This is a great game with amazing potential. Although the Steamdeck itself might say otherwise, this is fully playable on the Steamdeck. The only thing which might be an issue for some is that the text size will be much smaller. Pros: -Customizable characters; you can play as either the brother or the sister, and for sections such as the hair and eyes, you can either select from a preset color or adjust the hue/saturation/color to completely customize your character -Difficulty settings; there are three settings, and it can be changed from the options menu -Speaking of, there are a lot of settings which can be adjusted from the options menu (including remapping inputs and adjusting the speed of the in-game clock if things are moving too quickly; I personally love this option as it makes the game much more relaxed for me) -Steamdeck compatible -Excellent music and ambience -Historical setting (countryside of Japan) -Low difficulty curve -Farming is simple and fun, and you'll get your first (three) chickens for free -There's combat for those who crave it, and a large dungeon to explore -Wide, open maps with fast-travel points (though they need to be unlocked/discovered) -Multiple transformations which can help with combat, farming, and exploration -Fun NPC characters with some interesting stories to tell -The trash bins around town are extremely helpful (despite Kon's snarks about eating trash for dinner) -You can befriend and adopt every wild animal (dogs, cats, and even lizards) -You can pet all the animals around town -Craftable items -Easy access to storage units, and affordable bag expansions -Different seasons means different items, though some items spawn year-round -Item bundles at the shrine give you something to work towards between quests -No tools needed; you can either use a yokai form to do fieldwork...or even your weapon to break ore -You can find better weapons and tools in treasure chests scattered throughout the world -The fishing minigame actually isn't too bad, and doesn't eat up a chunk of your in-game time per cast -You can stay up until 3am with no consequences for the next day (no decreased stamina, no waking up late) -NPCs are in their stores almost every day (and the general shop is open every day). Their hours are also on the symbols on the map, so you don't have to memorize what shop is open on what day and at what time -Crops which regrow will do so all season long (or at least a couple weeks); you don't have to worry about buying more seeds -You can learn a recipe by just finding (or buying in a select few cases) the cooked item -Unlike many farming sim games, it rains more than 2-3 times a month -- Cons: -The price of every purchasable item feels like it should be cut in half (or at least have 25% cut from it) -Some early game quests will take a long time before they can be completed due to just not having access to those materials yet -Many builds take 20 copper bars to make, requiring a lot of mining copper -The world is large, but many areas are wide open spaces with not much in it -Until you unlock flight, some areas take a long time to run to (such as the ranch) -The ranch will not open to sell you anything until after you've built a chicken coop, so even if you don't want chickens yet (or don't feel you're ready), you can't get pet dens/beds for the animals you adopt -Separating stacks of items is extremely clunky. You can only take half a stack, instead of a specific number, and if it's an edible item then your character will eat one if you do this in your inventory -There's no way to inspect items requested, or reward items, on the quest board. Eventually you'll learn what all the icons are, but when you first start you'll see pictures you've never encountered before -A couple quests, such as helping a kid to his secret base, have no destination marker. This wouldn't be so bad if there wasn't an in-game clock (I actually had to look that one up) -Leveling up your character and yokai forms requires gold. While this is likely to prevent someone from maxing out a form after exploring a quarter of the ruins, it also eats into your profits (especially considering how expensive every other item in this game is) -If you're like me and are used to the "A" button being the typical interacting button, you'll likely remap inputs so that "A" is interacting and "B" is jumping. This creates a problem in that you'll constantly accidentally open up Kon's customization window while trying to jump. This should have been a feature which can only be done in a mirror (like your player) or requiring a press-and-hold -Kon sometimes also gets in the way of attempting to talk to an NPC or petting an animal -The weapon leveling system is a bit strange (I'm still puzzled as to why my +12 attack hammer couldn't break iron ore, but my +13 attack forged sword could) -The forge takes a long time to become available -Combat might be frustrating for some; I went to the easiest difficulty because I just wasn't a fan of it -Sometime, villagers will request items you cannot get or make (I'm in summer of my first year as of this review, and I can't make cheese...but they will occasionally ask for it) -It's unclear how to make some items (tofu, miso, and matcha are a question mark. I know what they're made from, but if there's an item I need to actually make these things then I haven't unlocked it yet) -While you can craft a storage bin (or buy a chest of drawers) at any time, your house starts to look like a warehouse after a while because one storage container isn't enough; you usually need to have at least two (for example, I'm using two different containers for cook-able items...and might need a third soon) And, of course, I'm a bit confused as to why the casino lady wants you to hand over the fox stamp. Why can't we just use it to stamp an official document saying we're backing the casino? Overall, I'm having loads of fun with this game and find myself often eager to play more of it.
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