Recent reviews by maneko

If you loved the Sims spinoff "Urbz" I think you'll really love this. I have been following this game closely during it's development and even played the demo and loved it. Of course, it's under development still. There's a few quirks here and there that of course could be nit-picked, but for what it is, it's really fun. It scratches the itch that has been missing the Urbz!! Some of the grammar can be a bit odd and the voices of the NPCs can be a bit inconsistent but for the most part, I think it's pretty good!

I am in love with everything about this game.

The graphics are the cutest and the pixel art is so charming. I'm already a pretty big sucker for pixel art, but add a nice palette and I'm in heaven. This game's art direction is so incredible that I think I'd play it even if the game play was bad (lol).

Thankfully tho, the game play is good! The frogs are fun to make and figure out, The puzzles are challenging but not to a frustrating extent. It's a bit grindy, but I enjoy the art so playing it isn't a problem for me. It has cute little mini-mechanics, like dragging the crusher down to crush the mushrooms and stirring the pot, etc. I love any game with breeding/genetics mechanics so this one really hit the jackpot for me. Just a really cute and fun game all around.

I've never played Apico, but will be playing after I finish this!!

So super cute. I love desktop pets but this might be my favorite one yet. Nothing to feed or care for and to stress about forgetting to feed it because you're so locked in on your work ((true story)). Just a little guy tapping away at your desktop. The random hats you can get are really cute too and you can exchange 10 of an equal rarity for 1 of a higher rarity, so the doubles you get won't just collect dust.

Really cute, 10/10.

Possibly the cutest idle/desktop pet game so far. It's not annoying or intrusive on your screen at all and the art is just SO cute. I'm excited for more animals... maybe a shiba?? ((please))

From the little bit of the demo that I played, I can tell I'm going to put a ton of hours into this when it's released.

Cute side-scrolling farming/resource and base-building game that gives big Terarria vibes. Has a really cute and fresh art style with good sound design as well. The aesthetic/environment of the game is really intriguing and makes me want to learn more about the characters and back story of the land. Cool post-apocalyptic/cyber-punk-y vibes. Really excited to see where this goes, but I'm excited about what I've seen so far!

Cute pixel art game with roguelike and base-building elements! The art for this is so pretty and cute. The characters are all so unique as well! It's a bit of a tough game at first but once you get the hang of it and do a few loops, you'll be beating the bosses in no time~

I really love the base-building side as the graphics are so cute. The furnitures can give you different bonuses as well. I do wish there were some more decorative things off the bat, like lighting and such so that my base isn't so dark :)

Music is good, sound is good. Everything just feels so responsive.

The game has that addicting "one more run" game loop that keeps you playing for longer than intended. I only have two hours in so far but I can see myself adding more onto that easily.

The only issue I've run into is that my save isn't syncing to my steam deck, but it's not a huge deal!

I'm usually a huge baby when it comes to scary games but I *really* wanted to play this one as I love the idea of a virtual pet/friend becoming sentient.

This game builds such an amazing story line and world that it really just sucks you in, I was SO locked in on this game even though I was so anxious the whole time. The story and characters made me want to keep playing, rather than give up. MiSide is ALL about atmospherics. Definitely play this with headphones on! Sometimes the music would change and it would create the most uncomfortable, sick-to-your-stomach feeling, making me SO scared to even turn the corner in a hallway. Then..... suddenly.... you're in a cozy, cute room playing silly mini-games. The roller-coaster this game sends you on is so fun and nerve-wracking but also interesting and kind of introspective in a way. The jumpscares don't feel cheap or overdone.

I am so excited to see some of the concepts in this game buiilt upon and see where the developers take it next!
Cappie is the best <3

luck be a landlord and peglin's love child. infuriating but addicting, like most of these gambling roguelikes. finding different synergies is like a puzzle and it's fun to see the different ways that the different balls and things react to each other! really fun and i highly recommend if you love gambling and roguelikes....... and plinko.

Overall a cute little game! A little challenging for me, but I'm just generally not good at these types of games. 😭 I love that you can cast different spells based on the shapes of the runes that you draw. The game is very responsive and just feels.... satisfying.

The pixel art is very well made!!

I've been following the development of Fields of Mistria since the very beginning. It's clear that the game is really cared about by its developers. The art is gorgeous and the color palette is just a pleasure to look at. The music is good and the sound effects are satisfying.

Story wise, I'm enjoying it so far. It reminds me of Rune Factory 4 a bit ((which I love. The romance candidates are all very appealing and I'm stuck between a few! Game play is so fun without becoming too tedious or boring. You can jump, dive, AND catch bugs! This adds even more fun things to collect and more convenient ways to get around. The characters are interesting and have charming personalities!! I'm enjoying talking to them every day and there's a good bit of dialogue variety. I'm really enjoying mining as well! Some things are unfinished.. like I think the museum and you can't romance anyone to marriage right now. This is understandable in early access but there is still a lot of content!

