Good game overall, lacks variety
I played the main sStoryline and some of the aftergame content. Version 1.1.0. Game playtime matches the description of 15-20 hours.
There are some minor bugs which do not impact the main game:
- some quests do not have a description
- later in the game your little helper will get stuck from time to time and do nothing
- npc walking animation is off - they glide over the ground. especially noticible if they are walking slow
- npc will be in multiple places at the same time. you saw that npc walk into the bank. you enter the bank - the npc is not there. you see the owner of the tavern walking outside. you enter the tavern, the npc will be there.
The story is okayish - it's not outstanding.
The characters are well designed.
The music fits the setting.
However, what it lacks is variety in gameplay.
There are only 2 things: run the shop and do fetch quests.
No other minigames - no farming, fishing, mining or exploring. The map is big, but essentially empty interaction wise.
Fetch quests are very slow, and you are usually only allowed one quest at the time. Subquests usually require other events to trigger before you can continue down the line. So you end up with a long quest log, but every task just says "this can take a while".
The main problem in the game is the slow pacing of the story.
It got repetitive really fast: all you do is get up in the morning, go to the shop, refill what you want to sell, handle the daily business, clean up, go home. Decorating the shop or your home does not give any benefits.
Some NPC will have some longer dialogue lines and give you hints about upcoming quests. However, the text will start to repeat at some point in time.
There are a lot of NPC, but they usually stick to their paths and areas. Which makes the buildings feel empty. Do they visit each other? Maybe. Do you see them talking to each other? Not outside of cutscenes.
It doesn't seem like your actions and replies to NPC matter at all.
It is one of the games where you are just along for the ride.
There are a lot of places hinted in the game that might have further use, but which at least in the main storyline are not followed up on.
Update: I finished all aftergame content. There is nothing that makes it worth playing after the main game ends. Even after you finish the last challenge, there is nothing. It's just the same loop you were doing over the course of the main game, minus some interesting story or questlines on the side.
It is enough to keep you entertained, but it is nothing outstanding.
It is not demanding gameplay and storywise.
It is it's own thing and does not try to copy other games.
It is no game I want to replay.
Therefore, I can only give it an "okay" rating.
4 gamers found this review helpful