Now that all of the major updates are done...

Poot Poot Poot! A mainline Bokumono game set in a resort town that wants to be more resort-y. Available for Nintendo Switch, Steam/PC, and Ps4/5. [ Game Guide ] JP release = Feb 2021. NA = Mar 2021. EU = Mar 2021.
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nenesha
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I'll be honest, I doubt I'll go back to the game even with the new love interests. I actually beat the main game already and I'm not really interested in redoing it. I find this game way too easy, though I know some may differ. It did take time to do things, but the fact that I was able to beat the main story in under a year on harder mode shows me just how easy and boring the game is. I'm not saying it's a downright awful game and is better than the new Harvest Moon games. I'll list what I liked and disliked down below.

Things I Liked

Farming- Yeah, I think this game does a pretty good job on the while farming aspect of the game. Yes, the maker are stupid and annoying, but overall I was happy with the collecting things, animals, and planting. Actually, my favorite part of this game was being to plant things. Mining and fishing were also fun.

Crafting- I can get why some people may hate this. It's tedious at times, but also it feels rewarding being able to craft something for your farm. Collecting also plays into this and I liked it.

Iori and Neil-Yeah, I love these two. I think Neil is still a jerk, but I did really love his events for the most part. Not so much with Iori since his events were so weird, but he's a really great guy.

Heart Events-I admit, I love that each love candidate has so many heart events. I admit, I've only completed Iori's and Neil's, but it was fun seeing all of their scenes. Having so many events can help the player get to know the character more and some were romantic. I actually think the DLC candidates have better heart events though.

Same « Chicken Hugging » Marriage-No explanation needed. Glad the game had it, sad Rune Factory 5 doesn't.

Relaxing-The game is very relaxing to me. This is why i won't say it's downright bad. Given the pandemic and my own depression, i think this game is good for people who want to relax or have some fun. This of course varies per person. I actually think Animal Crossing does a better job at this.

Things I Disliked

The Town-« Harvest Goddess » I hate the game's town. It's so boring and lackluster and nothing ever goes own. I've bee playing some older games and I've been reminded just how nice their towns were. This one though is boring, small, and not much going on. While the design is kind of nice, games like Animal Parade and it's prequel did a much better job at a seaside town. Also, the places added with DLC don't fare much better but do look nice I guess.

People (kind of)-I like the people in the town, but at the same time I find many of them boring. I think the best example I can give is with the bachelors of the main game. None except Iori really caught my eye and I just don't feel like romancing them. The DLC characters are a bit better, but not by much. In fact, I think this game plays too much into character tropes, like Neil being a jerk yet coming to open up. I will say, Iori is one of the more unique characters in my eyes, though I admit I am biased.

Lack of Festivals-They were lazy. All I'll say about this.

Annoying Requests-Honestly, I hate the requests in this. Nothing like an RPG or even Rune Factory. Just mainly boring requests from the annoying Mayor (yes, I don't like him), and honestly depending on how fast you do them, you could likely finish the main story line by fall.

Art-So this is more of a mix bag. I love how the animals look, the crops, and the scenery is decent. Even the people are okay. However, for some reason I don't think the 3D models look to good. Everyone moves really slowly and unnaturally. I really wish they had kept the portraits. I know there's a new feature now with the camera, but it'll likely still be awkward for me. The expressions aren't good in this game either...

Makers-Just plain dumb.

Too easy-Again, it depends on the player, but i find this game to easy. I've gone back to the old Story of Seasons, and I have to say they are much harder. To finish the main story line in under a year isn't right. I honestly feel like this game is just for the kids. It's kind of like how Pokemon is now.

Overall thoughts

So this game isn't horrible. I think it's just okay. Bland, but okay. Sadly, I don't think it's worth the price or even buying the other DLC. I know the Marvelous is working on Rune Factory 5 and passed this game to a new group, but they could've at least given a road map for them. I honestly don't think it takes much effort to do research on older games. Like I said, I doubt I'll come back to this game any time soon, but may if i really want to try it again.

