Sunny side sounds really interesting. I also really appreciate that each romanceable npc has a preference. I always felt kind of weird that so many games have the characters be open to anything, when most people aren’t like that in reality. I know games are meant to be fun, but I guess it’s always been a bit immersion breaking for me.
For me, Sunnyside got my attention because of three things; the modernization and expansive farming environment, the realism, and the attention to detail. I loved how the game uses real-life architecture techniques and systems Iike perennials,annuals, etc. Makes more sense than the usual magic growing system. I also like the game isn’t handing you anything. You have a few tools on hand but have to craft or purchase everything else. Heck, you don’t even have a house because why would there be a house when the land was abandoned for years. I love that they gave use a second location to buy things not found in a typical rural neighborhood and that the location isn’t just a “blank” location where the screen fades to black and your character returns with the items. You can actually move around, go on dates, or maybe even meet new people there. Even the combat is different as it resembles something from Final Fantasy instead of the typical point and click combat. I also like the skill tree system of praying to the shrine. I truly think this game can be magnificent once it’s released and can not wait to see how they handle the other mechanics of the game.
I played the Sunny Side demo for a bit and the vibe is absolutely amazing. I loved the setting. I thought the characters looked really out of place, I hope they fix the style. I do love the drawn designs though. I really expected nothing from it but it seems so nice! I will definitely try this out. It's extremely cozy.
Relieved about Sunnyside tbh - I backed it on Kickstarter way back when without really paying much attention to anything other than the descriptions lol! I did enjoy one of the alpha demos they had for backers a while ago - I hadn’t realized they were planning combat though Glad to see it’s got promise that it seems prepared to deliver on tbh. It’s shaping up to have the vibes of like, A Wonderful Life crossed with Persona or something lol
Woodo looks great! Thanks for the discovery, added to wishlist. Let's hope Sunny Side will get properly polished before release, I love the sprite art. Thanks for this video!
I didn't know Sunnyside and I don't know if I'm glad I discovered it, because it looks really good and it hasn't come out yet. It reminds me a bit of harvest moon innocent life because of the "futuristic" theme. I will follow the game closely and I hope it comes out this year as steam says. I always like to see your videos of future games because I always find a cozy game that either I didn't know, or it caught my attention and you solve my doubts if I can like it or not.
Thank you so much for these videos! It really helps with keeping in the know without scouring every news source. Your insights are super helpful as well! Thank you so much!!!💗💗💗
Haven't heard of Sunnyside before and it's new takes on mechanics is definitely refreshing, plus the style not being so child-like is also a huge plus for me :)
I like these roundup videos! I hadn't heard of Everafter Falls or Littlelands before, so I'll be checking those out. I played the Sunnyside demo a few times (once until the end) and loved it. I can't wait for that one to come out.
Just let me date Gabriel as a male protagonist in Sunnyside, that's all I ask for 😭 Not making everyone Bi does add some realism and the possiblity to make characters more complex, but they could do something similar like ConcernedApe did with Alex from Stardew Valley. He was wasn't sure if he liked the male protagonist, but he still decided to give it a chance.
Hi! We considered this option (like Alex from Stardew) but with 18 different gender expression options for you to choose from in Character Creator and 25 romanceable characters, it simply wasn't feasible. It was more important for us to allow "gay" characters to fully express themselves and to allow for more complex stories, which is why we made the decision. We also fully expect it to be the first thing that modders tackle once the game is out lol.
Thank you for remaining true to your studio's creative decisions RainyGames and not caving to pressure regarding this. The hollow relationship mechanics that almost every other game out there allows for in comparison to what SunnySide has is night and day. It will be but just one more feature of your game that raises the bar ultimately.
@@AftabiGames I actually think it's much more interesting that the characters have set sexualities, tbh. As you said, it allows for more complex characters and stories, I'm curious to see how it looks like in the full game! The only thing I'd ask for is a way to know what are the preferences of each character like Josh said, that would be helpful if we have a favorite bachelor/bachelorette and want to aim for them lol
I used to feel this way, but I've kind of changed my mind on it. there's a really good video on this topic by verilybitchie called "how bisexuality changed video games"
‘Gender slider’ is so funny to me as a Non-Binary person, but they already lost me at having it affect romanceable candidates. I don’t care if devs think it makes their characters more believable, IT’S A GAME. Cyberpunk, Fire Emblem Three Houses, both games I dropped as soon as I realized my player character’s gender locked me out of the characters I was still playing the game for.
