I’m back to talk more about Cozy Grove: Camp Spirit (Spry Fox). In my post from yesterday, I was reluctantly admitting that I wanted something more from the game that I wasn’t getting. I compared the game to a favorite hoodie in that it fit well and was comfy to be in as you lounged around the house, but it wasn’t a looker nor was it something you’d go to, say, work in. It’s the same hoodie you’ve worn for the past ten years, and it’s just something you hold onto no matter what.
And yet, you know you should throw it away at some point soon, but your heart screams at you not to do so. So you ignore that voice and keep on wearing it–taking care to wash it gently to slow down the wear and tear.
I think I’ve pushed that metaphor about as far as I can without breaking it. My point is that I have been playing with a lingering sesse of, “Is this it?” Everything that was in the last game was in this one as well. The bears you have to help. The resources you have to forage. Mr. Kit’s store and its ever-expanding inventory. There were a few differences, but I wasn’t that happy about it, one in particular.
It’s the one where when you do the repeated chores like mining ore, you see the corporeal forms of your fellow Spirit Scouts as they help you do the chore. I hope there’s a reason for it that will be uncovered later because right now, I find it quite pointless. Doing those chores don’t take much time individually–it’s more the sum of doing them all. And having a helper on one of, say, six chores doesn’t really help. If it were every time, maybe? But doing it this way just irritates me.
One thing from the last game that is in this game as well that I really like is Mr. Kit’s daily array of clothing and hairstyles. They change on the daily, and I try to buy…well, in the last game, I just bought them all. In this game, though, I’m buying the ones I like–and all the special ones whether I like them or not.
As I was playing today, I still had that small feeling of, “Is this all there is?” It’s weird because I was enjoying my time (comfort food), but at the same time, I wanted something new. Oh! One more QOL change that I really appreciated is how they deal with the food. In the first game, there was a baker bear (who I really liked, by the way) who was actually really terrible at cooking/baking. I found that highly amusing, and I liked talking to her. I will admit, though, at a certain point, I just wanted to get on with my cooking and baking.
In this game, you can use the baking station without talking to the baking bear every time. In other words, the baking station stands alone. It’s a nice change because I can talk to the cooking bear whenever I want, but it’s separate from the actually cookin g/baking station.
Then, something new happened that made me up my opinion of the game greatly. I’m not going to go into details because it’s something that should be experienced, but it really warmed my heart. It involves the snooty bear who has no sense of humor. For whatever reason, that combination just endeared me in this game whereas it put me off a bit in the last. She said something that made me feel sorry for her and doubled my desire to help her.
This questline also introduced a new mechanic that I’m not crazy about, but I have no idea what it really does. It’s early doors for it, and I guess I just need to wait and see what it actually does. That’s one thing that I’ve lost my ability to do–just chill the fuck out and wait and see what’s going to happen.
I realized that I’m not very good at delayed gratification, which is a big problem in this game. Because there is so much for me to do, I feel the impulse to do it everything all at once.
Oh, one of the mechanics from the last game is back–fishing. I found it to be mildly irritating in the last game, and they’ve made it better in this one. You have to cast the line so the bobber is right in front of the fish you’re trying to catch. You can’t boop them on the head or they get scared away. In this game, there is a little shaded circcle around the bobber. For whatever reason, it makes it easier for me to aim. I have not scared away any fish yet.
I like getting new resources because I can bring them to the archivist and get rewards for them. This is also the same as the first game, and while it can be overwhelming, it’s also a way to make easy money.
I’m overall feeling positive about the game. The one new incident was enough to push me into the positive category rather than me just being neutral. I do hope there will be more new mechanics in the game because it really perked me up.
I’m glad I bought the game. I am going to enjoy playing it. I want to support Spry Fox because I believe in them, and they are trying to do the right thing by their employees. I’m hoping that this will become my comfort game–the one I play an hour every day just because it feels good. In addition to new mechanics, I am hoping for new fish/bugs/flower/trees, etc. So far, most of them seem to be the same as the last game. The same with the outfits and the hairstyles.
Again, as I’ve said before, I’m pretty easy on small teams for reusing assets because they run on such a tight budget. However, I don’t think it’s unreasonable to ask for a few new things in each category.