Wylde Flowers (Studio Drydock) continues to frustrate me. In yesterday’s post, I ruminated on those frustrations to a lengthy extent. I think part of the reason I’m so frustrated with it is because I can see what it’s trying to be–and what I want it to be. Also, when I’m not loving a game that is beloved by so many other people, I have to ask myself why. I tend to think there’s something wrong with me, but then again, I tend to think there’s something wrong with me in general.
I want to like this game. I need to be very clear about that. I really want to like this game. It seems like it should be up my alley. It’s heavy on the emotions, and many people reviewing it talk about that aspect of the game.
Which, I’m down for! Except.
How do I put this gently and kindly? The emotions feel very hollow to me right now. Too much is revealed with little prompting, and that doesn’t make me feel comfortable. I mean, in real life, but also in the game. I know that’s how some of these dating games work, but it’s not really my jam.
I already have one person telling me that she would not mind going on a date with me, even though we’ve talked a handful of times. I don’t mind that so much because some people work that way, but it feels rushed to me.
In addition, there are dramas and intrigues between people that I think are going to make me uncomfortable. Again, this is how real life works, yes, but it doesn’t feel earned yet in the game. I think that’s my main issue–all the gameplay and resource gathering is so incredibly slow; yet, the relationship building is rushed.
Let’s talk about the relationships, shall we? I like most of the peoaple, but I don’t really have time to talk to them because I’m trying to get all the resources I need to get shit done. I do try to get my once-a-day talk to each resident done, but I find myself resenting it, frankly. Espceially as I mentioned in yesterday’s post that I have to give gifts to them to further our relationship. I risked giving the old sea salt a fish stew as a gift, and he thanked me for thinking of him–then added something about even if my thinking was bad or wrong or something like that.
I mean, what? Not only was the fish stew not what he wanted, but he was going to insult me as well? I actually know one of the things he wants, but because the meat shop was closed for three days in a row, I could not get what I needed until Tuesday.
By the way, that is another thing I do not like about the game–the short times that people actually do their jobs. When there’s already so many things that are blocking what I need to do, I don’t need that added obstacle to my agenda. Also, everyone’s schedule is different, so I don’t know who will be at work when. I get that this is how it would be in real life, but it’s annoying as fuck when I don’t have any schedule for them.
Which brings me to the map. The map doesn’t tell you where people are. This brings my enthusiasm for the game way down because I hate running around trying to find a specific person. The map will show where a few of the resources can be found, but not all. I wish the map were better, but it’s very rudimentary.
I would also like a journal that listed when people are at work and when they aren’t. There are about fifteen adults, I would say, and it’s hard to keep track of them.
Another thing that I’ve noticed is that the townfolk are already starting to repeat their dialogue. I’m sure it’s random/RNG, but one townsperson gave me the same line three times in maybe five meetings with them. I’m not expecting the game to be realistic, but the repeated dialogue this early on has really broken any illusion that the game is real.
Look. I’m not asking for Supergiant Games’ level of dialogue (over 21,000 lines of dialogue and apparently 120 lines for Charon, who just grunts. I was still seeing original dialogue 200 hours into the game. Granted, it was only one new line, but still), but I’m not even out of the first season yet. I should not be getting such heavily-repeated dialogue.
I have to emphasize that I went into the game with hopes. Not high hopes because I was not sold on the art design, but hopes because I am always amped when there is queer, gender, and racial diversity in a game. Plus size differences. (Not everyone is rail-thin in this game.) I have only played one game with someone who did not use pronouns (not specifically agender, but close enough), but I am hoping that I will see more of them. Maybe not in the next few years (glances at the world around me), but maybe before I hit sixty?
As I play the game, I am always aware of the difference between what I want the experience to be and what the experience actually is. I keep thinking to myself that, wow, I would really like more energy, less, grinding, more daily interaction with the townsfolk, and less stress.. This is not a cozy game to me because I’m always trying to hustle to break even.
This is something that many cozy games don’t do well, in my opinion. There is a balance between all the hustle and bustle, and with the chilling out aspect of the game. It’s hard because too much of the latter, and it can feel as if the game is dragging on. Too much of the former, however, and the game is no longer cozy.
I played Cozy Grove (Spry Fox) every day for many months. It had achieved that perfect balance in part because there were only a certain number of quests you could do on any given day (in real time). There were rotating, repeated quests that you could keep doing at any time, but the story quests could only be done at a measured pace.
When I first started that game, I felt strange only having a few quests a day. Plus, the resource gathering was quite stingy as well. By the end of the game, though, I was rolling in it, and I could do things at my leisure.
In this game, I feel like I have to keep busting my ass just to break even. Everything is just a bit off. I see the potential there, but I’m not sure I want to keep playing to see if it pays off twenty hours from now. Which is a shame because I like the idea of the game and the gameloop is fairly satisfying, even if it’s nothing special. I guess I’ll keep playing for a few more days, but I’m not very enthusiastic about it. I don’t want to fall into the sunken cost fallacy trap, but that’s what I tend to do.