Gleaner Heights

Holy fidget spinners, I am trying so hard to get into this game. I want to get far enough to find out about the story, which may be the only hook it has. The problem is the game is just. So. Boring. It has all the burdening elements of an early 90s farm sim with none of the creative, fun, or engaging qualities. The map is needlessly large but has limited to no interactions or foraging, making plodding from point A to point B a grueling experience even with permanent run toggled on. The controls are clunky. The characters have limited dialogue interactions. There is nothing that GRABS me about it. I have to force myself to try playing just with the hope that something interesting lies ahead. Compared to stronger titles in the genre (Grimshire, Coral Island, or the GOAT Stardew Valley) or even the classics like the OG Harvest Moon, Gleaner Heights is such a weak entry as to feel like a waste of time when I could be playing a game I enjoy right from the get go.

The game crashes when checking the calendar, and upon going to the Equipment tab of the menu after acquiring something to equip. It may crash when you level up, and it may crash when you're watering crops or fighting enemies. So far I haven't been able to get through a single game day without some sort of crash completely stalling my progress and forcing me to redo that day. I've had this game in my library for a long time, but I never really got around to it. I was hoping to finally try it out, but seeing as it's gone without dev interaction for about four years, I have to assume that these issues will not be fixed. Maybe one day I'll get to retract this review after actually being able to play the game. That'd be nice, wouldn't it?

Ich denke der Grundgedanke des Spiels ist super, allerdings recht langweilig umgesetzt. Es zieht sich sehr und man bekommt keinerlei Hinweise, was man machen soll. An sich ist es nicht schlimm, wenn es keinen roten Faden gibt, allerdings läuft man doch recht planlos durch die Gegend und es passiert einfach nichts in dem Spiel, zumindest soweit ich gekommen bin. Es gibt nichts, auf das man hin arbeitet und die Dialoge der NPCs wiederholen sich größtenteils, sodass man nichts über sie erfährt. Die Steuerung ist gewöhnungsbedürftig, ich persönlich finde es mit Controller wesentlich einfacher. Als Fan des Genres kann ich das Spiel leider nicht empfehlen, da alleine das Farming in diesem Spiel nicht gut umgesetzt ist. Positiv ist aber auf jeden Fall die Grafik und die Umsetzung des mysteriösen Vibes, es ist visuell sehr süß.

Controls are pretty bad. I use mouse and keyboard.

Very good

It's hard to say how to recommend this game. I guess one thing is that you shouldn't underestimate the regular farming lifestyle aspect, as it is where you will be spending the vast majority of your time, so you'd better grow accustomed to it. But the times where the game goes off the rails, they're some of the most grabbed by a game I've been in a long long time, particularly much later on when it gets to into the season 2 dlc. I would say that you really shouldn't worry about minmaxing your farm routine, like I did. You'll only end up getting quite burned out, and some of the most significant events become available later on in the game so if you drag it out too long you'll just be too exhausted to continue. Just enjoy it, get into that role and settle into life with the rest of the town. I know that even though I may have had an attitude that did not do me any favours, I got really familiar with my place in the town, and in some way the getting used to it and peaceful mundanity made the wild mind-blowing stuff all the more amazing. The initial side ocurrances did not make me stagger, but the more I went along, and especially with the dlc, I went on one hell of a journey, it was something special, and though I had a very weird and sometimes mixed relationship with the game, in the long run it holistically made this one of my favourite games I've played. I don't know what your experience with it would be, as I have very eccentric tastes, but there is something here for those happy to put in their time and enjoy a relaxed life in Gleaner Heights. P.S. very light spoilers, but here's two small things I wish I had known about when I played: [spoiler]1. The plant enemy can drop peanuts, and 2. no matter your outlook, it's good to open the safe, so when you get given the chance take it.[/spoiler]

What was this? Absolutely nothing to do! I was hoping for mysterygame but apparently you have to wait weeks for something to happen.