The pet helping in Everafter Falls makes me think of the technical ranching mechanic in Rune Factory 4/Rune Factory 4 Special(my only experience with that, if it's in other games I wouldn't know but from trailers for Rune Factor 5 I think it's in there, I have the game just never got around to playing yet) were once you get monsters you recruited for your farm to help in battle & with farming. It's a pretty interesting mechanic allowing you to go from helping out with the farm early in to just allowing automation of some form(along with likely helping schedule who does what a certain amount of days in Rune Factory's case) later on as you go work on other things. I was semi interested in Chill Town but I think I'll just wait until it's worked on more.
Same in Palworld, though obviously it's not a farming game. I would love more hybrid farming/monster taming games where the focus was less on battles and more on farming utility
@@ac4941 Yeah it'd be interesting, as much as I enjoy monster taming battle stuff it'd be nice to see them do other things. There can still be some battle but like you said battling not being a large focus.
I was surprised to see Littlelands! I've been following their 3D artist for a while! I want to try Woodo the most!! For some reason, I can smell that game! Wood and varnish ooohh 😆😆😆
I haven't heard of Littlelands before, but I absolutely loved what I saw here. The art style is just so good! It reminded me not only of the Link's Awakening remake but of the Earthbound artwork as well - the promotional art for the game had a clay art style that was really cool. I'll keep a close eye on that one, definitely looking forward to it.
I couldn't get my friends to try the Everafter Falls demo because they said the art looks ugly, but I was sooo addicted. I've been following the dev's updates, and I'll definitely buy it on day 1.
I've been following Sunny Side for a while and have been stoked about it, but the lack of polish on the demo was disheartening. Hopefully it's cleaned up more on release because it seems to have great potential.
Oooo. I didn’t even know about ever after falls or little lands! Little lands looks SO interesting with that art style! Chill Town didnt interest me after playing the demo during steam next fest 😕 but i hope they make the necessary changes and continue to improve!
the catapault and flinging and spinning it sunnyside made me laugh so much I honestly loved the glitches because they always made me laugh hahahahaha. It's honestly my favorite game on this list and for years it's everything I wanted in a life sim/farm sim that is character focused and modernized farming, very excited.
Chill town needs a lot more polish. I couldn't fight in demo on Sunny Side it just crashed out. I don't know but I think I am going to wait till they have a release.
I was very excited for Sunnyside but as I played the demo it felt like I was playing a PS1 game. The systems were interesting but the controls and movement and the way the 3d looks feels so dated. They couldn't even get the colours right for character creation where somehow the darkest black it could generate in the slider was grey but there were ppl walking around fine with actual black on clothes. Seeing that its releasing this year also doesn't give me too much hope it'll be refined closer to launch.
I was interested in Sunnyside but the situation with romance interests being unavailable depending on gender expression kind of bumps me out a bit, I do hope it allows them write more complex or defined characters or that the feature is not too restrictive.
Yeah, I get what they are going for but I've been a gamer for a long time and I was really happy when I thought the days of gender-restricted marriage was over. I don't want to play as a man in order to marry a woman. I don't want to have to marry a man if I want to play a female character. I used to be okay with it, but I've been spoiled by newer games and I don't think I can go back.
I kind of like the idea of if there’s a character who is, for example, canonically homosexual or some such, it would add some realism if you can’t force them into a relationship with your character if you don’t match their preferences. It’s an interesting idea and I’d like to see how they implement this choice.
Unfortunately to me, as deep as the dialogue and the relationship looking to be in the game will be, the slider value pretty much overrules it all. In other words, no matter how deep your relationship with a dateable NPC may become through your interactions with them, if they do not fall within your sliding scale's preference area, you can rule out being anything other than friendzoned by them. While many may be turned off by this as you will be locked out of dating most of the NPC's any given single playthrough, my view is that it ultimately adds more intrinsic value to each NPC's character in the game as their own individual being that goes beyond just the dialogue you have between you and them.
@@mbuckley3828 In what way does the character eve exist outside of the dialog they have with you as a player? Anything not player facing, doesn't exist as far as the player knows and unless they built some dwarf Fortress level backend simulation with emergent qualities, such that the NPCs do something and it effects the world in a way then player can see.... than what you said is objectively not true. Them existing with less to say, less to do, and less engagement with the player... means they have less value to the player. If there is some objective quality they present by having less content... then...please explain it
@@camithepokefan2492 Its a bit more nuanced than that. You don't have to play as a man in order to marry a woman or a woman to marry a man. They have gay dateables, they have straight dateables and they have ones that will date you no matter where you fall on the gender spectrum. Only if you wanted to date only a "specific" NPC is there a possibility that their preference doesn't match yours.
