"Iyashikei" is a Japanese name for a genre of media dedicated to being set in peaceful environments with little to no drama and focused on characters simply through slice-of-life scenarios and is basically a form of escapism to let the mind and soul heal as you watch the stress-free events unfold before you, hopefully distracting you from life's ills and woes. I write this review at the end of 2020 and though this year has not been particularly bad to me, it was still a year of low lows. And this short, sweet little title definitely distracted me from this tumultuous time for the 2 hours I spent with it.
The gameplay is exceedingly simple. You are presented with a broken gizmo and you must fix it. You simply follow a prescribed series of steps to, first, dissassemble it, optionally replace the broken parts, make it work and then put it back together again. Though some gadgets towards the end will trip you up for some reason, you'll never be totally stuck on anything. These assembly puzzles are not challenging in the least but that's absolutely not the goal here. The goal is to grab your focus and make you engrossed in the action of "restoring" what's in front of you but not so much that it taxes your brain. The devs have certainly found the sweet spot and use it to great effect
What enhances the entire experience is the gorgeous art and the lovely lilting soundtrack. The art style enhances the experience with its bright, vivid colors and simple illustrations. The soundtrack doesn't interfere and is simply there to establish a calming, soothing mood with high trills and ethereal notes
There is a story of sorts of a girl moving into town and finding people with knick-knacks that need repairing and finding out their stories along the way. It's nothing groundbreaking but, like everything else in this game, is simply serving the purpose of establishing atmosphere. The voice acting is excellent and give the story more animosity and life
I was smiling through most of my playthrough with this. The developers have hit a slam dunk with what they set out to achieve and I am very pleased I've been able to experience this. I highly recommend you pick this up for the moments of bliss and relative peace the game offers. This game definitely fits the "Iyashikei" genre perfectly and I feel, in some small part, healed
The gameplay is exceedingly simple. You are presented with a broken gizmo and you must fix it. You simply follow a prescribed series of steps to, first, dissassemble it, optionally replace the broken parts, make it work and then put it back together again. Though some gadgets towards the end will trip you up for some reason, you'll never be totally stuck on anything. These assembly puzzles are not challenging in the least but that's absolutely not the goal here. The goal is to grab your focus and make you engrossed in the action of "restoring" what's in front of you but not so much that it taxes your brain. The devs have certainly found the sweet spot and use it to great effect
What enhances the entire experience is the gorgeous art and the lovely lilting soundtrack. The art style enhances the experience with its bright, vivid colors and simple illustrations. The soundtrack doesn't interfere and is simply there to establish a calming, soothing mood with high trills and ethereal notes
There is a story of sorts of a girl moving into town and finding people with knick-knacks that need repairing and finding out their stories along the way. It's nothing groundbreaking but, like everything else in this game, is simply serving the purpose of establishing atmosphere. The voice acting is excellent and give the story more animosity and life
I was smiling through most of my playthrough with this. The developers have hit a slam dunk with what they set out to achieve and I am very pleased I've been able to experience this. I highly recommend you pick this up for the moments of bliss and relative peace the game offers. This game definitely fits the "Iyashikei" genre perfectly and I feel, in some small part, healed