Recent reviews by trolltasm

Coral island is easily one of the most gorgeous games I’ve ever played, and aside from some lagging, runs relatively well on steamdeck. That said…

- The cast of characters are diverse on paper, but bland as the day is long. Through they supposedly all have different personalities, their dialogue, stories, and events are all like tap water. It’s there, it’s drinkable, but it’s not exciting.
- I genuinely can’t remember who is who or where to find them. The map is huge, the characters’ schedules are diverse, and because I’m not engaged in getting to know anyone, I’m regularly forgetting where to find them. At this point, it’s either A: consult the map throughout a game day, or B: just talk who I run into throughout a game day.
- There’s just TOO much content. Normally, not a complaint I make, but in this case, it’s a problem of quantity of content over quality. Lots of repetition in the daily activities and goals without a strong story to hold it all together.
- Which brings me to the narrative itself. Rural town besieged by corporate capitalism, and lucky you called to save the day by an island goddess and all you need is your skills along with your inherited farm. I’m not one to knock a tried and true plot, mind you, but what this one lacks is the substance that could really draw you in and make you FEEL part of the story, and cheer for your side to win. Because no one is exciting or interesting, and because the narrative is weak, it becomes more of a to-do list to kick out those greedy moneybags than something to celebrate.
- The game’s budget seems to directed primarily on art. I love a gorgeous game, and the style of this one is delightfully charming, but the opportunity cost is readily apparent. The writing and gameplay clearly took a backseat to a goal of ‘make this a pretty game.’ I wish they’d spent half as much time on the story and writing as they clearly spent on the art, and the game would have balanced out a lot better imho.

And now the nitpicky:
- I’m a little annoyed there’s both bundles and the museum, especially since some items overlap. I love developing a museum, and getting rewarded, but it’s left me feeling like I’m chasing down stuff for duplicative work, and I didn’t enjoy that.
- I hate the fishing mechanism. Loathe, actually. Supposedly it gets easier, but as someone who struggles with timing, it sucked. No option to toggle an easy mode on, and so I just literally ignore the skill entirely.
- Skill maps. I usually love them and their perks, but idk I just couldn’t get excited about the levels and rewards. It felt too grindy, and not in a good way.

Overall, as much as I hate to say it, this game feels like a really, really gorgeous wrapped box of basic shortbread cookies. I mean yeah, you can eat them, but is it worth $30 for them when you can find other things to eat instead? I’m going to have to say no. There’s other games to play that, while they may not be as pretty, come with better content and often smaller price tags (such as SDV and the recently released FoM) that can satisfy the cravings a lot better imho.

If you want to play, buy it on sale is my best recommendation. It’s a pretty experience, just also a very flat one.

Rather than write a long review on a highly acclaimed and well-received game, I'm just going to say 10/10 very enjoyable and 12/10 with the right mods.
Also... Blue. Chickens.

Overall thoroughly enjoying this. Rating and sentiments currently based on the EA version as-is. No bugs encountered to date; game running beautifully on steamdeck without issues.

