Garden Story does have a lot going for it. Its got charming music, whimsical visuals and a generally fun gameplay loop of foraging and clearing tasks in between main dungeons.
Its problem that its just a little too flimsy with the content that it should have focused on. The dungeons are too small and generally can be whizzed through far too easy... That and theres really only 3/4 total to run through.
And while the loop of resource collecting and task-clearing can be fun at the start, it quickly spreads itself out too thin where you'll often be just grinding to get anywhere, causing a rather short game to be artificially lengthened beyond what it should have been.
It all leads to a game that is charming enough to play through, its one that'll leave you feeling with a bit of a 'Is that it?' shortchanged-ness as the grindy buildup made you expect a little bit more than what was actually provided.
Its problem that its just a little too flimsy with the content that it should have focused on. The dungeons are too small and generally can be whizzed through far too easy... That and theres really only 3/4 total to run through.
And while the loop of resource collecting and task-clearing can be fun at the start, it quickly spreads itself out too thin where you'll often be just grinding to get anywhere, causing a rather short game to be artificially lengthened beyond what it should have been.
It all leads to a game that is charming enough to play through, its one that'll leave you feeling with a bit of a 'Is that it?' shortchanged-ness as the grindy buildup made you expect a little bit more than what was actually provided.