I want to talk about sequels some more because I can. This is the fourth post about sequels, and I want to talk specifically about the Cozy Grove sequel. I wrote about my impressions of it (Cozy Grove: Camp Spirit (Spry Fox)), but I got stuck on the idea of sequels.
I went deep into the rabbit hole of the different Dark Souls II launch trailers, which I have not seen before, as I was thinking about sequels. FromSoft trailers always go hard, and one reason I skip them is because they give so much away. Yes, it’s hard to tell what is what without context, but still. They show late-game bosses, which is just wild. In fact, for Dark Souls III, the final boss was the box art.
I have not played more of Cozy Grove: Camp Spirit, and there are several reasons for it. But first, I’d like to reiterate that this is a mobile game. The only reason I played it at all was because I was somehow included in the Netflix beta, which I did not know until I went to Netflix for the first time in quite some time. It’s funny because I went there to cancel my membership (another post for another day), and to my surprise, I was able to play Cozy Grove: Camp Spirit on my PC. I was stoked because there was no way I was going to play the game on mobile.
By the way, in searching for the reveal trailer, I stumbled on a Reddit thread from Cozy Grove fans who were heartbroken than the game was going to be a Netflix exclusive AND a mobile game. A few people were scolding the people who said they were mad/upset/disappointed because games cost money! Yes, they do. And as I stated in my quick look at the sequel, I am not upset at Spry Fox for grabbing that Netflix money. They need to get paid and they need to eat.
However. I am also with the stalwart fans who are upset because in order to play the game, you have to keep your Netflix membership in perpetuity AND you have to play the game on your cell phone. With a teeny tiny screen. Someone pointed out that the cheapest subscription is $7.99 a month, which is $95.88 a year. It might have been a bit cheaper when the game came out because they raised their prices fairly recently, but it wouldn’t have been that much cheaper.
I wonder how many people have played the game versus the first game, but I don’t think it would be easy to find that data. I don’t think Netflix would be freely letting that out into the wild. Also, please stay in your fucking lane, Netflix. I mentioned this earlier as well, but I don’t think they are doing the right thing as they try to get into the games biz.
I estimate I’ve played two or three hours of Cozy Grove: Camp Spirit. The whole time, there was a thought buzzing in the back of my mind: I might as well be playing the first game. If you had told me I was playing DLC for the first game, I would have accepted that unquestioningly. In fact, dare I say it? I dare. I think the visual quality is a slight downgrade from the first game. I am fully willing to admit that it might be confirmation bias because I know this was developed for the cell phone, but it just doesn’t pop the way the original game did.
I kept wanting more. In the first game, there was a mindfulness and thoughtfulness that kept me going back for more. Even though it was chafing at the time, I really appreciated the real-time day cycle. If you did all the main tasks for one day, well, then that’s all you could do in the main story that day. You could do all the resource stuff (planting, fishing, harvesting, etc.), but you could not get that next story beat until the next day.
I’m sure that many people complained about how slow the game is in the first few months, but I feel Spry Fox took the wrong lesson away from those complaints. At least for me, I found the story beats generally well-paced. In this game, I learned so much about the first two bears I met, I could not take in all that information.
Some positives: there are different areas you can go to (well, at least one. A cave), and I like the bears. I do appreciate that the cat-calling mechanic they introduced late in the first game (maybe in the DLC? or one of the holiday events) is standard in this game.
Some of the carryovers are comforting–like Mr. Kit, the vendor. I truly thought the DLC for the first game was going to be about him because he was so mysterious. Alas, it was not, and he’s just as mysterious this time around. Despite the slight downgrade in the graphics, it’s still a colorful and lovely environment. I like the different outfits, greenery, and animals. Yes, they were all in the first game, but that’s a comforting callback, not an annoying one.
I did read that you can use a controller with the game, but I don’t think I’m going back. I just don’t find the game compelling enough, and that is sad because the first game is in my top five favorite non-FromSoft games of all time.
I know they need to get paid, but I think they really made a misstep by having the game be a Netflix exclusive and only on mobile. Maybe it’ll pay off in the long run (and I see in their Discord that they’re playtesting their next game, which will also be a Netflix exclusive), but at what cost? I am very much anti-exclusives. From a consumer standpoint, I mean. I get why companies do them, but it’s ridiculous to think that you have to buy all the consoles in order to play all the games.
It’s similar to how I hate that there are so many sub-subscriptions in Amazon Prime (and in general). I do a rewatch of all Poirot episodes every decade or so. The last time I did it, I had to subscribe to TWO sub-subs on Amazon Prime because the series changed hands after several series. I think it’s BritBox and Acorn. So I subbed to each of them for free (is succession) and rushed through the episodes before unsubscribing. I rarely can find anything to watch for free on Amazon Prime any longer.
I’m not using Amazon at all now (another post for another day), but the sub-sub thing really annoys the fuck out of me.
That went off the rails. I’ll probably be back tomorrow for one more post about sequels.