+ Art style is 100% why I bought this to start and it has not disappointed. 90s anime farming sim vibes 10/10.
+ Full character customization aside character body size. No gender restrictions. Lots of pronoun options. You can change your name, pronouns, appearance, and farm name any time for free! Heck yeah.
+ Town itself is charming, a decent sized map overall without being too big. Appears more to unlock as we play.
+ Overall good cast diversity and development for EA. Lots of little scenes, events, and dialogue to explore that really flesh out the characters and world, both with the player and amongst other NPCs. Cut scenes are really charming. Seasonal outfits make everything feel more alive and realistic. No gender restrictions on romance. Full romance and friendship not released yet. Looking forward to more content in future releases.
- However, more diversity in ages of romanceable characters would have been nice. In particular, older men and women for the older demographic of players for farm sims, especially given the nostalgia feel of the art. As someone in my mid thirties, it would be nice to have more mature appearing options in their 30s/40s rather than mostly early 20s, but cast seems pretty set for this game.
- Olric not romanceable, not explained why. Visible confusion ensues. Still love the himbo cinnamon roll anyway; we’ll be besties.
+ However, appears we can romance a male dragon, 100% here for that. Dragon Husband heck yes. Hoping his human form has long hair and a more mature appearance. Can’t wait for him to be added in and fleshed out! I already enjoy his dynamic so far a lot.
+ Gameplay overall cozy farm sim. Your pace, your style, your play. Not forced into any activities at any time; everything is set on how you want to run your own day.
- Time does not pause while decorating. No time slider to extend days. As someone who wants the perfect farm and house, I hope these are adjusted in future updates.
+ Farming and skills appear to be well fleshed out; currently skills can be unlocked to level 30. I am looking forward to the update to raise this cap further.
+ I really enjoy the town development aspect, though it scales pretty quickly in time investment to get the items and money. It’s all at your own pace, which keeps it cozy. Lots of rewards for town rankings and development to incentivize this aspect.!
+ No timer for quests, do at your leisure.
+/- Takes time to unlock things, like animals and barns, so a decent amount of time and money is spent on development and affording them. But I also appreciated investing in the farm at the same time and the satisfaction of achieving stuff.
+ Lots of furniture style options and recolors. Same for hair and clothing for the character. I REALLY enjoy how a lot of it is unlocked naturally during play and isn’t price walled in game so I’m not spending precious resources on unlocking them.
+/- Resource management is a little wonky. I can get a ton of stone very easily, but wood is a constant struggle to have on hand. Just not enough drops from trees to justify the time expenditure and how much you need to unlock and build and upgrade things. Current ratio on hand is two stacks of 999 stone to 318 wood lol.
+ Fishing is a two-click activity, and the only challenge is lining it up near the fish. Bless you. I’ve never enjoyed the fishing mini games that have been popular lately.
+ Magic from Mr. Dragon Husband is a fun feature to unlock as gameplay progresses. So far, I have a spell to recharge stamina, and a spell to make it rain, with slow recharges. I really enjoy this aspect and associated lore. Can’t wait to see where it’s taken.
- Inventory management could be fleshed out. Each chest stores a good amount, but you can’t access a universal storage and it can be difficult to remember what’s where. I also just don’t enjoy the aesthetic of chests everywhere; I’d rather it be consolidated so I can spend space in my home and farm elsewhere. Hoping this is overhauled later, especially given all the things I’d like to store to craft later as they’re unlocked.
+ Skill perks from Mr. Dragon Husband are honestly one of the best parts of this game. I’m always excited to unlock them (up to level 30 perks atm) and there’s a lot of QoL upgrades to be found. Your ‘currency’ for them is shared across all skills, allowing you to prioritize unlocking based on your preferences and play style.
- Not really much in the way of festivals currently. Curious to see how this evolves; it may just be locked behind upgrading the town, or coming in future contents. Birthdays currently don’t appear important but that may be locked behind higher friendships.
+/- Devs have a site to submit bugs and feedback. No discord tho, so not super sure how communication and handling of those bugs and suggestions works. No specific release date for 1.0 coming soon, but hopefully that’s TBA soon.

General Suggestions:
- A pet. I can’t explain how much I’d just like to have a pet cat to boop and see on my farm/house and pet. (Other options for pets would be lovely too.)
- Farm visibility is a little difficult. Can’t see around any trees (fruit or spawned), which makes it difficult to maneuver with them. A simple toggle or opacity to show what’s behind the tree would be greatly appreciated.
- A save anywhere button would be a future update I’d love. Saving at home is fine for many people, but I’d like more save options as a humble ask.
- An option to teleport or warp to specific locations (maybe as a future dragon perk as he regains strength) would be amazing. Places like the beach, town, mine, your farm, and the dig site would be amazing to be able to teleport to in future updates, especially if we can toggle back and forth.
- I’d like to be able to explore the museum in future updates and see all the cool stuff I donated. It would make that feel more alive and real as far as town development and achievements.
- Relocating fruit trees. Early on I had to plop them down because of space constraints, and I hate where they are now. I’ve resigned myself to chopping them, but I’d like the option for the future to relocate or collect a sapling beforehand so not all is lost.
- Sprinklers or automatic watering of some sort in the future. I am genuinely not sure what would best fit the vibe and theme of the game, but it would be nice to have another option since the mana cost for watering is too high for daily use.
- Personally I’d love the option to play matchmaker for singles after I’ve wed and see them have kids, too, in the future, so the town feels more lived in and like it has a future. Don’t expect it, don’t require it, but I do miss the element from older games. Admittedly, I’d also want to choose my own options for pairings and that seems frankly too big an ask. So, more like, would be nice rather than QoL upgrade needed.

I…have played this game a lot. Clearly.

