Thoughts on the Big Build Update?

[Pizza Mafia]

What are everyones thoughts on the big build update? I got really into Kynseed about a year ago and it was real fun but kinda slow with the limited amount of farming plots.
I cam back because of the big build update and i gotta say i LOVE it. the customization it gives is great. i'm loving how I'm able to expand my farming capabilities, and decorate.
I guess the only downside is that it's made farming in befriended NPC plots redundant, but maybe thats just because of how I play. I can definitely see other people using those plots for waiting for prime conditions to harvest crops at 5 stars.
anyways, what are ya'lls thoughts on the update? Anything you like or think should get reworked?

[Sunny]

It is SO much easier to figure out what's what now. The introduction to the game and systems is very helpful, and I've played a LOT more since this update because I don't feel like I'm flailing all over the place trying to figure things out. I *can* play by, 'push this button, see what happens', but I'm old and I don't wanna any more. Just explain it. In small words with short sentences, thanks.

The new building stuff is fantastic, too. I'm really happy with it.

[delakayla]

I've been playing the game for a few years. I have a lot of thoughts, but I'll try to keep it short-ish.

I've just finished the story portion, so I think I've seen the vast majority of the new content. They have made a lot of improvements. The prologue is still kinda long, but is much more tolerable now. The story makes a lot more sense, although it still feels kinda barebones. I do like that they at least tried to make interactions with NPCs a bit more personalized. The letters from NPCs have improved, but are still super repetitive.

I love the customization and building mechanics. They were a much-needed addition, as well as batch cooking and crafting.

I finished the entire story within two in-game years. My character is only 26. I've only just had kids (twins! with Star Sapphire, of course), but they haven't even been delivered yet. I'm not saying I'll quit playing, but it is sort of disappointing that I've done most everything without ever needing to pass on the Kynseed.

I'm not sure I like how simplified the Goddess blessings have become. I don't have a problem with villager's houses breaking down and having to be rebuilt, but I do wish there was some sort of explanation as to why. Most of the time, there's no totem in the area, so it just seems random.

I'm super happy with most of the changes made in this update. The game is fun and has improved a lot, but I just don't know if I would consider it "finished".

[HunterSilver]

Overall I'm very happy with the update. My biggest complaint in the 1.0 launch was just how overwhelming everything was after the tutorial. It was so easy to get lost in the world outside of the Vale and figuring things out was tough. Now in 1.1 things are parsed a lot better.

Batch crafting and cooking feels great and has made running shops so much more fun. I can run around and stock my bakery in the morning, my blacksmith during the day, and then in the evening I make potions and powders to prep for my apothecary. Before, if I wanted to stock my blacksmith I'd have to sit there all day every day just to try to keep up with demand.

I also love that we can unlock ingredients to grow on our farm by gathering enough of them in the world. And green houses! The Nog Green House and Ever Green House are a delight and I love that they essentially plant their own crops to harvest every few days.

Mag the Moghog is also one of my favorite new additions. Having trouble getting the materials you need to level up a skill? Need a 3-star flag fish but you can only catch 1-star? No problem! Catch a few, feed them to Mag, and he'll spit out 3-star for you to use. Need a 5-star for a recipe? Done!

[Kysska]

Originally posted by delakayla:

I finished the entire story within two in-game years. My character is only 26. I've only just had kids (twins! with Star Sapphire, of course), but they haven't even been delivered yet. I'm not saying I'll quit playing, but it is sort of disappointing that I've done most everything without ever needing to pass on the Kynseed.

I love the update! I bounced off the game a year ago and came back for the update and beat the whole game in like 2 weeks.

But this right here (quoted above) was an unfortunate disappointment. I was expecting to *need* to do the whole Kynseed -> rebirth thing to progress, but it was fairly easy to just beat the whole story with my first character, and now that I beat it idk if there's much of a reason to bother now.

[mkinjubhy]

I wanted to (re)play it about four months ago and held off waiting for this update. Haven't regretted it yet!

[Kyle]

it's all around smoother, better played on a new save imo

Feels like the difficulty went down, getting 5 star items is a lot easier compared to a few years ago and there are so many achievement/progress rewards that outright give you a bunch.

The customization is fun and I like it, but it's also pretty powerful. Greenhouses that give +1 stars on your farm enmasse, herb boxes that can grow any herb if you've picked enough, as many trees/bushes as you want with xyz crop and ETC.

