I am back to talk about Wylde Flowers (Studio Drydock) for pehaps the last time (but probably not). I was going to do my official review in the last post, but then I got sidetracked, as is my wont. I am going to talk about the good, the bad, and the mixed in this game. I’m going to start with the good, but who knows which path I will wander down? Here we go.
The good:
1. The diversity. This is probably my favorite part of the gestalt of the game. I love that there are so many different types of people. Queer identities range from straight to gay to bi (the main character). As Tara, I could date eight people: three women; four men; and one person who is nonbinary. One is of the fae and spends time in both the fae world and the human world. They are of many different races, ethnicities, and colors–though I will say, sadly, that size diversity was pretty limited to one chunky dude. Everyone else was slim (women); fit (men and the nonbinary person), which was one shortcoming of the game.
2. Grappling with real issues. This game is cute and colorful, yes, but it does deal twith some big issues such as death, loneliness, anxiety, and more. I would not say the game goes deep into them, but I did shed a tear at a few of the story beats.
The not-so-good:
1. The grind is real. This is one of my biggest gripes about this game and others in the cozy genre. I am finally in the second season of the first year, and my goodness, there are just so many tedious chores to do. I mentioned in yesterday’s post that I really don’t like that about this genre–all the filler stuff. And how repetitive it is. And how they rarely get the balance right as far as making it hard, but not too hard. Or rather, that it should take effort, but not be grueling. There are some crops that take six or more days to grow. And sometimes, I have to grow certain things for certain events, which makes me anxious. Even when I know that I can get it done, I still don’t like having timers in cozy games.
2. The grind is real, part two. I mentioned this before, but I really think once you learn certain incantations, they should just be things you can do automatically. Ones that you use all the time like the broom for fast travel and the one that makes you move faster. And the one that brings all the items on the ground to you. These should just be automatic because you do them all. the. time.
I get that the devs want you to have to get into the witchy stuff, but by the hundredth time I was casting the levitation spell so I could fast travel, I was sighing and rolling my eyes. I know that part of cozy gaming is the experience and to immerse yourself in the game, but I don’t think anyone would have been upset to automatically fly from place to place.