I wanted to love this game so much.

And at first, I did. My first few hours in the game were pretty nice, but certain issues became apparent with more playtime. The love and work the Devs put in are clear to see, and I'm sure lots of people will have a great time with this. But for me many of the features that set Plum Grove apart also harm it in the end.

The generational gameplay loop, the fact that NPCs can marry, die, etc. It made you think the town and world would feel alive, but that's what killed it in my opinion. The NPC interaction is so shallow and lifeless, so meaningless ultimately. As an old timer of the farm/life sim genre, I know you rarely get novel-level character development, but this was so much less than even what Harvest Moon had on the SNES.

The NPC weddings that come and go throughout the seasons feel like nothing more than a game of random ''pair the spares'' since no one really has any relationships with each other. No rival events, no dialogue hinting at who they might be interested in. It all feels so pointless, that not even the deaths shake you that much, most of them you never really even know by name anyway.

Even your own marriage is a dull affair. Again no relationship events, no special dialogue, nothing. All the NPCs are basically just randomly generated sims meant to keep the wheelwork of the generations going. In essence, in order to have a game where infinite generations were possible it made none of them matter.

I could add that the economy is sort of broken besides. As crops are almost so worthless I nearly stopped growing them apart from a few to eat. But I realize that could get sorted out with tweaking and such.

Overall, I love the art and I respect the dedication of the Devs, but please consider what you want out of the game before you buy.

Its a beautiful game with interesting ideas of aging and dying but at the moment it is not enjoyable for very long because it lacks a lot in story and depth. The conversations with vilagers are generic and repetetive, There is a witch in the bog, mermaids, ghosts, pirates and a blood moon. So many potentially exciting stories that could be told with this, but as of right now there is nothing to them. So its a drag, day in day out, to grind along and fulfil quests to get blueprints for stuff in your house that your family will not use. Its basically an early access title, nicely polished on the outside but pretty empty on the inside, Because of that I cant recommend the game at this stage, but I will keep watching for future updates and hopefully enjoy playing it again later on.

I would love to give this game a grey middle rating. I don't feel comfortable to give it a thumbs down.

But does the game deserve it? In some aspects, absolutely not, because the approach is wonderful and in many ways fantastically realised.

Let me explain.

Echoes of the Plum Grove starts off very strong and is not only convincing in its interpersonal and perhaps even somewhat reprehensible possibilities, but also with its unique and beautiful graphics. I didn't find any bugs during my time playing and there were only a few very brief moments where I was thrown out of the immersion of the game.

So why do I feel unable to give this game a thumbs up?

1. the game quickly reveals that it is primarily about the people who live in the village of Honeywood. While the interactions with the inhabitants are very varied and coherent, the possibility of a romance, which is marketed here on Steam as a possible "inheritance", is ... just not good and lacks many things. The possible scenes and interactions with the beloved and later spouses are so life- and loveless and brief that I would hardly describe them as really existing. In fact, they don't exist at all.

Of course, one could argue about whether the game aims to be a romance simulator, and no, Echoes of the Plum Grove certainly doesn't, BUT if you provide the opportunity to start a romance and get married and have children, the interactions with the potential spouse, the future partner and also with the children should go beyond empty phrases and one-liners.

Soon, you'll realise that there is a clear lack of attention to detail when said spouse and/or child simply stand in the same place in your house every evening and morning and stare blankly at the wall. Interactions are limited to "Here's some of the money I earned at work today" and that's almost it. And even if all these things are not a central motivation & mechanic for me to buy Echoes of the Plum Grove, it bothers me when opportunities are presented in a game, just to implement them so carelessly.

If you commit to something, do it at least with some attention to detail. Put some care into it.

The weddings and funerals, which in my opinion take place in a more or less random sequence, breathe a lot of life into everyday life in Honeywood... and, in my opinion, this is sorely needed. However, as it's always the same scene without dialoge, I lacked motivation to take part in these gatherings from summer onwards. If you see the same scene 5 times, you just won't do another 50.

