23 people found this review helpful
1 person found this review funny
2
Recommended
0.0 hrs last two weeks / 1,039.4 hrs on record (30.3 hrs at review time)
Posted: Nov 18, 2021 @ 6:01am
Updated: Dec 4, 2021 @ 11:04pm
Product received for free

I had the opportunity to beta-test this, and I'm glad I did. Even from early beta it was clear that this game had the heart and charm the promotional screenshots and videos promised. In the same vein as Stardew Valley, My Time at Portia, and other similar semi-casual games, Grow: Song of the Evertree is a story about rebuilding the world from an environmental catastrophe. Full of cute characters, beautiful vistas and a robust story, this game has the makings of an amazingly addictive experience.

The basic gameplay follows the story of the last Tree-tender, an Alchemist who is assisted by a sentient alembic named Coppertop and a sentient book named, well, Book. To restore life to the world-creating Evertree that is being destroyed by some mysterious blight called the Withering, the three have discovered how to make World Seeds - seeds which, when planted in the boughs of the Evertree, will grow small, encapsulated worlds, which, when tended to properly, can grow into great big worlds complete with their own ecosystem of plants, bugs, fish and creatures, which can then be released to float amongst the stars to repopulate the universe with new habitable worlds.

But this is only a portion of the game. Another large chunk is dedicated to building and customizing your own world, with villages full of buildings to attract population and keep them happy. Customization here includes not only free-form placement of buildings, but colouring and decorating them and even micromanaging the inhabitants!

Meanwhile, you're also exploring, opening up new areas, cleansing withering, clearing ruins, discovering secrets, taming creatures, farming... the list goes on and on...

If there's any complaint to be made about this game, it might be that there's almost TOO much to do. With a built-in day/night cycle constraining the available time for doing all of these tasks, it's very easy to get involved in one thing, to let another falter. Fortunately, there's no real penalty for ignoring any aspect of your world(s) for a day or two, so other than pinging the OCD of completionists, this limit only really serves to keep the player moving.

There are a number of games out there that have tried to capitalize on the cute factor in world-management games, most do it with built-in mini dating-sims. Many also penalize you for neglecting to pay attention to your people for a day or two while you maybe focus on building. This one bypasses the relationship aspect almost completely and focuses instead on balancing work/life instead. Gender is almost completely ignored (with an option for a third gender for your own character, and little beyond names suggesting gender of any other characters), and while the voice acting is minimal (limited to grunts and "oohs!"), the dialogue is still interesting. The story is often locked by a complex dialogue tree, but I have yet to find any 'wrong' decisions in this game, certainly nothing that has kept me from learning the entire story.

Overall, though the time constraint makes it feel less casual, it truly is a casual gamer's delight, especially for those who like to create and tend worlds.

I give this game 5 world seeds out of 5!
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1 Comments
76561199767662825 Sep 5, 2024 @ 10:36pm 
Dang, your review tho! It's packed with so much good stuff. I could never write like that. You're incredible! 🤩👌