I’m still not the biggest fan of Chilltown only because some of the models feels as if they copied New Horizons. This isn’t me comparing either. Every animation of the little characters comes from Bew Horizons: When you sit you kick your feet at the same tempo, you do the foot tap while decorating and so many other small things. Also the models of the items being bigger feels like already they aren’t fully thinking the game through. I really do hope it’s just because of how early the progress is but I worry they’re slapping something together because of a Kickstarter deadline or something idk
To be honest I just confused Everafter falls with Lonsome village because they both look the same...I was all liek "wait havent this game alredy released but wasnt you a animal charakter then hrmmm" Also confused it with everdream valley for a sec because both starts with Ever
I was looking forward to Chill Town, but I just can't get past the characters being those creepy T-pose babies. If they give an option to not have them, I would totally buy it. As of now, I'm not getting it.
Honestly the only game that really intrigued me was woodo. Everything else just fits into line with every "cozy game" clone trying to do what games already did. There is nothing innovative and there are SO many of them now. I'd say that I really like that Sunny Side tries to "digitalize" the farming game genre with modern technology. I'm still confused about Stardew Valley bringing my farmer into town with a bus and giving them solar panels and recycling machines but then having him to have a horse which basically works as a bicycle (no feeding or care for the horse etc). Why not use a bicycle? But other than that Sunny Side just looks kinda awful, like the new pokemon games. And none of these games will be successful, that's painfully obvious.
I play sunnyside demo quite a bit, I have a crash on the 4th day so oh well. But so far I love the environment, it really reminds me of Persona! the shop interface, the character... if Persona 4 is a farming game, this will be it XD I'm having quite a lag issue tho, and it gets real dark at night at the farm. And tbh, I love the slider. Sometimes when I make my character, I need to choose female, but in some games the female is extremely feminine, but here I can make her feminine but also masculine is great
Everafter falls maybe needs some fishing automation? Not keen on the walk animation for characters on chilltown, it looks lazily made with the basic model walking as the original model. I don't really like "idle" games either, why play something that does everything for you?
I really like your content, but when there is just one thing that is putting me a little bit off is that you end your sentences almost always in a higher pitch. Over time it has a touch of disinterest. I hope you take it as a positive comment because I really think that you are a great reviewer and I mostly agree with your opinions on many games, so thank you for your content and keep up the good work!
The game is built behind relationships actually really meaning something and each character having their own preferences. To have what you are suggesting here would toss that concept out the window and make the relationships concept be just like every other farming sim game currently out there as far as this is concerned.
@@mbuckley3828 I fully disagree. How is a relationship between two people different as a result of their gender unless the conversations being had revolve around anatomy and gender and sexuality as a commentary in of itself? It doesn't. I want a nonbinary option, buy for that to directly affect who you can date to the point it's better to lie than chose your real idenity if you want the candidates that appeal to you, defeats the purpose of that existing as an idenity in the game. No one is attracted to identities they are attracted to how people look. Regardless, the only thing that meaningful contributes to "depth" in a game about building relationships, is how much engagement exists. How many choices, how meaningful they are, how deep the simulation is, how much story material exists, how deeply the characters grow and change with the story and player engagement. Even in the case of heteronormative, or player-centric orientations for NPCs all of that is deeply possible and achievable at a high level. This game seems more like a visual novel and a farm sim had a baby, and frankly that's not deep or innovative. Its just... one more thing. And this time its unfortunate because it doesn't respect the players time.
@@honaleri @mbuckley3828 It's the terms "masculine" and "feminine" that I don't agree with. Once you have gotten out in the real world and met many different types of people with an open mind and kind heart, and some luck, then you'll realize how toxic the terms are. A male is masculine simply by being male. A female is feminine simply by being female. This is year 2024 and if you want to live in a stereotypical gender-role world keep it yourself. Because to do so is to expect another person to be a certain way. We're not going backwards. Pink is not just for females. Blue is not just for males. Same for any clothing, even dresses, and any career or sport. I had to hear someone complain about how they don't feel masculine enough compared to a dumb anime character. I told them that as long as they're male, then they're masculine enough. Open your minds and quit living in boxes made by other people. Nonbinary is just a way to ignore the problem. Accept your body is what it is and that it doesn't decide what your personality, your likes and dislikes, are. Much of what you are is made of your experiences. I've been through my sexist phase, my trans phase, my nonbinary phase. And i've come out on the other end realizing that i am what i am and i cannot change it but i can grow and change my personality with experiences to better hone who i want to be. It takes EFFORT for me to become someone i want, not a surgery or a pronoun adjustment.