And that is a symptom throughout the whole game.

As in other farming simulators, Echoes of the Plum Grove also aims to make life in Honeywood more varied by incorporating festivals, such as a fishing or cooking festival. Unfortunately, even these festivals lack the necessary explanation or depth to be attractive, fun or meaningful in any way.

Overall, this shows me that Echoes of the Plum Grove, with its focus on the inhabitants of the village and the interpersonal system, is a great concept with a beautiful setting, but has not even begun to exploit its full potential.

2. the world of Echoes of the Plum Grove is small. My thesis is that they tried to compensate a bit by making the character's general movement speed a bit slower and offering several teleportation points instead, but still, by the start of fall in my playthrough at the latest, I noticed that the game simply doesn't has much to offer in its world and is quickly exhausted in its possibilities.

Right from the start of the game, as in other famous farming simulators, you realize that you have the option, to use collected materials to repair a destroyed bridge in order to gain access to a previously unfamiliar location—but said location turns out to be a small section of the beach that exists solely to continue the main quest ONCE. Although pretty to look at, this place has little to no added value and is therefore not an argument for me to see the world as a little less confining due to its size.

3. and not only the character interactions and possibilities with the romances, spouses, children as well as the world size is small, but also the mine shown in the game.

Like many other farming simulators, Echoes of the Plum Grove did not miss the opportunity to implement a mine where you can farm ores. I don't want to say too much, except that the mine gives me the impression of a Sims game, where the written stories are more "imagine and pretend" than actually presented mechanics.

In no game have I found such a ridiculous mine, which is even more demotivating to visit because the descent to said farmable gems takes significantly longer than mining the gems themselves. Said stones can be counted on one hand and are always found in the same places.

Farming in Echoes of the Plum Grove is nothing but tedious and slow, which could be fitting to the survival-aspect of the game and its harsh approach on realism, death and "the old times", but considering it also wanting to be a storytelling farming-simulator, these concepts just do not sit well together.

I just can't find the motivation to grind for wood by slowly walking across the map, shaking trees every day. It is always the same. It doesn't feel motivating or rewarding in way.

4 [CONTAINS SLIGHT SPOILERS!]
The main quest finally leads us to the witch and what lies hidden beneath her house. Even if this reveal seems really creative at first and rekindles curiosity about the game and its story, this euphoria quickly fell flat again for me.

As in other farming simulators, what we find is what the community house was in Stardew Valley.
Is it just as motivating as the many competing games? Not in the slightest, because the pacing in Echoes of the Plum Grove is so much slower and differentiated that it is anything but pleasant to fulfil these tasks at all, in addition to the survival elements and correspondingly lengthy processes to get hold of some items.


Summary:

What I’m trying to say is, that the game lacks longevity, variety, motivation and depth—which results in missing the one thing I’ve always loved about farming simulators: replayability.

Echoes of the Plum Grove is one of the few games on the market I really regret knowing it isn't an early access, because despite its remarkable optimization, it unfortunately feels rushed and lifeless behind the package.

As I head towards fall in my playthrough, there's a feeling which becomes more and more overwhelming. A feeling that something is just... missing? There is a lack of long-term motivation. There is a lack of depth and there is a lack of challenge.

There's just the lack of everything, including the hope for "new things".

After getting used to the game and its pacing, its processes and its characters, witnessing the lackluster romance & marriage, the soulless children, I quickly felt that I lacked the motivation to continue at all.

And considering that Echoes of the Plum Grove is cross-generational, which is advertised as a big selling point of the game, I personally don't see myself beeing motivated enough to give it the needed attention in the long-term. I really wan't to, but there's just not enough to do in Echoes of the Plum Grove.

And that's such a shame.

