events of the game from his perspective (the Mafia breaking into Hat Kid's ship, Mustache Girl's betrayal and theft of the Time Pieces, Hat Kid's stardom, Hat Kid's soul being stolen, a purple plant brought onto the ship, and the eventual retrieval of all the Time Pieces). It's heartwarming to know that through thick and thin, the two remain as best of companions.
• In Queen Vanessa's manor, you're forbidden from using (most) hats and from using your weapon. Although it's more likely that he wants to make things hard for Hat Kid for the fun of it, one interpretation suggests that deep down, after everything that's happened between the two, Snatcher still cares about Vanessa and doesn't want her getting hurt. Also a small Moment of Awesome for Hat Kid; Snatcher believes Hat Kid could take her in a fight.
• In the intro for the Nyakuza Metro, Hat Kid discovers that the trains are all pulled by giant, friendly looking cats! It's enough to make her squee and clap at the sight.
• Just the fact that there's a dedicated button for Hat Kid blowing a kiss, complete with smooch sound effect. It doesn't do anything but it's cute.

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