@@cbpostservice That would imply that, a person who you look at and see as a man, is feminine for being biologically female, even if they have completely "passed" post transition. Masculine refers to traits associated with being male. Feminine applies to traits associated with being female. That's it. Some of these traits are objective, like enlarged mammory glands, are behaviorally associated, masculinity is associated with competitiveness, not because of male roles, but because testosterone encourages the behavior of hyper competitiveness. People can align themselves with masculine traits, feminine traits, or a mix of both. People who feel incredibly disconnect and dysphoria from being disconnected from certain traits, those people are trans or nonbinary. That's not a choice, it's also a biological phenomenon. When brains form in the womb the exposure they receive to different hormones alters what their body becomes and how their brains are wired to interpret their bodies. If exposure is out of balance in certain stages of development the brain can become feminized or masculized in the process creating a person who expects to exist in a body that ultimately don't have. This is a gender divergent person, or a trans person. Nothing about it is a phase, nor is it something anyone controls. It happens and people live with it and cope in different ways. Some choose hormones to align themselves in body and mind. Others simply dress, live, behave and act like the gender the align with. Others deny their discomfort and conform to whatever society suggests. Others find mind body peace through acceptance in a verity of ways. The terms exist regardless of of you accept how they are used or not. The terms are fine and are used accurately. If you are denying the reality of gender diaspora and divergence, than there's nothing more to discuss. But if you simply don't like the terms, then I hope this helps you understand what they are and why the are used. Most people do not choose to behave feminine or masculine, they simply do what is natural to them, same as their bodies grow in ways they don't control. But these natures are largely objective, the roles society allows for them, however are not objective they are cultural and problematic or unfair. Knowing and accepting feminine and masculine things exist doesn't mean you have to accept traditional roles as well. Those concepts are seperate. Anyone should be able to fill any role. Regardless of their gender, appearance or personality.
Chill Town looks so stupid. Just a lazy, blatant rip off of New Horizons. I'm so damn sick of cash grabbing "developers" with no original ideas who just plagiarize popular games to make a buck. Honestly hope it tanks.
I'm real disappointed in Sunnyside. The gender slider ruins the whole thing. For me to pick my gender, nonbinary, would possibly lock me out of romance options I prefer (male/andro)... because I don't know how the game interprets nonbinary. In real life, I can lean either way, and look more fem or butch/masc. It still limits the people into me, but at bareminmum I have an idea of who those people are!! But, here its... like no if I choose nonbinary, that means ... certain characters would say no, that if they would see my typical expression in real life...would have said yes? I have no idea who would get excluded if "not fem enough" is a legit thing in this game It's so annoying. So the game is gonna force me to pick fem anyway to get the most male options? Or???? The fact that I don't know...is the issue. And if I sit and play for 30 hour and THEN find out which candidates aren't into me... then I'd have to restart game and play as whatever gender should let me marry who I want anyway! 30 theoretical hours gone. Omg. That's annoying. I'd say... it's even better to just go with a female only, male only, straight only, because then I know what to pick at the start of the game to get what I want and I can just pretend I look the way I want to. But this way, I literally have no idea what will be the consequences for just... being myself. Frankly that makes me mad. It would have been easier to implement a, male, female, nonbinary selection gender idenity, a male, female, androgynous appearance option (decides who is interested), and a male, female, both or neither orientation option. Then, boom. The game knows everything about you and what you like, and those interested in you will be obvious from the get. As the system is now... If the game was Procedural, and there were hundreds of candidates and it was never realistic or intended to know them all, sure. This system would be fine cause you aren't losing specific character stories. But realistically, anyone who wants to see all the games content has to play at least 3 times as 3 different ranges of gender. Or more! Who knows! That coupled with the...hyper modern stuff. Is a huge turn off. If I wanna text people, I don't need a game for that. If I wanna be in a city as a homeless dude in a tent. Don't need a game for that. 😅The HarvestMoon/Farm Sim genre started as an escape genre. Escape the conflict, escape the city, escape the worries of everyday modern awful. It's the premise of almost every farm sim. Grandpa dies and leaves a farm, escape the city and get away from the world. Almost every Harvest Moon game starts something like this, so did Stardew. It's a formula that works because... people want to escape. That's what these games exist for. But this game was like "let's bring the dread of city life and modern misery to farm sims!" ☹ I love the attempt at innovation! I want more innovation across the board. But well done innovation not... stuff that makes me regret my own gender. I didn't expect to be upset about it. But I kinda am. I had an idea what this game was and the demo really proved its not for me. Hope it does well regardless, but... I'm salty and out this time around.
Just like real life, most of the interactions you have with others is not going to be about expecting to build a dating relationship with that other individual. I think that's what RainyGames was going for here with their game. That you are not going in knowing that all of the dateable NPC's are dateable in a single playthrough because they are so shallow that the on-screen text really means nothing at the end of the day because they'll love anyone and everyone regardless. I tend to look at it as, almost everyone has certain looks they are looking for in a potential partner, the gender fluidity scale in the game is each character's preference that makes each of them their own person, so to speak.
