Unique farming sim mechanics - Cornucopia Early Access Review

[@oldmanonyoutube]

The graphics remind me of early PS1 JRPGs.

[@StealthyshiroeanHumbleReviews]

Huh, I've played a few PS1 RPGs back in the day but I guess none come to mind that might use a style like this. Maybe something like FF Tactics with it's blend of 3D with pixel art characters? Were there any games you were thinking of in particular? And speaking of PS1 and Final Fantasy, I'm currently trying to get through Final Fantasy 8 right now. Fun game, but not the biggest fan of the progression mechanics.

[@oldmanonyoutube]

@@StealthyshiroeanHumbleReviews I was mainly thinking of game's like Suikiden that used 2D sprites to render a huge cast of characters in a simple 3D world. Also Grandia used 2D characters in a 3D world. Of course there were 2.5D platformers like Tomba that were pretty popular. Later on in it's life cycle the PS1 mostly used 3D characters in a 3D world because that's what gamers and reviewers were hyped for.

[@StealthyshiroeanHumbleReviews]

@@oldmanonyoutube Ah yeah! Suikoden! Only ever played a Suikoden game on the DS as a kid. I always forget about the original Grandia as well. Played the second one but that was pretty much full 3D by that point. And that makes sense. Most of the RPGs I recall off of the PS1 were the Final Fantasy games and Legends of Legaia. And those were 3D...well except for the 2D backdrops.

[@SenMayerGaming]

I'm not a huge fan of Farming Sim but I consider Stardew Valley an excellent game. I do see many things that Stardew Valley does much better than this game though and unless you're a fan of the genre, I wouldn't see why anybody would pick this over Stardew. It doesn't feel like the exact same but it seems to lack the level of polish that Stardew Valley has gotten over the years, which is normal since that game is in EA while Stardew has received like 8 years of updates. I can see the game being good if the devs really work on it and find a way to make their designs decisions works. Right now I feel like there is a few too big problems such as being able to end the entire game in an in game month, or not having to sleep. Those things simply seems like they need a strong change. Thanks for the video as always!

[@StealthyshiroeanHumbleReviews]

One part of me feels a comparison to Stardew Valley is a bit unfair because that's the such a successful game...but at the same time it's perfectly acceptable. Stardew Valley has become the gold standard and anyone making a farming sim has to understand why that game is so well-received. You don't need to make a carbon copy, of course, but certain mechanics have to being polished to the nth degree otherwise it will be seen as amateur-ish or bad. But yeah, I think to those who've never played a farming sim or hasn't played that many then Stardew Valley is the obvious choice to play. For veterans of the genre, this might offer something different especially once it's released. Obviously it didn't jive with me but I could see some people appreciating some of the changes the devs made here.

[@loke6664]

There is also a huge competition at the moment for games similar to Stardew with recently released and early access games It will directly compete with games like Sun Haven, Fields of Mistria and so on. Many of them are not that different in quality either so so it is unlikely anyone of them will come out as huge as SDV did (over 30 million copies over several platforms). I mean, it is a good enough game but it is too similar to Stardew to become really huge. Something with some similarities but a bit different have a higher chance of pulling that off, like "The haunted chocolatier" for instance. It seems different enough to feel fresh but similar enough to feel familiar at both times but since it hasn't hit early access yet, it is still too early to say if it will be good enough or not. But while 30 million copies is probably far beyond reach, that doesn't mean the game can't be successful. It's production cost is likely just a fraction of any AAA game so if it sells a few million copies it would still be a huge success. That is if they fix the issues the early access still have of course but that is kinda why you have early access in the first place, to find and fix issues before full release.