[h1]It's Festival Time! :D[/h1]
[h2]Introduction[/h2]
[i]Marron's Day[/i] is a cozy, cute adventure and exploration game developed by npckc and published by RAWRLAB Games and npckc. You're Marron, a sweet, cute young bunny living in a small town and excited for the upcoming town festival. However, Marron learns that Donut, the mayor, is going to cancel the festival because not enough people signed up to run stalls. Thus, after going to Donut, Marron takes it upon themselves to make the festival a reality by getting enough people in town and nearby to sign up. Can Marron complete her quest?
With the gameplay, the controls are fairly simple. You can use either the keyboard or controller to move Marron around. (Although it is recommended to use the controller, I used the keyboard for review purposes.) Arrow keys are used to move Marron around, the S key is to confirm an action, and the D key is to cancel it. There is a manual to explain the gameplay functions as well. The objective is to have Marron talk to the many animal townsfolk and convince them to run a stall. The townsfolk will usually have a task that Marron must complete before they'll agree to run a stall. These tasks can include mini-games that range from catching fish to defeating others in battle eraser (a more complicated form of rock-paper-scissors). There's a varied soundtrack in which tracks are unlocked as Marron gets access to other areas in the game or by playing mini-games. CGs and Steam achievements are unlocked as well although the latter won't count towards a user's global total until the game is out of "profile features limited".
[h2]Review[/h2]
Ever since I played the developer's first game, [i]A Year of Springs[/i], I've been a fan, so when I learned about [i]Marron's Day[/i], I knew that I wanted to play it. Thankfully, the developer was very kind to send a review copy. ^^
The story was very cute and sweet. I like Marron as the main character. Marron is mischievous, as is evidenced when one of the neighbors accuses Marron of stealing his carrots, but you know that they're a good, kind bunny. This is obvious when Marron happily agrees to help Donut get enough stalls to make the festival a reality. Marron just loves festivals and wants everyone to be happy and to have fun. Also, I enjoyed seeing how Marron interacts with the other animal townsfolk. They do their best to help others with their tasks, and I like how the story touches upon a few relationships, pointing out that it's ok not to have romantic feelings and whatnot. Of course, I love how the story wraps up, with the festival becoming a reality, and there's even a sweet prologue that you can play after you complete the main story.
With the gameplay, I found it pretty easy to understand. Moving Marron around and clicking on action keys was doable. The only difficulty I found at times was with a couple of mini-games. There's one in which you have to move boxes in an upstairs room to get access to a certain item, and other items are in fixed positions. (However, you can always look up playthroughs to get past this.) Also, I found battle eraser to be a bit challenging. Even though I understood the basic mechanics, it is partially RNG-based, so if you get extremely unlucky, it can take a while to defeat opponents. However, I was able to obtain all of the achievements without too much difficulty. A couple may simply take time, such as the one for finding 64 dandelions. Even after you complete the main story, though, you can continue your file, so if you miss out on any achievements during the main story, you can obtain them in post-game.
As for the art, it has this retro, pixel graphics style that I absolutely adore. It reminds me of games from a certain era when 2-D graphics and challenging gameplay (at times) were more of the norm. Even the colors have that retro feel, having that neon-colored vibe. Also, the character sprites are very adorable.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3425250778
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3425250998
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3425251362
Regarding the music, the tracks, like the art, have that retro feel to them. They're quite fun and whimsical to listen to, and there's a good variety of them. In addition, they feel very light-hearted and happy. If there's one issue I have, it has more to do with the inability to adjust the music volume from within the game itself. I tend to keep my computer volume pretty low, but the game's music still felt a bit loud to me.
[h2]Conclusion[/h2]
Would I recommend [i]Marron's Day[/i]? If you're a fan of cozy, cute games, you enjoy games from back when they were pixelated, and/or you want to get those Steam achievements, this is definitely worth checking out. [i]Marron's Day[/i] brought a smile to my face, especially seeing those cute animal townsfolk, the theme of helping others out of genuine kindness, and the idea of accepting others as they are without any bias or prejudice. For the asking price, it might be a bit on the pricey side, as it took me a little over 5.5 hours to complete the game and obtain all of the achievements. However, you can wait for a sale, and it's in a Steam bundle, so you should totally get it when you can.
Finally, I want to give a major thank you for npckc and RAWRLAB Games for the review copy. I had so much fun playing this game, and I hope that others will have a chance to try it out. ^^
[quote]For more detailed, fully complete, high quality reviews like this, please follow [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/44702020/]The Introverted Gamer[/url], prioritizing heart and soul always. ^^[/quote]