@@mbuckley3828 Yes, "looks". Not idenity. The expression of the gender is what makes people attracted in real life. Not the idenity. This muddles the whole thing completely. For a nonbinary person, what I say I am, typically has no impact on who likes me or doesn't. In fact, most people don't know what I identify as regardless in real life. They look and if they find attraction, that's the end of it. In this game, that's now inverted. And it makes for a less realistic experience. Besides, I play games like this to have a small fantasy life encounter unlike what real life offers. Make a big mansion in the woods, play with a bunch of farm animals, enjoy the company of some NPC that I got to know and had little fictional NPC babies with. That is exactly why I play these games. I don't play them to experience rejection based on my gender idenity. Heck, I'd prefer rejection based on my appearance, my personality, even my income. Over rejection based on my gender idenity. That's not the experience I want. Boko for you if you enjoy rejection for the pronouns you use. But, I certainly get enough of that already. And games like this can take hundreds of hours, to not be able to get the fully story in one playthrough because it was literally auto locked out the moment you designed a character, demands hundreds of hours more from the typical player tha what is at all appropriate or necessary. If this was just a visual novel, sure, you can skip the dialog, but this is a game where 1 play through could be indefinite and cost 300+ hours before concluding the major story. That's a very concerning design flaw for any character centric story game.
I get what you are saying here but look at what we have gotten up until this point for most games, the shallow relationship system that is as proliferate as is today. While RainyGames system here may not be perfect, it is a step at finally adding some real value to the overall mechanic as a whole. My only suggestion is, don't look at the scale as being strictly tied to gender fluidity but more just each NPC's preference scale instead, whether it be tied to appearance, personality, or even occupation. It was just RainyGames way of trying to make each NPC their own distinct being and not dateable by everyone every single playthrough. Push comes to shove, if you are only interested in a certain character, one could wait until it's established where they fall onto the scale and choose their preference based on that. Or as RainyGames brought up in their response to another post here, they're pretty certain modders will do exactly what you're asking for here and tackle this issue by bypassing the scale altogether and making all of the dateables available any single given playthrough.
@@mbuckley3828 If someone else has to make their game playable for them...they don't deserve my money. Sorry. If they lable the bar my gender identity, than that's what it is. I shouldn't be expected to lie and be forced to play as something I'm not in order to have fun when the option to be what I am, is already there. It's worse when they aim to be "inclusive" but end up being more exclusive than those who don't even try. If they innovated intelligently, I'd still be interested. They did not. I'm no longer interested. Mods cannot fix something that they claim integrally alters the experience. And nothing about this adds value. It adds controversy. So far nothing about this game goes deeper than a typical Visual Novel. Most farm sims are shallow but also aren't character focused. The focus is the overall gameplay of farming. Innovation in farm Sims that I would appreciate would be far deeper than this. Something procedural, or similar to how Disco Elysium is set up, or anything at all. But orientation locked characters adds nothing, other than loads of commentary on being gay and being straight and being what have you. Which isn't depth, it's just more content around the topic. And if modders could change it by disabling it. Then...how was it an innovation if an off switch keeps everything the same except...more options? It doesn't even seem like it makes sense because I'm certain it won't. Its not the innovation you think it is. It's just a farm sim and vn hooked into the same game. If you want not ever player to get every candidate, lock them out based on dialog options and personality and choices IN GAME. Not at the character creation screen.
Instead of looking ato this from your own wants and desires, how about try looking at in another perspective altogether. You're not liking how it's handling non binary and its possible effects. How about play as someone who is ninbinary instead. Many games didn't, and many still don't, give the player character the ability to play as a female. This one you can play as any male or female, straight, gay, bi, or even non binary. Have you never played a game as the opposite sex? Well, do so here as another gender fluidity, even if how it is implemented is not exactly how you would have done so. Or you can play one of the many that never tries to break from the status quo and keeps churning out what already dominates the market as is. Again, it might not be perfect in implementation according to how you see it, which I agree to a certain extent, they are still attempting their own take at tackling this subject all the same.
Get on a real lawnmower then i'll check out your sponsor with video proof 🤭any way only littlelands caught my eye but still oddspark top of my list before any of these.
Littlelands looks like the remake of Links Awakening, not A Link to the Past! I would be thrilled for a Link to the Past Remake, though. lol
OMG you're so right!! I did feel like there was something off when I said it. 😅 Thanks for pointing it out!
Sunnyside having settings for combat and stuff got me so happy I want that in all of my farming games😭❤
Sunnyside looks quite promising. Reminds me a lot of webnovels where the MC quits their job to return to the countryside and live a comfy farming life
Than lol you for the review roundup! I don’t like watching livestreams so it’s nice to get a video that sums up your experiences like this. Thank you
Sunny side sounds really interesting. I also really appreciate that each romanceable npc has a preference. I always felt kind of weird that so many games have the characters be open to anything, when most people aren’t like that in reality.
