I am so glad i waited so long to play this game because getting to just play it on a week I was doing nothing was pure bliss. genuinely had so much fun with this game, there is no way to not compare it to stardew valley based off gameplay but in many ways it is so much better than stardew valley by taking a lot of the more grindy headache inducing aspects of stardew valley and either toning it down or removing it (no stamina <3333). My only reason for me that it wouldn't be 5/5 is the characters are not nearly as likable as stardew valley IMO and the art style is a little bit too chibi for my liking, but besides that this game is better in like every way

After logging too many hours, like I often do with farm sims, I think the overall design is a little unbalanced. There was simply too much to do in the starting farm and too little in the "bonus" farms. Since there's less to discover, there wasn't much keeping me exploring those areas. I spent more time trying to get to there than actually enjoying the new locations. As a result, though adorably rendered, the subsequent areas feel more like an afterthought.

There are a lot of things I liked about the game, though. The sprite work was impressive. I am a sucker for a use-based leveling system. I liked the magic/mana system in lieu of a stamina system.

Worth a play if you like Stardew type games. Despite my quibbles, I logged dozens of hours into this thing.

Basically Stardew Valley but with a more in-depth character customization, story, and fantasy RPG elements... which is quite nice, to be honest!

My only complaint is that there are too many loading screens, and they take an eternity to load and that lowkey kills my engagement and general excitement to play the game. (Though this may just be because my PC sucks, idk)

Welp, yeah. If you're done playing Stardew, loves fantasy scenarios and is craving for something more, i'd definitely recomment checking this out.

A farming RPG for those that felt Stardew was a bit too cozy and need a little more neuron activation on the side of your honest working of the land. In many ways it's a nicely streamlined farming experience with a little extra emphasis on some more classical ARPG elements. Unfortunately, it also introduces new tediums and seems to lack for much in content beyond filling out checklists before the end of the first year.

The checklists are fairly robust, so I can see die hard Animal Crossing/Stardew players having their fill here, but as I was once again reminded, the farming life has a short lived appeal for my ape brain.

I did enjoy it for a good stretch, though, before the final set of main quests plowed the pacing for me and my co-op partner. Everything levels some skill tree and the spell casting isn't just for combat options so there's a fun progression of unlocking abilities and perks to farm/mine/fish/hunt efficiently.

The combat is also a decent step up from what's in Stardew. While the set of options is fairly modest compared to a full ARPG, there's still a good set of skills and weapons available, and the movement mechanics allow for a bit more kineticism to encounters.

What's also fun is that there's an actual exploration aspect to the game. Places to discover, NPCs to meet and befriend, and secrets and treasure to gnab. It's pretty neat...

Unfortunately the longer it goes, the more that side of the game starts to backfire on it. While they do offer a decent number of diegetic quick travel options between the different zones, by the late game far too many of the tasks and quests have you trudging back and forth across the far ends of the maps for frankly rather petty chores that could have been turned into a quick cutscene sequence.

I mean, the first couple times make sense for world setting, but it's not like your spunky new farmer has many other pressing matters to attend to. And if you're already started questing on a given day, you probably watered all of your plants on the way out in the morning, so... would have been nice to have a few more jump cuts to the next scene.

That said, I have a hard time saying whether or not your typical farming sim player would have the hangups I do. It expects that when it shows you a long list of all the plants you should grow, fish to catch, and items to craft that you came there to do exactly that.

I did for a while, then I just wanted to headbutt the "mean" dragon and call it a day.

It didn't seem to appreciate my hastiness at that point. But hey, if they give you an "invinvicibility" toggle in the first page of the options, then I guess they understand that people are going to be coming in with a much wider variety of expectations.

So yes, I cheesed the last boss with it and I do feel proud of myself. That healthbar was absurd. There was an alternate path to the ending, but I'm a terrible farmer so it would have taken me another year to get all of the seasonal items requested.

[Probably a great game for people who've actually seen a filled out checklist once in their lives]

Sun Haven a has a vibrant art style, a lighthearted sense of humor, and a clear love for the genre. It's fairly polished where it matters, but I don't think it's quite found the winning formula for this hybrid concept. Can definitely recommend to anyone looking to get that farming sim itch scratched, but one year in game was enough for me.

A tremendous amount of bugs put a hamper on the grand amount of love and care placed into this game's characters, mechanics, and relationships. It seems either the developers are relatively inexperienced or the management isn't fantastic at Pixel Sprout, but one way or another, I would not recommend purchasing this game yet. There's far too much to be ironed out before it's the experience it yearns to be, the experience that can be felt as you play, yet lost as you encounter yet another bug you thought was patched out.

Sun Haven is a delightful and incredibly flawed game, a fantastic experience that I cannot yet recommend for long-time playing.