[h1]Short Review:[/h1]
- Wonderful characters
- Fun supernatural stuff
- Lots of animals
- Easy combat
- Nothing is explained, you will need guides
- No sell prices
- Too many items
- Machines make one thing at a time
- Frustrating, but fun if you can get past that
[h1]Full Review:[/h1]
I have mixed feelings. Ultimately, I'm glad I played, it's worth the money, and I want people to play it! But you have to be willing to heavily rely on guides and to accept some issues in order to get to the good stuff.
The good things are so good! And it was fun and addictive once I got the hang of it. It's just, the first 30 hours were mostly frustration and looking through 10 different guides every other minute, then 40 hours of mostly fun, then back to frustration as I searched and searched for a few specific items and eventually gave up on the ones not required for the ending. But if you don't mind using guides, you probably won't be frustrated, and I added my own to help new players even more.
So...
[b]Likes:[/b]
- The characters were wonderful! They all had their own personalities, complexities, backstories, and struggles, including the non-romance ones. They didn't feel like they were just there to talk to the player. I enjoyed getting to know all of them (though I especially loved Thomas). And by getting to know them, you can see their lives changing.
- I didn't understand how NPC interaction worked at first, but it's complex and immersive in a great way. Dialogue changes depending on where NPCs are, what they're doing, the season. It changes as you grow close or marry them. If NPCs are hanging out, you get an exchange between them, instead of separate convos. It made them feel real. (Always interact twice, they have more to say!)
- It was cute how NPCs would do stuff throughout the day. Not just follow a schedule, but move around doing little workouts, dancing, etc. Plus festivals.
- One of the love interests is blind! I rarely find disabled love interests in games.
- The magic and supernatural was so fun! Magical weapons, items, spells. Vampires, werewolves, merfolk, faeries, demons. I accidentally became a werewolf and kept it because it was neat. I also tried vampire and had fun seeing who and what I could bite.
- So many animals to pet! Yours, NPCs' pets, little veggie creatures. By the end, I had a dog, a cat, chickens, ducks, rabbits, cows, alpacas, pigs, goats, penguins, phoenixes, foxes, skunks, parrots, ravens, and owls. (I turned my island into parrot island. It looks so nice!)
- Queer rep! You can date any gender, but also NPCs who were in love with or had crushes on the same gender.
- Combat is easy. I say this as someone who usually avoids combat because it stresses me and I'm bad at it. Really, just click a bunch, run away to eat health boost foods, then go click some more. Or throw fireballs from a distance. (P.S. Only dungeons 11-20 are dark.)
- There are cute clothes to make once you get a sewing machine.
- Cowfish! You can only cook or sell them, but still, my favorite fish!
- You can have kids or not. I assume all partners accept your choice.
- Wood and stone are plentiful.
- There are lots of little details to discover. For example: [spoiler]Some mushrooms will get you high and affect the visuals. When you wear the amulet to talk to the bear for a quest, you can also talk to some other animals.[/spoiler]
- It's just really chill.
[b]Major Dislikes:[/b]
- Hardly anything is explained. I felt very frustrated, confused, and adrift for a while. You get quests, but you need to do multiple other quests first, but you're not told that and haven't been given those yet. You're told to get items with no clue how. So many things are just pictures, no description. Controls to do a thing in one place are different in another. There are so many things you would never figure out without guides, some I still couldn't find, and poring over guides just isn't how I like to play.
- There's no sell price shown for items or info about whether an item will be used for crafting.
- There are too many items, many have no use, and almost all foods, plants, and animal products have 3 or 4 qualities that don't stack. Inventory/chest space is a problem (I had 10 chests + inventory and was still dropping things to get later). Recipes don't pull from chests. When you need a certain amount, they must be the same quality. It's also hard (for me impossible) to find certain items when some drops are randomized from a pool of items.
- Machines can only make one thing at a time, and they take a while. Also, tutorial must be on to see the input/output for machines on hover, but the tutorial takes up screen space.
[b]Minor Dislikes:[/b]
- Movement is clunky, controls are confusing, but I got used to it.
- Splitting one item from a stack and selling a stack requires middle mouse click, which I don't have.
- Stores are hardly open. I got used to it. It makes sense in context.
- The map doesn't match the world or show where anyone is. But you'll learn.
- Farming was frustrating at first. The scarecrow only covers 8 crops (not a radius), so you need many. You'll unlock an iron sprinkler that also covers 8, which is good because watering can is finicky. Picking up scarecrow or sprinkler destroys crops, no seeds back. But it's ok once it's all set up, and you'll get statues that protect + water 24 crops and a grow spell.
- Museum displays are cute, rewards are nice, but there's no list of all items (only items that give rewards) and no way to see what you've turned in.
- I upgraded my house all the way for more space, but it just gave me a kids room with unmovable furniture. I didn't want kids. But my partner used the room sometimes, so it may be required.
- House decorating is meh. Stuff is cute, which is why it's sad you can hardly fit any. There's not much space. Grid squares are big. You can only put one thing on each. Some things are weirdly far apart or overlapping. You can't use surfaces. Most things face forward. Wall decor is low and half covered. But I still made it cute.
- Finding cut scenes as you progress relationships is tricky. You won't get locked out, you just may not find them all on your own. You have to be in the right place at the right time (e.g. the bar after 6). It does feel immersive though. It just would help if the game told you which you've seen. So keep track, then use a guide for the rest.
- The ending was sorta disappointing. [spoiler]There was no way it wouldn't be bittersweet in some way, but this felt like the worst option, it erased the growth characters had,[/spoiler] and it didn't make sense. [spoiler]She said everything would go back to how it was and no one would remember. For some it did, dead loved one alive again. But George and Camila met and had a kid in Brookhaven, and they were still together with a kid. Harper became a mermaid. So why couldn't I stay with my partner?[/spoiler] You can play endlessly if you want though.
- Bugs: Crop spell sometimes not working but using magic. Animals sometimes taking pellet, then disappearing. Became invisible a couple times. Occasional crashes, especially using mounts. Getting stuck. Chests not opening from far side.
[b]Everything Else:[/b]
- You have to kill animals for some things, a couple for the main quest.
- Some NPCs have lost loved ones, grief is a common topic.
- You can marry once, no divorce, but you can do all events and have a kiss with all love interests.
- I got this on sale for $9.74.
[b]Overall:[/b]
There's some great stuff, especially the characters! If you're willing to put in the effort and use guides from the start, then go for it because there really is some cute stuff here!
*Review can also be found on my blog (link in profile).*
[h1]Accessibility:[/h1]
(May not include everything)
– Can't change key bindings.
– Requires mouse and keyboard, or controller.
– No other accessibility that I found.