I know games are meant to be fun, but I guess it’s always been a bit immersion breaking for me.
agree
For me, Sunnyside got my attention because of three things; the modernization and expansive farming environment, the realism, and the attention to detail. I loved how the game uses real-life architecture techniques and systems Iike perennials,annuals, etc. Makes more sense than the usual magic growing system. I also like the game isn’t handing you anything. You have a few tools on hand but have to craft or purchase everything else. Heck, you don’t even have a house because why would there be a house when the land was abandoned for years. I love that they gave use a second location to buy things not found in a typical rural neighborhood and that the location isn’t just a “blank” location where the screen fades to black and your character returns with the items. You can actually move around, go on dates, or maybe even meet new people there. Even the combat is different as it resembles something from Final Fantasy instead of the typical point and click combat. I also like the skill tree system of praying to the shrine. I truly think this game can be magnificent once it’s released and can not wait to see how they handle the other mechanics of the game.
I played the Sunny Side demo for a bit and the vibe is absolutely amazing. I loved the setting. I thought the characters looked really out of place, I hope they fix the style. I do love the drawn designs though. I really expected nothing from it but it seems so nice! I will definitely try this out. It's extremely cozy.
Relieved about Sunnyside tbh - I backed it on Kickstarter way back when without really paying much attention to anything other than the descriptions lol! I did enjoy one of the alpha demos they had for backers a while ago - I hadn’t realized they were planning combat though
Glad to see it’s got promise that it seems prepared to deliver on tbh. It’s shaping up to have the vibes of like, A Wonderful Life crossed with Persona or something lol
Woodo looks great! Thanks for the discovery, added to wishlist.
Let's hope Sunny Side will get properly polished before release, I love the sprite art.
Thanks for this video!
This is why I love your channel. Your honest reviews really help us as gamers make informed decisions and I really appreciate it!!!
Sunnyside... Sunnyside... Sunnyside.
I'm avoiding the demo and just waiting for the full release. Looks so fun!
I see you,@@AftabiGames 🙂
@@Mark-qj5kpWho? Me? ;)
me too! im a backer but i literally havent even played the early access us backers got because i wanna wait until the complete release XD
I didn't know Sunnyside and I don't know if I'm glad I discovered it, because it looks really good and it hasn't come out yet.
It reminds me a bit of harvest moon innocent life because of the "futuristic" theme.
I will follow the game closely and I hope it comes out this year as steam says.
I always like to see your videos of future games because I always find a cozy game that either I didn't know, or it caught my attention and you solve my doubts if I can like it or not.
Sunny side is one I really want to play so can’t wait till it comes out
Thank you so much for these videos! It really helps with keeping in the know without scouring every news source. Your insights are super helpful as well! Thank you so much!!!💗💗💗
Haven't heard of Sunnyside before and it's new takes on mechanics is definitely refreshing, plus the style not being so child-like is also a huge plus for me :)
So glad that Everafter Falls is finally getting released!! I really loved the demo (last last steam next fest?), the villagers are so funny and cute
i've never seen Everafter Falls before, that's definitely my favourite on this list!
I like these roundup videos! I hadn't heard of Everafter Falls or Littlelands before, so I'll be checking those out.
I played the Sunnyside demo a few times (once until the end) and loved it. I can't wait for that one to come out.
Just let me date Gabriel as a male protagonist in Sunnyside, that's all I ask for 😭
Not making everyone Bi does add some realism and the possiblity to make characters more complex, but they could do something similar like ConcernedApe did with Alex from Stardew Valley. He was wasn't sure if he liked the male protagonist, but he still decided to give it a chance.
Hi! We considered this option (like Alex from Stardew) but with 18 different gender expression options for you to choose from in Character Creator and 25 romanceable characters, it simply wasn't feasible. It was more important for us to allow "gay" characters to fully express themselves and to allow for more complex stories, which is why we made the decision. We also fully expect it to be the first thing that modders tackle once the game is out lol.
Thank you for remaining true to your studio's creative decisions RainyGames and not caving to pressure regarding this. The hollow relationship mechanics that almost every other game out there allows for in comparison to what SunnySide has is night and day. It will be but just one more feature of your game that raises the bar ultimately.
@@mbuckley3828 That's incredibly kind of you to say, thank you 🥰🥰
@@AftabiGames I actually think it's much more interesting that the characters have set sexualities, tbh. As you said, it allows for more complex characters and stories, I'm curious to see how it looks like in the full game! The only thing I'd ask for is a way to know what are the preferences of each character like Josh said, that would be helpful if we have a favorite bachelor/bachelorette and want to aim for them lol
I used to feel this way, but I've kind of changed my mind on it. there's a really good video on this topic by verilybitchie called "how bisexuality changed video games"
‘Gender slider’ is so funny to me as a Non-Binary person, but they already lost me at having it affect romanceable candidates. I don’t care if devs think it makes their characters more believable, IT’S A GAME. Cyberpunk, Fire Emblem Three Houses, both games I dropped as soon as I realized my player character’s gender locked me out of the characters I was still playing the game for.