Running businesses is still the same, except there is batch crafting now & employee happiness works, still very easy to get rep/money.

Probably the most annoying change so far for me is that Fairweather items no longer advance time, so you are now forced to wait out the entire year or spam sleep dozens of times if you want your kids to grow up or ETC without switching generations. (It gets added to your lifetax instead)

still no generational content

[onmyoji]

Absolutely agree with you, guys. I'm very happy with The Big Build update. But I have this question, too: did it become too easy? Many of you completed the game in first generation, it takes about 2 years. So what the use of the Kynseed? I wonder may be the devs could make difficulty levels?

One thing I miss for is a family design. The marriage path was too long, but now it's super easy, rather formal, and don't bring such emotions.
Making children was more funny. They were much more minimax in stats and traits. So it wasn't easy to make a choice, or your choice was a bit funny. Now children are almost the same, all with good traits. No need to have three to make a choice, they are for house work only. It's a bit boring... Why to uproot if everybody is almost the same?
I just noticed, that overall children from The Shoe have lower stats than my own children, but not very much.

What do you think? Are you happy with only good children? No excellent, no bad anymore.

[Kyle]

Originally posted by onmyoji:

Absolutely agree with you, guys. I'm very happy with The Big Build update. But I have this question, too: did it become too easy? Many of you completed the game in first generation, it takes about 2 years. So what the use of the Kynseed? I wonder may be the devs could make difficulty levels?

One thing I miss for is a family design. The marriage path was too long, but now it's super easy, rather formal, and don't bring such emotions.
Making children was more funny. They were much more minimax in stats and traits. So it wasn't easy to make a choice, or your choice was a bit funny. Now children are almost the same, all with good traits. No need to have three to make a choice, they are for house work only. It's a bit boring... Why to uproot if everybody is almost the same?
I just noticed, that overall children from The Shoe have lower stats than my own children, but not very much.

What do you think? Are you happy with only good children? No excellent, no bad anymore.

I feel like one of the the main appeals of the game for me is the gathering/crafting, so I definitely think it became too easy in that regard. Not really a fan of difficulty options on games like this, but all for accessibility settings to slow or simplify things people are having trouble with. (Within reason, having an instant win or 100% 5 star instant crafting button just taunting me there would be too much.)

I read somewhere on the discord that you can apparently redeem Kynseed challenges before your life is up by clicking on the completed challenge, so there's that use I guess.

I hated the marriage path before, those tasks were absolutely miserable, but I agree that the marriages don't really have weight right now.

I like the new system of traits more, could probably use some negative ones but that would probably turn it into a breeding simulator where I sell all my kids to the shoe if they don't meet the mark.

[ChrillBill]

It's fabulous.

[Sunny]

I think with hearing everyone's feedback about finishing without going into generations, I am going to *slow down*.

I suspect the crunch I am feeling is...ah, perhaps not a relic of this game, but more of what we call a learned habit.

[ChrillBill]

I think with the future updates where the story will be expanded, there will also be a greater use for future generations perhaps. This update was heavily focused on the farm and creative tools. When everything has been implemented (when the roadmap is finished) I think it's going to feel like a quite massive game.

[Kang]

I've started and stopped playing this game several times since I first got it (ages ago). A mixture of overwhelm and no clear understanding of how to interact with the world and all its mechanics made sure I didn't keep playing. However, after this update, I decided to give it another go and I'm happy to say that I've stuck with it farther than I had before.

Not sure how long it'll last, considering everything I see tells me that the story is still not finished, but this feels like a huge step in the right direction, and once the story is completed I probably wouldn't hesitate to get back on.

[HunterSilver]

Originally posted by Kang:

everything I see tells me that the story is still not finished

You can complete the entire story and even get a nice little parade at the end when you do. Have been able to since the 1.0 release.

[Kyle]

Originally posted by HunterSilver:

Originally posted by Kang:

everything I see tells me that the story is still not finished

You can complete the entire story and even get a nice little parade at the end when you do. Have been able to since the 1.0 release.

by entire story do you mean they scrapped pinehaven/opal and other story plans? iirc they were saying 'chapter 2' would have more focus on insects

or do you just mean you can finish the entire current story?

[HunterSilver]

You can complete the main story and finish everything from Chapter 1 through Chapter 10. Adding the dye quest using insects for Chapter 2 would likely be a side quest for the very early game, similar to rescuing the lost chickens.