!! Also... no fishing minigame !!

Overall I highly recommend this game as a breath of fresh air in the farming genre. Very excited to see it grow and develop more.

Finally... with a full heart I can finally say that THIS is the Farming Sim that I have been waiting for. I have been so hoping for a game that would make me feel the same way I did when I first picked up Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town on the GBA when I was seven years old. I played it over and over. I married Popuri.. then Karen.. then eventually every other bachelorette! I never replayed a game so much. I loved exploring the town and surrounding areas. The sound of the cicadas at night in the summer have stuck with me all of my life and he owls and wind sound effects during the winter season at night.. though they creeped me out at the time, I can still hear them now. That game was one of the most memorable games of my life and I have desperately been trying to chase that feeling again.

I played every Harvest Moon (before the renaming to Story of Seasons) and loved each one. Eventually though, the series as a whole began to lose its charm as it felt like they were just pushing out bland writing, art, and gameplay for money. The laggy 3D graphics started to hurt as well. Then.. farming sims kind of fell off again. Back then, they were still not very popular to begin with so I ate up every one I could get my hands on, but still none felt as charming as Friends of Mineral Town.

Then! A new challenger appeared. Stardew Valley. I bought it as soon as I could on steam. Pixel art graphics are always a selling point to me. I loved it ... it felt like a breath of fresh air. I played through to end game and married Sebastian. I also replayed with mods and had fun with those as well. However.. something still felt a little.. lost. The pixel art was great but it still didn't capture the charm of the old game that was always in my heart. The characters felt a little emotionless and stiff.. but I may just be biased. Still, I was grateful for another farming game from a developer that seemed to really cared about the genre.

Then, the cozy game boom came. All of a sudden, there were farming sims at every turn. At first I was so excited!! My favorite genre being given the attention it deserves! I was so excited at all of the new prospects. However... gaming as we know it today, is not the same as gaming back in the day. Things are easier to push out just to make some cash. Most of the sims that were pushed out felt soulless. Like they were just doing it to get in on the cozy game ~moment~ before it passed. The writing was lackluster.... the art was stiff and conveyed no emotions or personality.... they just felt like they had no heart in them. The games that I once loved sinking hours into were gone and I was so disappointed.. I thought for a while that maybe it was just me growing up. I'm 28 after all now and maybe there just isn't magic in these things anymore like there was when I was a kid... I'd kind of given up hope.

I found the Instagram for Fields of Mistria in 2019, I think. It was still a concept and the art is what captured my attention. The classic anime feel... the color palettes.... the emotions and personality that the characters portrayed JUST from the portraits!! It was so promising. I felt excited. But, I had been burned by early access/kickstarter/in development games before. I followed the journeys just to see them never come to fruition or to be given the bait and switch. Still... I followed along just enjoying the art style for now. As years passed, I still watched the development and saw how far it was coming along. I hadn't been this excited for a game in a very, very long time.

AFTER YEARS! Finally, a demo was playable on Steam!! I downloaded it the second I was able to... and I fell in love. Everything was so smooth. The graphics were pretty and polished. The colors were so easy on the eyes and weren't harsh. The characters already had so much distinctive personality. I felt the magic again. I felt that "want to explore" feeling. BUT the demo was only a couple day long play-test. I played as long as I was able and then waited for release to see if it really was true. After all, I've played games where there is a demo and then a release into early access and the early access is released and has NO content (which is understandable sometimes)... but then they would never move along the development scale and eventually be abandoned. I still had a little doubt.

Finally.... August 5th came. I waited and as SOON as the purchase button appeared I immediately went for it. And I played. I've only played for nearly 4 hours at time of writing this. But I really do feel the magic again. I don't just rush through the days to get to the next like I would do in other farm sims. I'm enjoying each day. I want to look around and explore. I want to CATCH BUGS!!! I want to DIVE !!! You can JUMP in this game! I love talking to all of the villagers. The art and portraits really help to convey their personalities and they are such a charming cast of characters. I'm stuck between a few marriage candidates right now... March is kind of winning though ((teehee)). Maaaybe make Olric a candidate??

((TLDR)) Anyways... This game has restored my hope that there ARE developers who give it their all and really care about their delivered product. I love everything about this game. It's pretty, it's fun... it's charming and feels magical. It is bringing out the seven year old girl in me again and I'm so happy to see her again. Thank you so much, NPC Studio. You really have created a gem here and I sincerely hope you get every ounce of recognition that you deserve and more. I cannot to see the game develop more and for more people to fall in love with it as I have.

It's hard for me to even give a rating on a number scale because everything feels like a 10/10 to me. I haven't encountered any bugs, lag, or other issues. I play on my main PC AND my Steam Deck and I am able to switch seamlessly between the two.

I will update as I play more, if needed!