I have a lot to say about this game, but I'm saving my long-form review for my newsletter. Suffice it to say: I like this game quite a bit, there's a lot going on here that hooks me, and I'm confident that I'll be seeing it through to whatever extent it continues to provide the atmosphere and charm that it has so far. It's a genuine travesty that this has gotten so little attention outside of a handful of talented journalists' recommendations on personal blogs.

Before the Green Moon strikes a niche that farming sims rarely ever do, even the indie ones. It feels much closer to a Love De Lic game in the way it presents itself, following a nostalgic comfort more akin to the Gamecube than the usual cutesy pixel aesthetic that indie farm sims generally take - not that it's a bad thing, but the art direction here stands out and becomes incredibly charming the longer you spend with it, much like its NPCs.

Where other games like Stardew Valley present the mystery of their gameplay loop through quantity of mechanics, BtGM stays ambiguous about all the things you can do, leaving you to explore with your limited time/energy frame and discover how much you can really make of your ramshackle little farm and the nearby town. The citizens aren’t unfriendly, but the town still feels socially inaccessible to an extent that reminds me of early Animal Crossing games, and makes it much more rewarding once you start to fit in.