A New Leaf: Memories

First time reviewing but as a Kickstarter backer for this project I need to get it off my chest. The game had troubled development, and I honestly believe the developers did the best given their circumstances. Crytivo came in to adopt the project and see to it that backers got the product they invested in. Soon, us backers got alpha access. It was as any alpha would be. Clunky, janky, but functional and with a lot of promise. The concern was that the look and feel of the game was nothing compared to what the promotional material had shown at the time of the kickstarter. We assumed this was due to the development issues and that most everything would be a placeholder. A few updates and bug fixes would come our way. Soon, Crytivo announced they would be releasing the product for early access. Many new systems were added, but it never seemed like the foundations were being refined. The Early Access demo was released and... It was the basically the same alpha we had been playing. Nowhere near ready for the public to be demonstrated as a serious product. Even now, some promotional art showcases a game that simply doesn't exist. The character locomotion feels strange, the systems don't feel intuitive, and the overall aesthetics just don't match up to the original vision of the project at all. The character creation screen is still in its alpha state, with minimal customization options. The controls are also clunky and frustrating, and the grid editing for farming and placing furniture just isn't intuitive at all, nor does it feel good to use. I acknowledge we got a game but I'm just not ready to say we got the game we pledged for. I haven't tried engaging with the story or NPC's or trying out interactions all that much because the foundation of this game - the farming sim - just doesn't work like it should! We were so optimistic about the fact that Crytivo picked up this game and would be carrying it over the finish line where the original developers simply fell short. It is really disappointing because it seems the publisher just wanted to scrap together what it could from the remains of this project and ship it to try and recoop costs. The original team were clearly putting a lot of love and care into the project and working with what they had. I just expected more effort and resources from Crytivo to help make this game shine. Please note my perspective is that of a frustrated kickstarter backer that defended this project for the longest time. The years and the current state of the project has altered my perspective significantly. Simply put: Don't buy this game. It isn't what was promised and regardless of the circumstances, people threw money at this project based on that promise and be it the original developers or the publisher, the game didn't deliver. I personally backed $60 for this project, but even $15 for what we have now is hardly justifiable. I hope the original devs are learning from this experience and will be able to keep pursuing their passion. I also hope Crytivo learns the importance of treating acquired projects with care and giving them the time and resources they need to shine.

In its current state, it's really not worth buying or even playing. As a KS backer, I have played since alpha and there has been little to no improvement in the gameplay outside of a handful of bug fixes some attempts at QOL updates, and in some cases it actually got WORSE after some updates. The game was, frankly, released for early access before the playtesting period was even completed and the current devs were almost never active in the discord server unless they'd been pinged repeatedly for days at a time and it's only with the release of early access that they began to pay attention to the discord. Questions, concerns, etc would be ignored for weeks at a time and even after promising weekly updates we'd go months without a single word from the devs. It's honestly clear that the devs genuinely have no interest in the project beyond the contract they took on when they replaced the original creators. The graphics are alright and the animals are cute but other than that it's just not great. NPCS have exactly one set of dialogue as of the last time I opened the game (unless this has changed in the three weeks since I last played; said NPCS would say hello to your player the first time you spoke to them and then proceed to infodump their entire life story to the players. Every conversation would be treated at this first conversation no matter how many times you spoke to them) and frankly they're so forgettable that I genuinely can't tell you a single NPC's name. They also all talk like really stilted robots pretending very badly to be humans. The controller play's clunky, unintuitive and in some cases completely nonsensical. X to open the quest board for example, and then square for every interaction after that? Why not just continue with X? (On a ps4 controller, not sure about xbox) Keyboard and mouse isn't any less clunky. As for story, there isn't one. There's supposed to be one, but there just isn't. You start the game on the farm in your house, with no explanation of why you're there or where to go. Supposedly you're a new resident of the island, based on the NPC dialogue, but how are you to know when the game drops you into day one without any explanation or exposition and just expects you to go? There is absolutely ZERO interactions with NPCs either that I've seen so far, outside of picking up a quest to go find and talk to someone, and no one visits you. NPCS do not leave their shops and the NPCs that are walking around can't be spoken to. I had high hopes for this game but until they've had more time to develop the game I just can't recommend it. There's a lot of potential here but currently it's just not living up to it.