If I had to rate this game, I'd give it a C-. I do hope this series isn't going down hill as some people. Such a thing has already happened with Sims and Pokemon. Still, I'm not a hopeful person about it getting better but I won't be negative. Overall, it's not a terrible game, but is at the bottom part of my list.
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nenesha
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Burning Spear wrote:As far as I'm concerned, the series we know as Bokumono died with Trio of Towns. There is very little human connection to the past games; Marvelous is essentially starting over with a new, suspect, development team, which apparently has been given quite a bit of leeway to apply its own vision to the series. We knew this would happen at some point, but the transition was poorly executed. We know Miyamoto does very little with Nintendo's top IPs, but he and his colleagues have done well to instill the Nintendo way upon their successors, so a Mario game still feels like a descendent of the original Mario Bros. game. With Bokumono, it seems everything Wada and, later, Hashimoto built is now being imitated by a development team that appears to have little understanding of what makes the games fun. Marvelous shoulders a lot of this for releasing Pioneers in a half-baked, slim-downed format that was essentially a cash-grab vehicle to generate lots of pre-order business. Now they've got our money, and we've got plushies and a pale imitation of the game we've come to know. Apologizing after the fact for something the company knew was defective upon release rings hollow to me. Marvelous now needs to convince me it is restoring the series to what it was.

I won't lie this is kind of negative. I actually thought the Mineral Town remake was pretty good, though it's stupid how they took away the rival events. I think the original team made that game, but I'm not sure. Still, I think we should give them a one last chance before going all doom and gloom.

Then again, for me at least, this has already happened to Pokemon and Sims, so I do get why being hopeful or positive is likely useless. Lucky for us, there are other farming games out their and hopefully can take the mantle of this series should it keep doing downhill. There's also Rune Factory 5, which may be good despite a set back with SSM.
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Kikki
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Well, overall all this has mostly confirmed the prevailing basic opinion as I've gleaned up til now, as far as I can see. Honestly, they seem to have done a great job with the basic gameplay loop. I've noticed that people almost (almost, not entirely) all say they really like the game and that it's really fun...when they first start playing. They love the basic gameplay, as it's rather addictive. Reminds me of a mobile game. Not in a negative way; mobile games HAVE to be very addictive or they'd never manage to bleed you of money via microtransactions. So to have that level of 'I want to keep playing!' in a game you can buy outright is cool, imo.

However there seems to be a large portion of people for whom the game soon falls flat, once they're beyond that initial week (or whatever it is) of playing, and they're finding they can't get into the characters or the late-game or whatever it is they loved in previous games and find they're missing, now. The reason why I have, as yet, not seen even one person describe Olive Town as their favourite, or the best. Like, it's fun...but it's kind of shallow, beyond a fairly spiffy surface. Plenty to like, but not a lot to love.

I'm still buying Olive Town as soon as it next goes on sale, even knowing all I know. Which is just about everything, lol. I don't know how long I'll be able to enjoy it but I'm sure I will for a while, at least. But I don't think I want to pay full price for it since I really doubt I'll be getting the literally hundreds of hours I tend to get out of a Bokumono game.
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Burning Spear
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I watched Wilder stream the Twilight Isle DLC today, and the story for it was ludicrous. Like 1950s 3-D horror-film ludicrous. I don't want to spoil it for anyone, but then again, even if I did, few would likely believe it. It was that absurd. It must have killed the XSeed people who had to translate it. I've never seen such a cringeworthy premise in a Bokumono game.

