I have a lot to say about this game. Yes, it does have potential, but I haven't seen it coming to fruit at this stage. Since it's still an early access, I will put this as an recommendation and see how it develops.
[b] Visual [/b]:
The best aspect of this game. Cute illustrations, good animations (especially for special characters), warm painterly color palette, and memorable artstyle. The game truly has cozy and warm atmosphere. Really liked how the devs did the map too. The visual is always pleasing to see. Good job on that, I'm interested to buy an artbook if you plan to release one. My only gripe in this is the awkward placement of the tips during transition screen, it's just there without much thought.
[b] Gameplay [/b]:
I get that the appeal of this game is interviewing and hiring employees as an HR. At the start, we do that. But as time goes on, there's no longer the need to hire new employee because we already acquired the ones we need and trained them well. After that, it's just a matter of chatting the employee who was stressed, go on an outing every once in a while, manage Ummu's mood, and training them. During my playthrough I only fired one character and kept the other employees until the end (in total I only met like 5 employee characters then). While I did manage to 'win' the chapter by maximizing their training and managing their mood well, the mid-late game felt like a chore to do. The core gameplay lacks depth after early stages. Wish the devs add more dynamics to the gameplay loop.
[b] Minigames [/b]:
The minigames could be more fun. I truly dislike the countdown minigame, even if it's easier to do than the demo by now (again it feels like a chore to do instead of being fun, I don't see the point of keeping this minigame for full release). The mathematics minigame is okay and I do look forward to it instead of the countdown. I like the cat minigame, the concept is super cute. The cooking minigame is ... meh, it's just putting the same things in order. Please put more thought into future minigames.
[b] Control [/b]:
It's okay, but it's still clunky. Sometimes Ummu doesn't go where I want her to go and I had a hard time making the interaction boxes appear because of that. I think it would be easier to add keyboard control for her instead of clicking. Or Ummu can just walk automatically to selected objects (like clicking on an employee automatically makes her walk to that person). Speaking of clicking, I wish I didn't have to click on the chat box everytime, It will be easier if I can just use a button (like SPACE) to continue the conversations right from the start. I do notice that I can use SPACE button to continue, but it always requires me to click on the chat box first (which is very bothersome). Hopefully the devs can add more ease to this part of the game.
[b] Sound design [/b]:
For me, it's important to have pleasing sound design in cozy games. People might not realize it, but sound design can elevate a cozy gaming experience by a lot. Be it in BGM, button sound feedback, footstep sound, loading screen sound, and everything else. Unfortunately, HR Simulator hasn't reached that level of sound design, yet. It needs more work and attention. For example, the sneezing sound in the loading screen feels like it's in a room instead of outdoor (honestly,it is also a bit irritating to hear after some repetition). You can also add feedback sound when clicking or hovering on interaction boxes, etc. Other than that, I do like the main menu and map view BGM.
Final note, I'm still interested to see how this is going to develop. Please don't rush the development that much, there are still a lot to be polished. Would love to know the roadmap and future releases.