I want to love this game. I did love this game. I have nearly 55 hours in this game.
The concept of playing through generations is interesting and having a dynamic and changing town population is something I haven't seen often. In general it has all the makings of a good cozy game with its own twists.

There are some basic things that I feel could be improved. Some examples: there should be an exclamation mark over someone with a quest you can turn in, your mailbox reads oldest to newest which is inconvenient when you want to double check a day or time, it's far too easy to accidentally insult people, the quick travel locations could definitely be tweaked a bit.

The main reason I cannot recommend this game is I have had TWO SAVES bug out in a way that makes them unplayable. Both times the clock stops ticking and no input registers other than movement. So not using tools, talking, harvesting, etc. Reddit suggested that this bug goes away when you walk through a door which is true, but it resumes when you are back in the area. So in my case it happens on my farm, meaning I can't accomplish anything that would make me money. It happened in autumn of my first playthrough. I even gave the game benefit of the doubt (after all only one person I could find seemed to have also had this problem) and completely restarted! It happened again mid summer this time. I'm very disappointed as I was having a great time both times up to that point.

Love it so far but it feels like Early Access.
Love the art style, love the music, love the potential.
But: I must admit I expected a finished game.

There are many things which give hints of what might come and you hope for a secret to uncover, but... it is not implemented yet. I found many items which serve no purpose at the moment, so I was really disappointed when I found out that I was looking for hints when there were none.

And even base game features like saving your own family from diseases are missing in a released title.. Half of my town got sick until autumn of the first year and passed way - leaving me watching in despair. Irrigation system? No. But: The devs are eager to release them, are very active and listen to their community, announced upcoming features, but still... I thought I had bought a finished game, not a work in progress.

Which leads me to the generation system: I love it, but up to now there is really not enough content to justify why I should keep playing over generations. I played 1 1/2 years and I am almost done. So, maybe my child will finish the game when I slow down. But that`s it. Unfortunately, nothing to keep me going past that. So I wouldn`t talk about generations here.

Then the bugs and crashes. Since I started decorating my home the game keeps generating new problems. And I cannot exit the game without a crash.

The decoration system feels so clunky and really needs some polishing. The restrictions of what you are allowed to place inside or outside are simply ridicolous. Many items cannot or only be partially oriented since the respective images are simply missing. The exterior of the house cannot be changed. Again, it feels unfinished.

The winter has been advertised as a challenge when in fact, it was not. There is not even temperature in the game! So no need for warm clothes, no oven and fire wood required, everything is purely decorative. Just get some food and you are good to go. And how does your family get food? No one knows - and who cares? Their problem xD

Last and maybe least: The story. No spoilers, but I had expected far more content given the fact that we were promised to uncover the secrets of the island! Out of the three advertised secrets (witch, lagoon and mine), only the first delivered for me so far. The rest simply provides you with one scene you may visit and you can get items, which are used for - exactly - nothing. One example: You get metal and jewels and there is actually jewelry sold in the game using the exact same resources, but... you cannot craft them, you need to sell the resources.

Sooo... until these things change, my review needs to be negative, unfortunately.

EDIT: Since the last update the crash on exiting has been fixed for me and there is now a form of irrigation in the game.

Positives first: the devs are engaged and eager to fix problems that come up. The game is adorable (I hugged a bear!!). The art is really great, the world is beautiful and the concept is intriguing.