When I first backed this game it was under a different developer. I backed it because it very much gave the feelings of old school Harvest Moon that I grew up with and it looked amazing. I think when developers changed, it lost a lot of heart and passion behind it which is understandable as it wasn't their project. What disappoints me though, is I haven't seen much difference between the alpha and early access release. Maybe there's a lot that's changed, and I just haven't gotten far enough in to see it. I enjoy meeting the townspeople due to the reference to their names, but there's not much too them. I genuinely keep hoping this game will be better and feel more alive because I really was looking forward to it. If things change along the way, I will absolutely come back to my review and keep playing to see changes, as well as try to get further into the game in hopes the bad bits get better as I go further, but as of right now I cannot recommend it at all. Things I do enjoy: - The animals are absolutely adorable - The building and decorating is decently comfortable, though I find myself hitting the wrong key often. - The character creator is pretty cute - It has my peeps from a favorite show - The scenery and artwork are honestly very pretty - Fishing is comfy and fishing is a must for me in a game What I do not enjoy: - The townspeople feel a bit soulless so far, maybe I need to get further in? - Progress feels like a bit of a slog which makes it very hard to get into. One of the early quests is to chop down 30 trees, another around the same time is mining 30 rocks. I can't find a way to replenish my stamina at the moment, outside of ending the day, which has this taking a very long time. There's cooking, but I need the mine to open up before I can build my oven. - There's a huge map but not a lot to it. Feels like a lot of space just to have a lot of space. - Not enough to forage. I'm a loot hound though so that might be a "me" issue. - I genuinely can't tell if this is supposed to have a story. While it might look like the good outweighs the bad, it doesn't feel like it when you're playing it just yet but I do really hope it gets there.

Kickstarter Scam leads to generic cookie cutter farming sim. Had to spend months trying to even get the code for the game that I Kickstarted, only to finally get it without any of the rewards for the tier that I had backed. Do not recommend the game in the slightest.

So many bugs had to close game without saving, I tried to move my furniture around. Weird clunky controls, but as soon as I rotated my bed it turned red no matter where I put it. I tried every single button, the bed got stuck in the wall and wouldn't come back out and I couldnt exit the furniture menu essentially leaving me no choice but to close the game. Feels unfinished. Invisible walls, the beach is barely coloured and looks white, hardly any NPCs, no quests once you begin (an optional task board doesn't count) just feels honestly like a sh*t cash grab rushing into the cozy genre and producing an unfinished sandbox that LOOKS cute to suck steam users in. Tired of this. 1 out of 10 stars.

Kickstarter backer here.. really regret backing this game. I feel like I have been cheated outta the money I put towards it. It's just been one stumble after another with it's development and we haven't received a majority of the things promised. I feel like they were not ready to make this game.. clearly with the game having to be adopted by another company. They haven't updated or said anything in the discord since June 2024. A really big let down. Don't waste your time with this one unless the do something really big with it. I doubt it though. 0/10 experience. Clunky and buggy. Waste of time.

Kickstarter backed this game, forgot about it till years later, couldn't get a refund, got bored after playing for like, an hour tops. The devs basically scammed me and it sucks but they got ♥♥♥♥♥♥ over too so nobody wins. I would have much rather have spent the $30 I did on this for fast food instead. Play STARDEW, it's way better and Concerned Ape is a real one who updates it to this day!

This game is no where near to being done. This was a kickstarted project and the original devs left and crytivo took it over probably to recoup some of the cost. Well there hasn't been an update since June and there hasnt been any activity on the kickstarter page, the discord or the steam page. There's also a lot of rewards that still haven't been put in the game or passed out to the backers. I wouldn't touch this game until its completely done, if that ever comes. Even then what they've got right now isnt that good.

Game is 1.0 and still in early access. Game dramatically changed since kick starter and honestly I would have preferred it just flopped instead of the trash we ended up receiving. DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY.

Backed this as a kickstarter in 2021. Been waiting for a long time for this game to reach a completion point, and I still checked in here and there. At this point though: no updates or response in discord and no updates on the game in a long time, and I'm pretty sure this game has been abandoned. Very sad and disappointed. I think it had a lot of promise. Add to that, zero of the rewards I paid for in to get in the game. I was really looking forward to the kind of aesthetic I saw for this kind of game but this left a bad taste in my mouth.