Should I buy this game?

[Lyca]

Hi, I am thinking of buying this game as I see it has good reviews in general. Those of you who have experience already with this game could you tell me some pros and cons of what you think?

Thanks in advance!

[BoogtehWoog]

As others have said, it is cozy and low-stakes. It has a bit of relaxed pace and there's not much pressure to do much beyond what you set out to do. There's a variety of activities, but there are all very easy to engage in and not really anything to stress over. It's a relaxing game, but perhaps a bit too relaxing and not engaging enough. The NPCs are nice and I've enjoyed my interactions with them. There's some nice QoL stuff here.

I like the game, but I don't love it thus far. I can only play in spurts before my mind wanders too much playing it.

[MarshCreature]

If you played stardew valley and liked it, there's a strong possibility you will like this game as well. It's charming with it's own unique setting but it has some systems that set it aside from other farming sims. I bought it on sale and loved every second of it, but there's always the option to refund the game if you have less than two hours into it.

[LyaranTirel]

It's a farming game like any other Harvest Moon derivant (it includes Stardew Valley). In this case the diferencial key is the stone age thing and they do it very well. The theme is well developed and don't break the immersion. The NPCs are not that deep, but they do have some personality that makes them not boring and some even worth investing.
The con I must say is above all the price. Neither the game quality, story plot nor graphics really justify such high price.
If you like farming game I recomend buying, but only if you find it on sale AT MOST.

[Lyca]

Thank you all for your comments, I have decided to get Outer Wilds as it has been highly recommended to me but I will be sure to try this one in the future as well.

[BoogtehWoog]

Originally posted by Lyca:

Thank you all for your comments, I have decided to get Outer Wilds as it has been highly recommended to me but I will be sure to try this one in the future as well.

Outer Wilds is one of my favorite games of all time. 10/10. Just gaming perfection. Great choice.

[Hawk]

I dig it. Even by the standards of the genre Pacha is incredibly low stakes. It does at times feel a little meandering because there's no clear "goals". Stardew you're always working towards something but with Pacha it's not as clear cut. Progress in the game is made no matter what you do and all your contributions just speed up the rate. There are a few areas I wish were more clear or streamlined, like some products can be refined in different ways but it's not clear what is better. There's a reason a game like Stardew really only has one refinement system per product, it just adds additional noise.

I also wish the caves aspect of the game kind of wasn't there at all. It's meandering and takes forever to make progress in. There's light puzzle elements I'm not huge on either. And some things are left intentionally obscure like the prophecy system. Again, unlike Stardew which is very upfront on what's needed for progress (Golden Walnuts aside which I also hate).

One thing I really like that I never see get mentioned is that as time goes on and the clan prospers you can actually see it in the world. The clan starts putting down more aesthetics like fire pits, benches to sit on, and so on. You have no say in those, so it gives the feeling of progress.

I'd definitely check it out. But it's got a totally different mindset from games like Stardew which is about economic progress and development.

[puzzlesplaneswalkers]

For a genre that's not well served its fantastic and I would recommend it!