I really hope woodo comes to switch, it looks lovely.
The pet helping in Everafter Falls makes me think of the technical ranching mechanic in Rune Factory 4/Rune Factory 4 Special(my only experience with that, if it's in other games I wouldn't know but from trailers for Rune Factor 5 I think it's in there, I have the game just never got around to playing yet) were once you get monsters you recruited for your farm to help in battle & with farming. It's a pretty interesting mechanic allowing you to go from helping out with the farm early in to just allowing automation of some form(along with likely helping schedule who does what a certain amount of days in Rune Factory's case) later on as you go work on other things.
I was semi interested in Chill Town but I think I'll just wait until it's worked on more.
Same in Palworld, though obviously it's not a farming game. I would love more hybrid farming/monster taming games where the focus was less on battles and more on farming utility
@@ac4941 Yeah it'd be interesting, as much as I enjoy monster taming battle stuff it'd be nice to see them do other things. There can still be some battle but like you said battling not being a large focus.
I was surprised to see Littlelands! I've been following their 3D artist for a while! I want to try Woodo the most!! For some reason, I can smell that game! Wood and varnish ooohh 😆😆😆
I haven't heard of Littlelands before, but I absolutely loved what I saw here. The art style is just so good! It reminded me not only of the Link's Awakening remake but of the Earthbound artwork as well - the promotional art for the game had a clay art style that was really cool. I'll keep a close eye on that one, definitely looking forward to it.
I've been waiting for SunnySide for a really long time now so I hope I will love it once its finally out!
Thanks for sharing this video. I don’t always have time to watch the live streams and I am interested in a few of the games.
I can't wait for Sunnyside!!
I couldn't get my friends to try the Everafter Falls demo because they said the art looks ugly, but I was sooo addicted. I've been following the dev's updates, and I'll definitely buy it on day 1.
I've been following Sunny Side for a while and have been stoked about it, but the lack of polish on the demo was disheartening. Hopefully it's cleaned up more on release because it seems to have great potential.
Oooo. I didn’t even know about ever after falls or little lands! Little lands looks SO interesting with that art style! Chill Town didnt interest me after playing the demo during steam next fest 😕 but i hope they make the necessary changes and continue to improve!
Out of all these Sunnyside has me the most stoked
I'm still interested in seeing how Sunnyside turns out.
the catapault and flinging and spinning it sunnyside made me laugh so much I honestly loved the glitches because they always made me laugh hahahahaha. It's honestly my favorite game on this list and for years it's everything I wanted in a life sim/farm sim that is character focused and modernized farming, very excited.
Chill town needs a lot more polish. I couldn't fight in demo on Sunny Side it just crashed out. I don't know but I think I am going to wait till they have a release.
I was very excited for Sunnyside but as I played the demo it felt like I was playing a PS1 game. The systems were interesting but the controls and movement and the way the 3d looks feels so dated. They couldn't even get the colours right for character creation where somehow the darkest black it could generate in the slider was grey but there were ppl walking around fine with actual black on clothes. Seeing that its releasing this year also doesn't give me too much hope it'll be refined closer to launch.
Sunny side looks cool
Ah! You should've checked out A Corgi's Cozy Hike at PAX East!
This video is like a review of a bunch of school projects.
I have a feeling SunnySide is going to be a 2025 release
Are all these games only on PC?
Such a great video!! You are such an amazing human! Love our content! ❤
Sunnyside is planned to release for Xbox and PlayStation, but the other ones have only been announced for Steam, at least for now!
Farm Together 2 is coming in May. In Early Access but, hey, I take what I get and a new FT is all I need...if Milkstone does not f it up, at least 😂
I’ve been waiting so long for sunnyside.
I was interested in Sunnyside but the situation with romance interests being unavailable depending on gender expression kind of bumps me out a bit, I do hope it allows them write more complex or defined characters or that the feature is not too restrictive.
Yeah, I get what they are going for but I've been a gamer for a long time and I was really happy when I thought the days of gender-restricted marriage was over. I don't want to play as a man in order to marry a woman. I don't want to have to marry a man if I want to play a female character. I used to be okay with it, but I've been spoiled by newer games and I don't think I can go back.
I kind of like the idea of if there’s a character who is, for example, canonically homosexual or some such, it would add some realism if you can’t force them into a relationship with your character if you don’t match their preferences. It’s an interesting idea and I’d like to see how they implement this choice.
