There was one game I was really looking forward to this year. It was Mineko’s Night Market (Meowza Games) which was announed some time ago. It looked really cute and cozy, which was rigt up my alley. The style reminded me of Night in the Woods with the big eyes, but more cartoon-y. I wasn’t against cartoon-y, mind. Plus, there were cats. Lots of cats. And right or wrong, I believed a black cat was at the center of the mystery, which made me doubly hyped. I didn’t know much more other than there was a night market, obviously.
It was delayed, and then I forgot about it. then, it was said to be coming out in Septemberof this year. Yay! But I got unhealthily wrapped up in another game and could not move on, even though I should have. Mineko’s Night Market released, and I immediately bought it. I heard there were issues with it on the Switch, but that it ran fine on the PC.
When I finally booted it up yesterday, it ran fine. It was cute and charming, but I already had issues with it from the start. Mineko is great; I hate her father. I took an instant aversion to him because he picked on her. He calls her names, but in a joking manner, so it’s supposed to be OK. It’s the trope of being mean to the ones you love, and I have a deep dislike for that.
Maybe if they had worked up to it, I would have been able to tolerate it. But it’s from the get-go before I even know the characters so it’s off-putting. Same with the first kid Mineko meets in the new town. Bobo. He’s just a jerk to Mineko, and while I get the feeling it’s supposed to be charming, I immediately disliked him.
The basic premise is that there are ‘agents’ in the town. They look like they’re supposed to be FBI, and they are there for some unknown reason. They have kidnapped all the cats and…something or the other. Bobo tells you that he is going to find out what is happening, and he wants you to help him. It’s a nonsensical premise, but whatever.
He does a distraction and I cross the bridge to…uh…I forgot. The agents see me and start chasing me. I try to get back across the bridge, but it breaks. I end up in the water and pass out. As I’m unconscious, a big cat figure comes and picks me up. Back up.
At the beginning of the gmae, Mineko and her father are moving to this godforsaken town. She’s reading a story about the cat god, and that is going to be the main mystery, I’m pretty sure.
The game has a charm to it. I love the graphics and the way it looks like the trees and houses are cut out of paper. I give ita thumbs up for the environment and the animation. I love Mineko and it has nothing to do with the fact that her name sounds like mine and she has a demeanor/personality like mine as well. And she likes cats. Especially black ones. Yes, I’m putting the last on her when she has never said that, but I can tell it’s what she’s thinking.
For the first few hours, I was into the game. Picking the flowers, meeting the neighbors, learning how to make flower arrangements. It was fun and quaintly charming, and I was into it.
Then, I had to do the mini-game to get into the new area, which was rescuing the caged cats. I hated this, and I’ve said it many times. Don’t put in gameplay just because you think you need it. And making it so if you get caught three times, you have to start over is infuriating. As I have said a thousand times, I have spatial issues and the agents swinging their flashlights back and forth was frustrating. They weren’t doing it quickly, but that didn’t matter to my brain.
I thought it would just be one time, but no. Apparently, this is the way to open up each new area. Which, ugh. No thank you. Then, the best part of the game. Petting the cats! Every game should have that, to be honest. I spent several more minutes doing that and was happy to call it a day.
I soldiered on. I met more neighbors. This was starting to feel like Animal Crossing from what I’ve seen (I don’t have a Switch so have not played it), which wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. But at the start of the second week, I was already feeling the burn. I had gone to one night market (it happens every Saturday night, which was seven days in game), which was fun because it was new. But I saw how quickly it would become tedieous. See, the items I crafted throughout the week were on sale here. Each customer would haggle how much they would pay, and I always stuck to the middle of the prices. Why? Because i wanted to make money quick and steady.
By the second week, I was already kinda bored. It was the same thing, but to open a different area. Plus, two museums opened up. One was a food museum and one was a flower museum. The proprietor of each museum wanted one of each species and once they got a certain amount, they would be opened to the public. Much like Animal Crossing.
Then, they added fetch quests for the neighbors in order to increase your bond with them and I was done. Oh, and a mini-game in which you ‘chop’ down trees. You have to hold down A when the cursor is in one circle and then release when it hits another circle. It felt both juvenile and tedious. And something I don’t want to keep doing. I hate quick time eventss. With a passion. These aren’t hard to do, but they are boring.
I wanted this game to be good. I wanted to love it. But I don’t. I may play a bit more, but I think I’m pretty much done. Despite how charming it looks, it doesn’t feel the same. The review from Rock Paper Shotgun said pretty much everything I felt about the game. Which is such a damn shame.