Really fun, but an interesting mix of stressful and relaxing. There's an overwhelming amount of things to do and details to remember, but also some very lovely imagery and bits of humor to cut through the murk. It makes the title, despite each playthrough being relatively short, surely feel like you got every drop of your money's worth for it, but also can be kind of exhausting if played without pacing yourself. Can be challenging at times, both with managing your stats and figuring out how to complete your tasks, since most require a detour or remembering where you can buy specific items. Many rewarding and exciting scenarios to roleplay with so far (as long as you like fantasy and survival themes). I love the music and visuals. They are simple, but have a nice atmosphere and do not strain the eyes or ears. Obviously not a game for people who don't want to do a lot of reading, since other than clicking around a map or in your inventory, that's all you do. I did encounter a glitch with refilling the cleanliness/vitality meters once. 40 days being the standard time for completing the goals of this game is either too much or not enough depending on the tasks you want to complete, but that was probably intentional to further challenge you to juggle your available time and solve some of the puzzles (or to help you decide to save things for later playthroughs). Got this on sale for pocket change, although I've been eyeing it for a while. It's a four-star title that I almost gave that extra fifth star for since it was so cheap, so the cost-to-play-time ratio is pretty unbeatable there. I may come back one day, after playing this game more, and finally add that fifth star after all.
Like many recent reviewers, I downloaded this game because it was a free giveaway from GOG. This game is overall mid in quality and truly worth a 3/5 stars, but I thought other reviewers were being ungenerous, particularly toward a game they didn't have to pay for. The character portraits and backgrounds are all quite beautiful and inviting. The game even comes with a digital artbook too! The art alone is worth a star. The overall plot and character archetypes are predictable and formulaic, but not too annoying. I was expecting worse, considering other indie fantasy media I've subject myself to before. The dialogue, codex, and other written labels are the least polished thing. There is a backwards E in one of the menus. There are oddly-placed commas. Sometimes, you aren't expecting to have the option to respond, but end up skipping through and choosing the first option on accident. However, this isn't an RPG, so the dialogue options are inconsequential anyway. I think the problem with this game is that it constantly presents itself with RPG features, but it is a 3rd person pov visual novel + dungeon crawler and should've owned it. The RPG elements function more as aesthetic choices rather than integrated elements of the gameplay, which confuse expectations. Dungeon crawling and combat is repetitive, but that's not uncommon in the genre. You can't progress more with skills, and gear options are limited. You're not gonna get a deep, customizable experience. It's meant for when you want what I call "battle meditation" - the kind of mindless hypnotism you get from level grinding in Pokemon or watching one of those plot-absent shonen animes. I'm glad this game was free, since it's not worth $25. But it's not irredeemable, it's just not a deep experience. If you're looking for a fantasy game that won't give you a headache with numerous narrative threads or complicated battle mechanics, this will deliver. Just make sure you get it on a deep discount - at least 50%.
