I love this game.

Nonagram/picross games are kind of an obsession of mine. I've played most of the ones on Google Play at this point. So many aspects of this game are so wonderful.

I love the quirky little cats, I love that they have their own rooms that you slowly decorate for them. I like the stories and seeing them warm up to you. The levels are also super fun. Importantly, I also like the energy mechanic.

I know, unpopular opinion. Everyone hates energy mechanics. However, without it, I would be playing it constantly. In the past, I have skipped meals because I couldn't stop playing levels on games of this sort. The energy mechanic is wonderful for me.

The art is also just super cute and augh!!! The perfect game DOES exist!

I'm unfortunately really disappointed in this game :(

I love farming sims, being a lifelong fan of the Rune Factory series and having hundreds of hours in Stardew Valley. I didn't go into this expecting Rune Factory, even though that's a Harvest Moon spinoff, because I know that those games are rather eccentric. They're also RPGs, and that adds an extra element. However, I did not expect it to be on the opposite side of the spectrum. As far as I can tell, these characters have no personality or story beyond surface level. I'm at half hearts with one of the bachelorettes, and I still know nothing about her. She never talks about herself. I didn't even know her preferred gifts until I looked up a guide online.

The same can be said for everyone else as well. They'll comment on the season, the weather, the town itself, but they barely talk about themselves or their relationships with the others. There's the occasional cutscene, but they're usually vague and uninformative. Anything they do say to show personality is archetypal, basically screaming "I'm the lazy character" or "I'm the brooding older brother". Maybe I'm just doing something wrong, but I don't know what I could do differently other than talking to them daily and giving them gifts.

I do like the gameplay. I think the realism of the crops and the animals is really fun! I like that you can train your dog tricks, and all of the animals are really cute. The town is pretty and has nice locations. The dig site is probably my favorite aspect of the game, and the things you get both act as gifts and a way to make money, which is a bonus! The only thing that frustrates me is the cooking mechanic since you have a fullness meter, but you can't cook anything until you get crops. I would have rated this game lower honestly if the game weren't fun to play. I do have a good time.

However, when I play this genre, I play it for the characters. I want to get to know the people in town, build relationships, and find a love interest that I like. When there isn't an overarching plot, the characters kind of make the game. In that aspect, this game is severely lacking. All of the love interests bore me, and in a game where you're expected to get married or else you get a game over, that is not good. I want to like them. I gave them gifts every day, I took one on a date, I spoke to them as much as I could, but they're just blank slates with a pretty face. It's immensely frustrating, especially for the price I paid.

It makes me sad because Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons is like the third piece of the holy trinity of farming sims! But it does not live up to the other two at all. It was clearly just made for people who played the original and want to see it made anew. I'm definitely going to be returning this one.