A farming RPG for those that felt Stardew was a bit too cozy and need a little more neuron activation on the side of your honest working of the land. In many ways it's a nicely streamlined farming experience with a little extra emphasis on some more classical ARPG elements. Unfortunately, it also introduces new tediums and seems to lack for much in content beyond filling out checklists before the end of the first year.
The checklists are fairly robust, so I can see die hard Animal Crossing/Stardew players having their fill here, but as I was once again reminded, the farming life has a short lived appeal for my ape brain.
I did enjoy it for a good stretch, though, before the final set of main quests plowed the pacing for me and my co-op partner. Everything levels some skill tree and the spell casting isn't just for combat options so there's a fun progression of unlocking abilities and perks to farm/mine/fish/hunt efficiently.
The combat is also a decent step up from what's in Stardew. While the set of options is fairly modest compared to a full ARPG, there's still a good set of skills and weapons available, and the movement mechanics allow for a bit more kineticism to encounters.
What's also fun is that there's an actual exploration aspect to the game. Places to discover, NPCs to meet and befriend, and secrets and treasure to gnab. It's pretty neat...
Unfortunately the longer it goes, the more that side of the game starts to backfire on it. While they do offer a decent number of diegetic quick travel options between the different zones, by the late game far too many of the tasks and quests have you trudging back and forth across the far ends of the maps for frankly rather petty chores that could have been turned into a quick cutscene sequence.
I mean, the first couple times make sense for world setting, but it's not like your spunky new farmer has many other pressing matters to attend to. And if you're already started questing on a given day, you probably watered all of your plants on the way out in the morning, so... would have been nice to have a few more jump cuts to the next scene.
That said, I have a hard time saying whether or not your typical farming sim player would have the hangups I do. It expects that when it shows you a long list of all the plants you should grow, fish to catch, and items to craft that you came there to do exactly that.
I did for a while, then I just wanted to headbutt the "mean" dragon and call it a day.
It didn't seem to appreciate my hastiness at that point. But hey, if they give you an "invinvicibility" toggle in the first page of the options, then I guess they understand that people are going to be coming in with a much wider variety of expectations.
So yes, I cheesed the last boss with it and I do feel proud of myself. That healthbar was absurd. There was an alternate path to the ending, but I'm a terrible farmer so it would have taken me another year to get all of the seasonal items requested.
[Probably a great game for people who've actually seen a filled out checklist once in their lives]
Sun Haven a has a vibrant art style, a lighthearted sense of humor, and a clear love for the genre. It's fairly polished where it matters, but I don't think it's quite found the winning formula for this hybrid concept. Can definitely recommend to anyone looking to get that farming sim itch scratched, but one year in game was enough for me.
The checklists are fairly robust, so I can see die hard Animal Crossing/Stardew players having their fill here, but as I was once again reminded, the farming life has a short lived appeal for my ape brain.
I did enjoy it for a good stretch, though, before the final set of main quests plowed the pacing for me and my co-op partner. Everything levels some skill tree and the spell casting isn't just for combat options so there's a fun progression of unlocking abilities and perks to farm/mine/fish/hunt efficiently.
The combat is also a decent step up from what's in Stardew. While the set of options is fairly modest compared to a full ARPG, there's still a good set of skills and weapons available, and the movement mechanics allow for a bit more kineticism to encounters.
What's also fun is that there's an actual exploration aspect to the game. Places to discover, NPCs to meet and befriend, and secrets and treasure to gnab. It's pretty neat...
Unfortunately the longer it goes, the more that side of the game starts to backfire on it. While they do offer a decent number of diegetic quick travel options between the different zones, by the late game far too many of the tasks and quests have you trudging back and forth across the far ends of the maps for frankly rather petty chores that could have been turned into a quick cutscene sequence.
I mean, the first couple times make sense for world setting, but it's not like your spunky new farmer has many other pressing matters to attend to. And if you're already started questing on a given day, you probably watered all of your plants on the way out in the morning, so... would have been nice to have a few more jump cuts to the next scene.
That said, I have a hard time saying whether or not your typical farming sim player would have the hangups I do. It expects that when it shows you a long list of all the plants you should grow, fish to catch, and items to craft that you came there to do exactly that.
I did for a while, then I just wanted to headbutt the "mean" dragon and call it a day.
It didn't seem to appreciate my hastiness at that point. But hey, if they give you an "invinvicibility" toggle in the first page of the options, then I guess they understand that people are going to be coming in with a much wider variety of expectations.
So yes, I cheesed the last boss with it and I do feel proud of myself. That healthbar was absurd. There was an alternate path to the ending, but I'm a terrible farmer so it would have taken me another year to get all of the seasonal items requested.
[Probably a great game for people who've actually seen a filled out checklist once in their lives]
Sun Haven a has a vibrant art style, a lighthearted sense of humor, and a clear love for the genre. It's fairly polished where it matters, but I don't think it's quite found the winning formula for this hybrid concept. Can definitely recommend to anyone looking to get that farming sim itch scratched, but one year in game was enough for me.