Steamdeck:
+ no performance issues aside from asset loading
+ visually works well on steamdeck
+/- no in-game keyboard; steamdeck keyboard works but sometimes glitches and won’t close, requiring a reboot of the game
+ definitely plays better than switch (I have both editions, and this one vastly outperforms)

Overall sentiments:
+ interesting, dynamic characters who have their own stories (though I do wish there was more interaction between some characters as the main plot events wrap up). Some limited character diversity, would like to see more. BUT nice to see characters of different ages and physical features as interests; love that.
+/- However, some characters appear a bit underwhelming compared to others, and it’s clear they didn’t get as much attention (namely Venti, but also to some extent Owen amongst others). I assume the devs spent more time on the most popular characters, but unfortunately this means some of the others feel…lacking in their stories and what events they have or impact on the main narrative.
+ full character customization, but only one body type (minor gripe). No real body diversity in romancables, either, unfortunately, aside from mostly height.
+ romancables not locked behind chosen gender
+ devs seemed to have learned from the gameplay complaints in Portia; this runs a lot smoother and is more friendly to play in comparison.
+ feels like a proper sequel to Portia, though playing it isn’t dependent on enjoying this game. Sandrock feels a bit more mature, story wise and character wise, than Portia does, and I was quite invested in the narrative and conflicts.
+/- making your own weapons and armor is fun, as are the ability to customize their perks. You can also customize your house, almost completely, and have freedom in your furnishings. Unfortunately, appearances are set for most items, and what can be customized isn’t much (mostly just color changes, and only in limited areas on each item).
+ freedom to pick your own battle/weapons style
+ overall beating Yan in rankings is far less difficult and cumbersome than beating Higgins (and, arguably, more satisfying). No more stressful rushing to obtain contracts!
- I wish the companion system was flushed out and really able to have people in your party as, say, Rune Factory does. The system in this game is mostly limited to when they’re with you for plot reasons, and not really set up outside of that.
- Post marriage and children aren’t very well flushed out. If a character has a child pre-marriage, their dialogue doesn’t really seem to change, so it ruined the immersion. And while it’s nice to marry and have a partner, it doesn’t seem to impact gameplay or story (as in, no events seem to change, no one seems to have any interesting dialogue after the initial marriage about your marriage/spouse/kids), and so it sort of feels flat and empty once you get married. It was the same for dating, but in all fairness since you can date multiples, that made sense. After marriage, though, romantic life feels a bit…empty. And the babies are so much work without really ever becoming somewhat independent children in school that I immediately undid that choice.

I’m looking forward to the next My Time series game, which I didn’t think I’d say after my experience with Portia. If the trend continues, it’ll build on what worked well and didn’t in this game, and develop the world and narrative further.

My overall sentiments so far are based on initial gameplay.

Overall sentiments:
- on paper diversity for characters looks-wise, but they all ended up feeling very static, flat, and vanilla. Maybe that’ll change as you progress through the game, but no one is jumping out at me as interesting or dynamic from the beginning, and I’m very nonchalant about getting to know them.
+ this game’s primary focus seems to be on spirit raising and capturing, and activities are tailored to that. Though there’s minimal direction, there seems to be a lot of freedom in how you run your day and team.
+/- card play for moves vs traditional set moves. On one hand, lots of flexibility, but on the other, you can’t guarantee the cards you’ll draw are what you need. Harder to traditionally strategize battle-to-battle, especially since the cards you get per level up are random.
+/- dungeons have puzzle elements to them, which is an interesting touch. A lot of them have timing elements, though, that some players may struggle with. As someone who also struggles with this, I wish there was an option to adjust (though there are options to toggle for fishing and battle difficulties, so I appreciate that.)
+/- farming seems more optional, so if that’s not what you’re most interested in, it doesn’t seem critical to do. Money making seems more favorable to other activities like fishing or mining gems.
- some lack of explanation behind unlockables is frustrating, such as having the blueprints but not being able to build the spirit barn because other quests haven’t been completed yet. I had to google why I didn’t have those items to build yet despite completing the quest, which isn’t ideal for my play style.
- no character customization; player appears androgynous/more feminine, and you have no capability to change appearance or clothes.

I play on steamdeck, which runs well. Overall, I’d say this requires a little more oomph to play than a truly cozy game, and there are some things that I like and don’t like about it. That may change as I progress in the game (assuming I do; I’m not very motivated to atm since I find the world and characters so flat). If these elements are to your speed and you’re looking for more to do in a taming game, I’d recommend for sure, especially on sale, but if you’re looking for a cozy taming game, my opinion is mixed and I’d say it doesn’t quite hit those boxes.

This is my current review and initial sentiments based on the game’s current status in EA.

