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Farming sims seem to be a dime a dozen these days as the “cosy games” genre approaches the stratosphere. From Animal Crossing to Stardew Valley, if you’ve got a hankering to plant some stuff and wait for it to grow whilst milling about putting up various carpentry projects, then it is a beautiful time for you as a gamer.
Personally, I’ve always bounced off these games, despite having dedicated a lot of time to the two games mentioned above. I have no patience, and whilst I can objectively see the appeal of farming sims, I just find them almost too cosy, too slow, and too safe. Where are the antagonists? Other than the inexorable march of time of course. But that’s just me and I promise to be as objective as possible in the following review.
For me, the appeal of a Stardew or an Animal Crossing is three-fold. One, Solid farming/building mechanics that offer a high degree of creativity. Two, a wide variety of activities to take part in so that the inevitable waiting period when crops or growing or whatever isn’t just dead time. And three, simple easy-to-use tools so that playing the game is a smooth experience. All of these things done right create a solid foundation for whatever skin you want to impose on top of them.
The question therefore is, does Everdream Valley meet these requirements?
No, not really.
For a start, Everdream Valley has you fixing up a dilapidated farm that you are abandoned on by your parents (don’t worry, your grandparents are here, this isn’t a neglect simulator), so, at least initially, you are constrained to fixing what’s already there rather than assembling your own creation.
Second, Everdream has a quest system to keep you moving but these tasks are busy work at best and onerous at worst. As a man who appreciates direction in games, I can’t help but feel that this system feels too restrictive.
Thirdly, the mechanics are not fun, you have a stamina bar, why? You slow down to a crawl if you go through slightly tall grass, why? The hitboxes on items are so precise, why? These and many more examples, make Everdream a frustrating experience to get into.
Now, not everything is bad. Everdream has very cartoony, pleasant to look at environments and characters, the world is quite vast, and the animals are adorable. The soundscape is very relaxing and not at all like the cacophonous racket that is usually found on real-life farms. The music is also very chill and factoring all these things in it is clear what the developers, Mooneaters, are attempting to create.
Which, in all honesty, makes the introduction of the mechanics I mentioned above so baffling. If this is designed to be a relaxing experience, why have a stamina bar? Especially one that, when it runs out, makes you useless until you recover ALL your energy, not just enough to perform whatever action you’re attempting at that time.
One positive I will give this game is that very early on it identifies the need for every man, woman, and child to have a faithful canine companion. For very little effort you are given a puppy and you can select from a surprisingly wide variety of breeds. I chose a Shiba Inu but if you’re inclined in a different direction then Everdream will have a pup for you, and yes you can pet it.
Everdream Valley clearly has a wide variety of activities and tasks that you can discover, complete and personalise but the problem isn’t with the game’s scope, rather it’s ability to persuade you to do these things. You can give me a quest telling me to plant as many apple trees as you like but if the process isn’t as simple as a few button presses then I’m out unfortunately.
But as I said, farming sims are never really my bag. There’s a solid game somewhere underneath all the unnecessary additions so if the art style appeals to you and you’re the kind of person who can sink hours into a pet project then maybe Everdream is for you, for me? I’ll go back to watching the timer for Final Fantasy XVI tick down. So long.
