Sadly not enjoyable. Although the game has a lot of charm, and the intro animations and visual novel character art for it are absolutely stunning and evocative, the game and mechanics leave a lot to be desired. Simple quests have you running around gathering basic items, or crafting items. Basically a lot of busywork and chores.
On top of this, the dialogue and characters are quite simple, and the actual activities you do in game are very shallow. On the starting island, I came to a point twice where the game's objective sheet said, "Something interesting will happen soon!" And it was frustrating. Like, why can't that interesting thing happen NOW? Why do I have to wait and fill my own time while I'm supposing to be enjoying myself with interesting adventures and explorations.
Everything also just takes slightly too long as well. Chopping a tree? That's three clicks of a button, followed by clicking to pick up all the items. Planting veggies? Multiple clicks again. Building things? First, run across the island to your house with the workshop, then enter the menu, then enter a second menu, and then click the nondescript "accept" button. It's like the game mechanics themselves added to the busywork.
Beyond that, the game just feels a bit unpolished. This is coming from someone who is usually pretty forgiving of indie games, and someone who accepts a lot of jank if the overall experience is fun. The world of Summer in Mara itself looks serviceable, but a lot of the details feel a bit barren. The player's model feels like a plastic action figure, with very simple walk animations. Most animations seem very plain as well, with no weight behind them.
It looks like a game that was someone's college portfolio, or a demo made in Unity, rather than something that was properly polished for a full release. Maybe that reflects a slim budget, which is at least understandable. And given the scale of the game - with multiple islands to explore and lots of various mechanics, simplistic as they are - there is certainly a lot of game here for people who really vibe with it. But I did not. My favorite part of the game should not be the animated movie at the intro.
I would recommend this game to children most particularly. For every complaint I just gave, none of that would matter at all to them. It would be perfect for someone who enjoys games like Minecraft, but may not be old enough for something like Stardew Valley. I'd also recommend this for people who might be new to survival/farming sims in general, as the cute story and visuals are at least entertaining for all of the busywork. But for anyone looking for a more in-depth experience, or who don't really want to waste their time on what amounts to a fairly simple game, then they would be advised to try something else.
On top of this, the dialogue and characters are quite simple, and the actual activities you do in game are very shallow. On the starting island, I came to a point twice where the game's objective sheet said, "Something interesting will happen soon!" And it was frustrating. Like, why can't that interesting thing happen NOW? Why do I have to wait and fill my own time while I'm supposing to be enjoying myself with interesting adventures and explorations.
Everything also just takes slightly too long as well. Chopping a tree? That's three clicks of a button, followed by clicking to pick up all the items. Planting veggies? Multiple clicks again. Building things? First, run across the island to your house with the workshop, then enter the menu, then enter a second menu, and then click the nondescript "accept" button. It's like the game mechanics themselves added to the busywork.
Beyond that, the game just feels a bit unpolished. This is coming from someone who is usually pretty forgiving of indie games, and someone who accepts a lot of jank if the overall experience is fun. The world of Summer in Mara itself looks serviceable, but a lot of the details feel a bit barren. The player's model feels like a plastic action figure, with very simple walk animations. Most animations seem very plain as well, with no weight behind them.
It looks like a game that was someone's college portfolio, or a demo made in Unity, rather than something that was properly polished for a full release. Maybe that reflects a slim budget, which is at least understandable. And given the scale of the game - with multiple islands to explore and lots of various mechanics, simplistic as they are - there is certainly a lot of game here for people who really vibe with it. But I did not. My favorite part of the game should not be the animated movie at the intro.
I would recommend this game to children most particularly. For every complaint I just gave, none of that would matter at all to them. It would be perfect for someone who enjoys games like Minecraft, but may not be old enough for something like Stardew Valley. I'd also recommend this for people who might be new to survival/farming sims in general, as the cute story and visuals are at least entertaining for all of the busywork. But for anyone looking for a more in-depth experience, or who don't really want to waste their time on what amounts to a fairly simple game, then they would be advised to try something else.