The negatives: It becomes very grindy. Some mechanics are simply not explained or not explained very well. The game feels a little confused. It's obviously set in colonial times but it's like one of those historical romance novels that say they're set in one time period but everyone is doing/saying/acting how people act in the present. I never got the feeling that anything my character was doing was influencing anything else in the town. My character dropped dead in the town square with several characters nearby and nobody even blinked. Your character can emote (something that's not explained and I'm not sure I understand), but the NPCs don't seem to react to anything you do so it feels disjointed, like you should be part of the town but just aren't. They also respond to each other in the same static way, comes off as stiff. For example, if Mary keels over one day from the plague, there will be a funeral and no one will ever mention her again. You could dance at the funeral and noone will notice and noone will ever mention it. The NPCs just don't react naturally, by itself probably fine, but the whole idea here is that the town is living and breathing and reacting to your choices. Example: my character has a baby and goes to talk to the husband. Husband doesn't say anything about this significant life event. He said the equivalent of "nice weather we're having". Paying taxes for a town that never changes or grows or improves is a weird thing. That tax thing, btw - you can opt out (again, something that's not well explained, because you have to select opting out on one option screen then navigate to another that has an oddly placed "apply" button and select to apply settings), but there is NO grace period if you don't pay your taxes on time. There's really no way for you to buy recipes from a central location, like for food or building things, you have to come across them in a random shop or by trading with a random NPC or doing some tasks for a NPC. Example: paint. It's required for house upgrades. The ONLY way I have found to buy paint is from the ships that come into port, but there is no way to obtain this info in the game unless you happen to go down to the port and try to trade with the captain of the ship. The town is devoid of religion or religious symbols, but everyone is hung up on the witch who is practising magic (and I don't want to spoil anything but there are ghosts and afterlife components) which makes it the only religion in the game and makes religion strangely nondiverse. The hunger/food relationship and economy really seem unbalanced.

I enjoyed the first few hours, but after getting married and building a nicer house, I'm back to grinding away at trees which are strangely non-sustainable (at least the ones on the farm don't seem to regenerate) to make decent money. I built a charcoal kiln and a smelter but can't figure out how to use the smelter and there's no guidance for it in-game. Update: I did figure out how to use them through trial and error. It has led to less grinding, so that's good.

There's just too many things that feel arbitrary or not thought through and/or contradictory in this game for me to recommend it right now. If you're ok with all these things, or them potentially not changing, then grab it because you'll love it. I have high hopes that things will get ironed out and/or improved because the devs seem to love their game very very much and I wish the best for it.

This could be a really great game. I had a lot fun with it. However, the lack of anything to help water the crops is a soul killer. I understand not wanting to add sprinklers because of the time period, but the watering can upgrades could do more than 1 square at a time. The game has magic potions and you talk to ghosts, but you can't water more than 1 crop at a time? After spending half my day watering crops, I didn't want to play anymore.

I was eager to fall in love with Echoes of the Plum Grove, but alas, it's all grind and no soul. Here's the lowdown on what's missing:

1. Farming Frustrations: The lack of an irrigation system means you'll spend half your day watering crops until you finally recruit a helper. But even then, it's a chore to keep their watering can filled.

2. Scarce Stones: Despite ample land and access to caves, finding basic resources like stone is a headache. Gems and ore? Sure. But a simple stone? Good luck.

3. Resource Riddle: There's an abundance of items with no apparent purpose—at least not yet. Prepare to hoard and hope for the best.

4. Townie Troubles: The townsfolk lack depth, and their random, impersonal dialogue makes it hard to care about their fates. Don't expect enriching lore or meaningful events to spice up your interactions.

5. Familial Flatness: Family life is basic—no tending to them, just glorified housemates. The legacy system falls flat, offering little impact on gameplay.

6. Tedious Trekking: Navigating the town is a mind-numbing exercise in repetition. Even with fast travel, you'll spend endless hours walking the same paths, encountering the same static scenery day in, day out.

7. Mundane Mining: Mining is a slog of walking to the same spots every day. It's a snooze-fest.

8. Inventory Ineptitude: The lack of inventory upgrades or organization tools is criminal in a game centered on grinding. Tracking items is a headache—paging Stardew Valley and Coral Island for a lesson in inventory management.

9. Ghostly Gripes: Interacting with the deceased yields quests, but the rewards feel lackluster. Spending hours just to reach them hardly seems worth the effort.