But I will say this for the people who enjoyed the first few seasons of the game. You can't kill the basic experience of till, plant, water, harvest, or the experience of caring for animals, or the experience of building a life from scratch. No matter what silliness or laziness it's wrapped in, those things survive and capture your attention. But then once you get beyond the newness of it and start branching into the rest of the game, the other elements have to be compelling and logically presented or the game soon gets shelved.
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Shan O 123
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Burning Spear wrote:I watched Wilder stream the Twilight Isle DLC today, and the story for it was ludicrous. Like 1950s 3-D horror-film ludicrous. I don't want to spoil it for anyone, but then again, even if I did, few would likely believe it. It was that absurd. It must have killed the XSeed people who had to translate it. I've never seen such a cringeworthy premise in a Bokumono game.
I’ve watched that stream too XD Like wow.
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Burning Spear
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Shan O 123 wrote:I’ve watched that stream too XD Like wow.
Right? Like we would have been better off if XSeed had left the dialogue in Japanese.
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Chrysalis-Lyn
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Looks like PoOT will be available for free (for Switch online members) from 9/22-28. This seems like a good opportunity to try it out, for those of us who have held off. It's also on sale until October 4th. I plan on trying it myself!

https://twitter.com/nintendoamerica/sta ... 09865?s=21
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greensara
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Thanks to the free trial, I was able to fire up the game again without having to wait on my little brother to remember to find and give it back to me. I thought about starting fresh, but decided to open my original file to see the differences and DLC. After playing for a little while I have concluded I am officially done with it, and thankful I got the vanilla physical copy instead of any of the special editions and instead of digital so I can sell it whenever it gets found.

I have a few observations from the updates/DLC:

First, Jack and Ralph look great in the school uniforms, the highlight of turning the game back on.

Second, the new camera view during speaking is a great improvement.

Third, there does seem to be more everyday dialogue than before, so Jack can say something besides talking about hanging out, even after marriage.

Anything else added by the updates or DLC didn't really do anything for me. I thought about playing or sleeping through until the child shows up, but it seemed like a waste of time to me. It all seems very blah to me. The DLC areas and characters seem pointless in my opinion. It was nice seeing some old characters again, but they seemed more like out of place doppelgangers. To me the Expansion Pass was a complete waste of money.

Conclusion: Try the trial if you get the chance, it could save you a lot of money and time. The improvements do a lot for the base game. The game itself in my opinion is still just okay, not terrible, but not great. Unless you really like the extra costumes or are really into the game as it is, I would not bother with the DLC. These are just my opinions.
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Kikki
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Okay, so I have the full game, now, and have played about three real-life days and am near the end of my first season. I have two sections of farm unlocked, and the mushroom logs, and about ten types of maker, half of my tools are silver and the other half iron, but I only have chickens and cows for animals. I have done...3 town renovation projects, I think? Or 4? That's where I am, anyway. Haven't done any fishing yet. Have seen several character events, and have visited all 3 DLC areas.

For all it has SO many gameplay features I like, like leveling up skills, lots of unlocks, the museum, the achievements/rewards...I don't understand why I can't grow any feelings for it. It's like...I don't feel invested in anything about Olive Town. Not the characters or the town itself. I barely even care about my farm.

I think the single MOST important thing to me is that there are no farming festivals, whether crop or animal. That's probably why I don't care much about my farm.

I feel like it's basically a game about cleaning. Tidying up debris in the form of trees, grass and rocks, and occasionally crafting that junk into other stuff, and giving out the bits you make to let other people make things with them. You don't have any say in the order the town gets fixed, or the style, or anything. I thought maaaaaybe the different items you can donate to get the project done might give you some control over finish. Like if you donate wood, have wooden roads. If you donate stone, then cobblestone roads. If you donate clay, then terracotta roads...or etc. But it appears that it's the same no matter what.

I just don't feel any love or investment, I guess. From me toward the game, from the characters toward the MC, or from the creators to the fans. I don't know how to say it. I do think the improvements they've made are a big deal, though. The makers aren't bothering me and the dialogue seems about par for the course for Bokumono, certainly at this stage of the game. I guess if it doesn't change by increasing heart levels, that'd feel weird and disconnected, but I'm not sure about that, yet.

