I want to talk more about Wylde Flowers (Studio Drydock). This is part two of my A Quick Look at the game. Here is my first post in which I talked a bit about my first impressions. I said in that post that I was worried that the game would get out of control. I didn’t phrase it like that, but that was the worry that was running through my brain as I played the game. I was chafing at the fact that my stamina bar was so tiny and that every action took so much energy. I knew that there were ways to mitigate that at some point in the future, but I wasn’t sure I was willing to play the game until then.
I’ve played nine hours or so. And I have to say that I’m still waiting for the game to balance itself out. I feel like I’m spending all my time just trying to stay three steps behind and not fall behind any further.
There are several things that are closed, and I was wondering how I was going to open then, and what would trigger the ability to open them. I never thought anything other than I was going to be the one to unlock/open them because that’s how these games go. The one closest to me was the mine. I’m not sure what triggered the specific townperson to come talk to me about the mine, but when she did, I laughed at how ridiculously easy it was going to be. It was something like give the woodworker two hundred gold, ten planks of wood, and a few stones (I looked it up. It’s 100 gold, ten planks of wood, and five stones), he’ll open the mine.
Seriously. That’s it? And no one could do it earlier? I don’t demand that everything in my games be realistic, but come on. That’s ridiculous.
This is one of my issues with the game. I can suspend my disbelief to a great extent for a cozy game if it hits me right (see Promise Mascot Agency,Kaizen Game Works), but this game is not doing that.
I mentioned yesterday that one of the weird things about the game is that if you can’t talk to a townsperson any more on any given day, they just stand there. You can walk through them, and they don’t even blink. It’s a really strange choice. In addition, if they’re in their place of work, they will just sit there/stand there docilely as if their body is just a husk.
Now, there are more things you can do with each person, but that actually makes it more frustrating because, well, let me put it this way. There are roughly twenty townspeople. You can have a meaningful conversation each one once a day. Now, I can also give them gifts and talk to them about specific tasks they’ve given me. Also, if I’m doing a bulletin quest for them, there’s the choice to talk to them about that as well.
So, basically, I’m doing a bunch of fetch quests. You can call them whatever you want, but that’s what they are. I have very little guidance as to what is the most important to do, so I’m just doing it by gut. Oh, and I have started to Google some things, but I hate playing games that way.
In the video I’ve included above, there are so many things that I haven’t seen yet. And the things I have are very much in the nascent stage. There are characters in the trailer I have not even met, yet. And I don’t feel excited about the thought of meeting new people;I just feel tired.
Here’s the thing with the gifts–I have to guess as to what someone would like or not. Each person (and cat) have three to five gifts they like best, and if you give them something that’s not their favorite, they are very stingy in return.
At this stage of the game, I feel as if I can’t give anything to anyone because I need it for myself. That’s because the only thing I can give at the moment is food, and I need all that to keep up my energy. Therefore, if I give one of my precious food items to a townsperson and it’s not their favorite? It makes me very angry.
For example, I had a bottle of vodka that had cost me a pretty penny (I bought it to establish a closer bond with the bar owner). I gave it to the old sea salt because he liked to drink. He simply thanked me for it and maybe gave me some bait or something in return. I was actually indignant because it was such a waste.
That’s the thing. I don’t like fetch quests in general. I also don’t like romancing characters in games in general because it’s so transactional. The only game I enjoyed romancing people in was Saints Row IV (Volition/Deep Silver), and that was because they made fun of romance in games by making it so you could bonk every character–execpt Keith David. It was hilarious and a hell of a lot of fun. Oh, I did enjoy it in Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Simulator (Game Grumps) and to a lesser degree, Boyfriend Dungeon (Kitfox Games). The latter two were for very different reasons from each other, but the first one was just a fun romp.
There are several reasons I don’t like romance in games. One, as I mentioned, the transactional nature of them. Almost every romance in games has a ‘give this person this to get them to bonk you’ exchange. I understand why it is–well, no, I really don’t. I was going to say I knew why it was so prevalent in games, but I don’t, really. I mean, I get that it’s easy to make it ‘you give person x; they want to date you’, but it doesn’t make for interesting gameplay.
From the little I’ve read, there seems to be more emotional heft to the romances in this game (and there certainly is a diverse selection of datable people), but I’m still skeptical that it will be what I’m interested in. I have thought for a long time that I’m aromantic, and I really don’t want a monogamous, long-term relationship for several reasons. There is only one game in which you could, ah, date people (being vague on purpose) that allowed you to be with more than one person at a time.
Well, to be more technical about it, it was the only game in which I was explicitly able to be with more than one person at a time. Other games may let you date several people simultaneously, but usually it was a passive thing and not explicitly stated.
I have more to say, but I’m done with this post. I will write more tomorrow. Probably.