Halcyon Days at Taoyuan

If you like farming life sims like Stardew Valley and Fields of Mistria, I think you will like this game. The pixel art style is very detailed and well done. The world is full of things to collect and animals to watch. There is a lot to keep you busy: crops and flowers to grow, dishes to cook, and decorations to craft. It is interesting to learn a bit about Chinese mythology and traditional culture. If you're interested in the romance there are lots of cute NPCs to choose from. The daily dialog with the NPCs is varied and lively. You can chat with the village gossip each day and get a quest to help someone. You can help the town by contributing items to the donation box to increase your standing in the community and receive vouchers to trade for expensive items. You can gift individual NPCs to raise friendship or barter with them for goods. The combat in the mines is pretty straightforward, much like Stardew Valley, except that sometimes you get the chance to tame the wild animal attacking you -- which you can equip as a companion to give you buffs. I haven't done any of the boss fights yet, so I can't comment on that, but I just upgraded my weapon and armor so hopefully I'm ready. There are several fun minigames: fishing (easy but you have to be quick), learning recipes (you have to stir, chop, whisk, sear -- it depends on the recipe level and type), blueprints (an origami-like simple jigsaw puzzle -- very relaxing), and picking sparkly forageables (a Where's Waldo type to find the herb). There is so much to do in this game it can feel a bit overwhelming at first, so you just have to be patient and do a little bit each day. The gameplay feels very polished, I haven't encountered any bugs. Playing with a controller feels a bit wonky at times, for instance when you are watering you really just want to be moving along the major axes (East-West or North-South) and I constantly find myself moving off at a 45 degree angle (to the NE for instance). This will probably be less of a problem as I upgrade my tools to cover a larger area. I think this game will keep me busy for a while and was relatively inexpensive, so I feel it's a very good value.