Steamdeck play:
+ loads and performs well so far (no crashing, glitching, or lagging)
+ full control support, all buttons do as they’re supposed to
+/- no in-game keyboard, you need the steamdeck keyboard, but it works with no issues
+ looks nice on steamdeck

Overall sentiments:
+ cute blobs, very cute (kiwi blob!!)
+ art style is fun, reminds me of old HM/SOS games
+/- nice cast of characters, some diversity. As an older player though, I wish there was at least one older/mature friend/romance option for each gender. (Maybe in a DLC we’ll see a kind and mature gentleman running an archive on blob knowledge or a serious and dedicated lady researcher investigating blob species? I suspect the cast is set for this game though despite the EA, so maybe a sequel we’ll see this. Character cast does currently seem skewed to younger players, but that may also be the primary demographics for the game.)
+ friendship/romance is not restricted by gender
+ option for character customization at the beginning, including all outfits, hairstyles, and facial hair not locked to a specific gender (though you do have to choose male or female at the beginning). Character bodies aren’t sticks! Honestly delighted to see that.
+ map tracker to find characters/events!
+/- blob raising is entirely dependent on care, but early leveling is locked behind items you can’t get yet, and doesn’t seem to scale based on play/unlocked features. Would like to see that tweaked a bit to be more starter friendly and then progressively become more difficult.
- not the easiest to earn money. It seems like most items are needed to cook/boost blobs (including crops and fish), so the only way I’ve determined so far to make any money is by bug catching. This’ll make unlocking items or content behind in-game currency a lot more difficult, or will require sacrificing blob development for currency.
+ some items do denote they are trash/have no value, which helps reduce my tendency to hoard everything until end-game lol.
+ you can craft stuff for your place and upgrade your home. Haven’t unlocked this fully, but I’m hoping to see some fun customization to have your home be truly unique. (Right now, it just seems like you build base content and place it, but that may change as I unlock more in-game.)
+ 3 main types of blobs, which helps me keep track of strengths and weaknesses better. Not sure how breeding blobs impacts this yet.

Overall, seems cute with a lot of room for potential as EA develops prior to release.

I’ve played this on both switch and steamdeck. I’m rating this purely on portability to steam.

Pros:
- It loads faster, appears a bit smoother, on steam.
- Has all the same content as switch.

Cons:
- It makes zero sense why there’s no controller or steamdeck control support. The game was ported from switch, which required controller/handheld support. This should have been a intuitive and smooth transition to steam, but the controls are clunky and the keys are awkward, I still can’t figure out how to open the backpack, and it’s frustrating to see the computer keys pop up and not the controller ones during gameplay. For the price point, this should be a required feature imho, especially since RF4 has the support. I don’t understand why RF5 doesn’t.
- The deluxe edition needs to clearly denote what comes with it to avoid duplicative purchases with the DLC.

It’s a good game (though the RF4 port and game is superior), but I can’t honestly recommend it over the switch without the controller support being added.

God, I was bored playing this. I kept waiting for the story to go somewhere. For soemthing to happen. The plot moved so slowly I found myself playing games on my phone to keep myself awake.

This isn't like Loren. The twins really don't seem to have much of a personality, and there wasn't a lot to them. Honestly, their personalities are pretty basic. Sister-twin is naive, a typical younger-sister sort. Brother-twin is pretty cowardly (to me) and lacks any dimensions. The writing is equally basic; there is no rich plot here, no driving story to pull you in unlike Loren. Where was the story trying to go? Honestly, I have no clue. Five hours in and there's no idea or sense of purpose, except oh, hey, let's kill some things. Like polar bears, they're going extinct anyway... Not impressed.

The side cast is equally unimpressive. Riley was the only one who held my interest for more than a hot minute and surrounded by a bland, 2-D cast, he just didn't hold my interest. Not to mention, of course, that if you're playing to enjoy both a VN and an RPG, this isn't a good game for it. The love interests are, well... at least for Althea's options... not interesting at all. In fact, I couldn't decide who I was even least excited about: Althea's boring male option, or her equally boring female option--ending up alone looks like a better choice. Shea at least gets Riley, who's good for a laugh. But the writing overall is pretty basic, and the characters don't stand out on their own. I have no real sense of anyone, least of all the twins, after five hours of gameplay.

Loren was a different animal. Five hours and I was hooked, drawn in by a wide host of fun characters. Here... my brain fell asleep, and I just don't have any motivation to pick this game back up now that I'm walking away. As far as this game boasting better RPG fights than Loren... I think that should be edited out. NOTHING about this game was better than Loren.

This game was far more tedious. Do yourself a favor and skip it, unless it's on a good sale and you're bored. Very bored.

Is Loren even Loren without the N'Mar expansion? Trust me, get it. There's so much depth it adds to the game, plus extra characters to battle with! The quests also are totally worth exploring and, well, without spoilers, trust me, it makes the ending of the game that much better!

If you need more convincing: vampires. It adds vampires to the game. And a really fluffy hell dog.

Balder's Gate is still one of my favorite RPGs of all time, reminiscent of D&D, but in video game form. Endlessly entertaining, because there's a wealth of characters to choose from and follow along on their story progress, and yep, it's a dungeon crawler, but one that never ceases to entertain.

Worth every penny to get to play this game again.