I will actually keep playing, though, to get the whole farm unlocked, the town upgraded, and the museum finished (well...maybe not the fish? I haaaaaaaaaate fishing games!) But I feel about this kind of like I feel about my favourite mobile games. They're fun to play for an hour here and there, but then I'm done, and I don't think about them when I'm not actively playing them. I don't hate it, but it doesn't feel like Bokumono.
Mothership
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I agree with everything you said, Kikki. I played it every day for a week or so after release, but now I might boot it up once a week and play it for a short while. The constant need to chop trees, cut grass and scoop out puddles is not fun at all. OMG, the puddles! I'll get tired of seeing them and spend quite a bit of time clearing them up only to have it rain the next day. Bleah.

The improvements they've made should have been there from launch, imo. The game is better now than it was, but it still lacks that magical "something" that grabs ahold of you and makes you not want to put the game down for long periods of time.
ChaosAzerothCat
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Yeah my problems are balance, and my biggest it the trifecta that detracts from my usual comfortable farming loop. In no particular sequence: No crop festival, nightmare seedmaker, and the cooking system.

In game, Lovett is the only reason to really mess with maxing crops. They sell for more, sure. But if you compare what you can do trying to make seeds vs just buying them... Yeah that's me vs my spouse playing and they're making a ton more money so it's not actually monetarily productive. But outside of Lovett in game there is no reason. Not even cooking to give it the feeling of a purpose. Not only does it take in game time, it's clunky doing them one at a time.

I don't feel rewarded for farming. Flat out. So much emphasis is on the makers and cleaning your farm that it sometimes feels like MTaP with more farming more than a SoS game to me. Yeah, I get it has no time limits but it still doesn't feel as zen as Trio even and Trio had a billion (hyperbole) fertilisers. Still managed to get into a groove there. I nearly never even need to eat as I run out of time unless I want to sleep in and throw off what little groove I do manage.

Last tool upgrades pushed back to the point of likely getting them long after you don't really care so much. Like the watering can. Why? You'll probably have sprinklers way before and either have made peace with the gold or moved to sprinklers. The dreaded juggling multiple fabrics and dyes and still paying out the butt for clothes. Only this time it's animal based and grass based cloths. Going into year 3, still only the basic and free DLC outfit.

I've never wondered why I'm even bothering to try to progress in farming in a farming game before, but I have here multiple times. It feels bad ngl.

Spouse got the DLC even though I told them about how the candidates were and then basically surprised Pikachu faced when I told them again. Wanted to marry Iris and decided not to. The DLC straight feels scummy to me honestly. The characters are nostalgia bait imo, they're sub par to base game candidates. (Should be equal.)

The story in base game is so short, even with me legit half ignoring it I was done in less than two years. (And the last set of stuff to choose from was anticlimactic imo.) So they sell you more in game story type goals in a game that quite honestly didn't have much and has lack of in game motivation to try to better yourself in farming. So selling more base game type stuff isn't beyond the DLC. But then the areas don't have any special forage items or fish because... ? It's an eclectic balance of different types of but why imo. And $20? Isn't that around half the base game price?

And as much as quite a few content full indie games at this point. No buy pieces you want, even though it was released in pieces, or save a bit by buying the pass. All or nothing. And then a few separate cheap costume DLC, because... ? I used to think that this franchise was safe from badly implemented DLC that felt like a cash grab (to me at least) and I've found out real quick that's not true.

I wanted to love the game, and I can't even hate the game and it feels weird to feel the way I do about this game. Literally only bought it right now because my spouse was talking about getting it and we never do anything together anymore besides sometimes watch shows. (Not even parallel play.) This was a maybe on sale game, and after playing I don't personally find it worth more than $20. It has good aspects, but the balance just doesn't work for me.
Hikarii
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OK so I played the game a lot more since the free trial and my final verdict is I enjoy the game a LOT. I can't say it's my most favorite in the series but I personally think it's super enjoyable. The villagers and events being hilarious is what's lodging it in a favorable spot in my heart. Bachelor/bachelorette events are kind of weird/unromantic for the most part but you get to see 9? 10? Some are funny as heck. I hate how fast the trees and stuff grow tho. It's hard to manage or even customize my farm lol
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nightshade2010
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playing this game you can tell that they kind of got scared of stardew valley
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