10. Interaction and Mapping Mishaps: Actions aren't stacked, so clicking on something else during an action cancels it instead of stacking it. It's inconvenient and frustrating, especially since you're forced to use the trackpad instead of a more intuitive action button like 'E'.

In summary, Echoes of the Plum Grove falls short of its promise of fun and eventful gameplay. Even town events lack interactivity. It feels more like an early access title than a fully realized game.

Here's hoping for substantial improvements in future updates—because as it stands, it's not worth your money,

**EDIT**

Just to clarify, I am choosing to not recommend this game because of the lack of content and the misleading marketing. I've been following the devs on TikTok and was really excited about its release, but this is not the legacy, eventful farming sim they hyped—it’s more of a survival game.

I hate to bring other game titles into this, but think Don't Starve (note: in my original review, I referenced Stardew Valley and Coral Island only to highlight successful inventory systems, not to compare the overall gameplay). Regarding the lack of content, there's still so much yet to be added that this feels like an early release. It's great that they have a rich roadmap, but it comes at the expense of a shallow full release.

Finally, just as a personal opinion, for those who, like me, dislike grinding games, it’s worth noting that the world is incredibly static. You can't even chop trees outside your farm—you can only shake the same ones over and over. Every day feels the same, which makes the game all about the grind.

Thank you, and please take this kindly—my intention is not to attack but rather to be precise with my experience so others can make an informed decision when buying the game as it stands right now.

I actually like this game but after over 60 hours, it is incredibly frustrating and annoying. I love the premise and atmosphere of the game, the look of it is great. I don't even mind that the character personalities are a bit flat, or outbreaks of smallpox (except when there's a change in season and you can't buy seeds cos everyone's dead). I especially love that it doesn't have the ol' "a relative died and left you this" tired trope.

BUT there are some serious issues. It can be very hard to work out how things work or what machine uses what without internet searches. The calendar doesn't tell you where events are held or the details of them - again, you have to look it up on the net and hope for the best. The story is really short. I was so surprised when what I thought was finishing a step of the story prompted the credits to role (after playing for less than a game year). Missing out on quests because you can't access the person you're meant to hand it in to isn't fun, either. *Some* can be posted to the quest giver but only occassionally.

Now...the biggest issue this game has is resources. There are no stores with standard items in stock. You have to buy items from individuals. My house is so crowded with 'indoor' work stations I can't build anymore so my farm items are piling up waiting to be processed. I really want to upgrade my house and my barn but I can't. Why? Because you need paint and steel. How do you get steel? You *might* be able to get a steel bar from the blacksmith. You *might* be able to get it from the carpenter. You *might* be able to get it from the ship that comes in I think once or twice a season? In a full one and a half seasons not one single steel bar has been for sale, and that's checking the blacksmith and carpenter every single day and the ship when it comes in.

And of course, the same goes for any item you might need. Need cream to cook with to finish a question? Well, if there's no cream for sale you fail the quest. Because even though you can have a whole bunch of dairy animals and milk coming out the wahzoo, you can't make cream. There are so many things you *can't* make, like sugar. The game wants you to have to be part of the community, so there are lots and lots of things you can't make for yourself that you have to buy, which would be fine, except there's no stable shop items, and almost nothing is available in bulk. Which also means getting your cooking score up is almost impossible. The other issue with cooking is that most of the ingredients can only be used in one or two recipes. There are no generic recipes (e.g. any egg, or any fruit, or any fish). Again, very, very frustrating.

There's no storage management. You can't sort your chests, name them or auto-deposit from your inventory, which is almost unheard of to bring out a game with no inventory management these days.

I loved a lot of this game, it's really cute, and the mechanics are fun, if a little challenging at times. But there is one massive problem I have with it, that has honestly ultimately put me off of it. My daughter grew up, and that was great, but then out of the blue I got a notification in the mail that she was engaged. To her uncle, her other parent's brother. And there was nothing I could do about it, there was no possible way to stop it, or turn it off.