I haven't really kept up with the story of seasons games, I have fond memories of back to nature but never got on much with a wonderful life. I never really 'got' some of the finer mechanics as a teen such as friendship with villagers increasing gradually if you talk to them every day, it's only after draining Stardew Valley of every inch of gameplay that I've grasped some of these slightly hidden mechanics.

What a game to return to the series with though! I originally thought they'd looked at Stardew and borrowed mechanics and ideas from it as a sort of response to the love letter it is to the series that inspired it, but from what I've looked at online it seems like some of these mechanics were blossoming in the franchise already so I'm off base there and clearly need to play more SoS games that I missed between now and the gamecube era.

it's a fantastic entry, there's a lot to do and the mechanics have that easy going feel that earlier entries had, I know now what they were going for with games like wonderful life (and I do plan to go back to that game sometime) a slower entry is nice, but I've always had a soft spot for just spraying crops everywhere and harvest vast quantities of vegetables to sell absolutely cramming everything you can into a day.

I will say though that the late game does drag a bit, like with a lot of these games I've lately realised how the villagers dialogue quickly gets exhausted and when you talk to them often to raise their friendship it does get a bit frustrating when characters give you semi tutorial tips or compliment how good you are at something, I'm not really sure what the solution is there though, I was dissatisfied with Animal Crossing New Horizons a bit and felt the same way about the villagers there too, thinking fondly that older games had more dialogue but did they really? I'd have to go back and check to be sure I'm not just fooling myself.

The late game idea that you should be aiming to make new seeds for crops and fruit trees to get better quality fruit to complete quests and that better quality milk and the like should be got by breeding successive generations of animals is a bit exhausting I do think its a good idea to try and add a progressive mechanic but the way its done probably needs to be better thought out, the Stardew Valley approach of fertilising the fields to get better quality crops also isn't ideal but then again you're never required to do that to complete anything at least to my recollection, but who knows what a good solution is, I think maybe Pioneers idea is good it's just how long it takes is probably the killer, being able to upgrade the seeds you can buy would probably be more satisfying.

Overall it's a cracking game, in my head I unfairly supply the caveat 'its not as good as Stardew Valley' but that's definitely the bias talking, the game just hits different and I can't quite explain why it feels like it's topped the games its a love letter to so really I shouldn't be, instead I can say that I put far too many hours into this game and enjoyed every bit of it and I recommend it to anyone who loves the genre, it's been worth every bit of my time and I'm glad I finally got back to the franchise after so long.

Love this game, I love the aesthetic, I also love the design, the sort of, I'm not sure what you'd call it, not low poly, not retro but a style all it's own that leans into not trying to be the most photo real but instead be the most itself it can be.

I also love the gentle world building that goes on, the game doesn't immediately reveal its hand but the groundwork is there and I love it.

give it a go honestly you won't regret it if you like a unique gaming experience.

I'm bad at these old style games so I made vicious use of the switch rewind feature, despite that, I love this.

The way in which your play of the game evolves naturally from just running away to gradually working out that you can direct and trick enemies, making snap decisions between chasing down a power-up or not is amazing, and a testament to the game design and tight implementation.

Well worth the time.

A relatively relaxed puzzle game, I played the game with the guide that tells you if a part is solved the whole time because I was oblivious to what the remove guide symbol that was used meant.

Definitely my preferred way to play, just enough of my smooth brain used to make me feel accomplished while being a fun time.

The different mechanics used in the puzzles as you progress were awful fun and I'd love an expanded version.

(I promise I'll play it without the guide, I swear, keep your eyes peeled for the mastered log of this lol)

Honestly much better than you'd expect, feel like Star Fox makes this game but in general the gameplays solid, the elemental system is interesting and theres just enough to do that its fun but not too much that it drags it out, worth giving a go if the price is right.

Don't love the progress being tied to dlc however, caved in and bought a few small dlc items but if you want that 100% the price starts rising fast and honestly its not worth it.

Bit of a shame a sequels unlikely really.

My group has finally completed this game and my god its been good, a wonderful world and excellent mechanics and combat.

One of the biggest laughs to play as a group and something you can really sink your teeth into.

Definitely give it a go!