I have spontaneously added a new tag–gaming hell. That’s because gaming is hell right now. Not literally, of course, but metaphorically. Some of it is out of the control of anyone in the industry–such as AI driving up the prices of RAM (long story, don’t want to talk about it) so that new consolse/PCs are going to be absolutely ridiculous in prices. I was thinking of buying a new PC a year ago, but I decided to wait it out beacuse graphic cards were already outrageous (because of tariffs), and I was hoping things would calm down.
Oh wait. At the end of the last post, I was talking about a game that came out yesterday that I so wanted to like (after talking about it in a previous post). I don’t know why I’m being so coy about it. It’s Moonlight Peaks (Little Chicken Game Company). I had my eye on it from when I first heard of it–when was that? Was it the Wholesome Games Direct in February? Was there even one in February? Anyway, it was a vampire farming sim. Yeah, you heard that right. OK, it’s not exactly a farming sim, but there is farming in it. And romance. And other life sim stuff.
You will forgive me if I was reminded of another game that was similar to it. One that I played the shit out of, had a chibi-ish style to it, too (well, more cartoony than chibi, but reminiscent of), and was a farming sim. It’s called, Wylde Flowers (Studio Drydock), and I enjoyed it so much, I platated it. Here is the post I wrote about it for my game of the year awards last year.
I played it for several dozes hours, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I have written many posts about what I loved and didn’tt like about the game, so I won’t belabor the point. I will say that I really loved the heart of the game, the fact that it incorporated magic into it, and how much diversity was in it.
Quite frankly, I was looking for something to replicate that feeling. I like a good sim, but I’m quite picky about what works and doesn’t work for me. I was really hoping this game would scratch that itch because on paper, it should be right up my alley. You’re a vamp who runs away from home and into a community filled with discord and strife? And you have to find a way to make the warring factions make nice (I’m assuming). There are werewolves, vampires, and other manners of fae (I think), which is great for me. I love that shit.
What I’m trying to say is that there was everything that I liked in this game. A farming/life sim. Magic and fantastical creatures. Not the chibi look, but I can grit my teeth and deal with that. Benig a vamp! I love vampires. I should have been all over that. But I just wasn’t.
The first time I tried the demo, the controls were very sluggish. I lasted maybe fifteen minutes before I shut down the game. Bad controls drive me batty, and I will not put up with them. I was regretful because I wanted so badly to like the game. I was giving it every benefit of the doubt, but no. It did absolutely nothing for me.
I played the second demo the day before the game was released. The controls were much better, but there was something lacking. I watched a video that explained how the game went through many big changes. Like, it was a multiplayer online game at some point? I think tha was when I played the demo because it definitely had that vibe. It also feels very much like a mobile game, but I just read it was released simultaeously on PC, mobile, and Nintendo Switch 2.
I just read a review that echoed many of my issues with the game. A life/farming sim has to have interesting characters with depth. They have to have more to them than meets the eye. Of the people I’ve met, I haven’t had much interest in any of them. There is one I positively hate. It’s that undeservedly narcissistic man who is probably insecure on the inside–and is really tender once you crack his hard nut. Wait, what?
I think I’ve made it known that I’m pretty done with undeservedly macho men–especially cishetwhitemen. It’s 2026, and the amount of that category of men who cannot meet even the basic standard of treating women (and other minorities) with not open contemt, well, it’s pretty discouraging.
I know that I’m a weirdo in general nad that I think about things in a much different way. Here’s the thing, though. I like being on my own. I think I’m the shit, really. I’ve said it like this before. I’m cake. Delicious, tender, gluten-free/dairy-free chocolate cake. I taste really good all on my own. If I’m going to smear frosting all over myself–ok, I’m taking this metaphor a little far–it’s going to have to make me taste better.
In other words, I’m not adding rancid frosting to my cake. Heh. I mean, it’s a given that if there’s a character creator, there have to be
Here’s my point. And I’ve made this point over and over again. Whether it’s in dating or in my media, I can be picky about who I choose. I don’t watch movies and TV any longer, but when I did, if there wasn’t a woman of color in the first five credits, I wouldn’t even conisder it. Is it discriminatory? Hell, yes. It’s my way of discriminatingly choosing what I do and don’t want to watch.
Since I rarely watch movies or TV, I am exceedingly discriminating about what I do watch because I odn’t want to waste my time. Discrimination is not a bad word in this case. This is my long way of saying that there are so many ineffable things that make or break a game for me. One of them is how diverse the game is. One thing I adored about Wylde Flowers was how diverse the NPCs were. I didn’t care that it wasn’t very realistic to have that much diversity in a small farming community–it’s not as if vampires, goblins, and werewolves really existed, either.
That’s all for now. More tomorrow.