Unfortunately to me, as deep as the dialogue and the relationship looking to be in the game will be, the slider value pretty much overrules it all. In other words, no matter how deep your relationship with a dateable NPC may become through your interactions with them, if they do not fall within your sliding scale's preference area, you can rule out being anything other than friendzoned by them.
While many may be turned off by this as you will be locked out of dating most of the NPC's any given single playthrough, my view is that it ultimately adds more intrinsic value to each NPC's character in the game as their own individual being that goes beyond just the dialogue you have between you and them.
@@mbuckley3828
In what way does the character eve exist outside of the dialog they have with you as a player?
Anything not player facing, doesn't exist as far as the player knows and unless they built some dwarf Fortress level backend simulation with emergent qualities, such that the NPCs do something and it effects the world in a way then player can see.... than what you said is objectively not true. Them existing with less to say, less to do, and less engagement with the player... means they have less value to the player. If there is some objective quality they present by having less content... then...please explain it
@@camithepokefan2492 Its a bit more nuanced than that. You don't have to play as a man in order to marry a woman or a woman to marry a man. They have gay dateables, they have straight dateables and they have ones that will date you no matter where you fall on the gender spectrum. Only if you wanted to date only a "specific" NPC is there a possibility that their preference doesn't match yours.
I’m still not the biggest fan of Chilltown only because some of the models feels as if they copied New Horizons. This isn’t me comparing either. Every animation of the little characters comes from Bew Horizons: When you sit you kick your feet at the same tempo, you do the foot tap while decorating and so many other small things. Also the models of the items being bigger feels like already they aren’t fully thinking the game through. I really do hope it’s just because of how early the progress is but I worry they’re slapping something together because of a Kickstarter deadline or something idk
Sunnyside( Persona 4 with farm mod )😂
i like.very good 🔥🔥🔥
Omg I haven’t heard the name SunnySide in years. Hopefully finally coming out? Lol
To be honest I just confused Everafter falls with Lonsome village because they both look the same...I was all liek "wait havent this game alredy released but wasnt you a animal charakter then hrmmm" Also confused it with everdream valley for a sec because both starts with Ever
I was looking forward to Chill Town, but I just can't get past the characters being those creepy T-pose babies. If they give an option to not have them, I would totally buy it. As of now, I'm not getting it.
Honestly the only game that really intrigued me was woodo. Everything else just fits into line with every "cozy game" clone trying to do what games already did. There is nothing innovative and there are SO many of them now. I'd say that I really like that Sunny Side tries to "digitalize" the farming game genre with modern technology. I'm still confused about Stardew Valley bringing my farmer into town with a bus and giving them solar panels and recycling machines but then having him to have a horse which basically works as a bicycle (no feeding or care for the horse etc). Why not use a bicycle? But other than that Sunny Side just looks kinda awful, like the new pokemon games. And none of these games will be successful, that's painfully obvious.
I play sunnyside demo quite a bit, I have a crash on the 4th day so oh well. But so far I love the environment, it really reminds me of Persona! the shop interface, the character... if Persona 4 is a farming game, this will be it XD I'm having quite a lag issue tho, and it gets real dark at night at the farm. And tbh, I love the slider. Sometimes when I make my character, I need to choose female, but in some games the female is extremely feminine, but here I can make her feminine but also masculine is great
Everafter falls maybe needs some fishing automation?
Not keen on the walk animation for characters on chilltown, it looks lazily made with the basic model walking as the original model. I don't really like "idle" games either, why play something that does everything for you?
The fishing in everafter falls would be so annoying
Chilltown just looks like a thrown together rip off of Island Skies..
I really like your content, but when there is just one thing that is putting me a little bit off is that you end your sentences almost always in a higher pitch. Over time it has a touch of disinterest. I hope you take it as a positive comment because I really think that you are a great reviewer and I mostly agree with your opinions on many games, so thank you for your content and keep up the good work!
Chilltown color palette hurts my eyes
I see makers in Everlasting Falls. Yet another Stardew clone :/ . THe market is getting waaaayyyyyy too saturated with Stardew clones.
Sunny side demo was honestly shite, it was completely unpolished and clunky and for all that time it felt like an amateur made it
The sunnyside masculine and feminine thing is awful. It should just be choose male or female and date whoever is dateable regardless of gender.
The game is built behind relationships actually really meaning something and each character having their own preferences. To have what you are suggesting here would toss that concept out the window and make the relationships concept be just like every other farming sim game currently out there as far as this is concerned.
@@mbuckley3828
I fully disagree.
How is a relationship between two people different as a result of their gender unless the conversations being had revolve around anatomy and gender and sexuality as a commentary in of itself?
It doesn't.
I want a nonbinary option, buy for that to directly affect who you can date to the point it's better to lie than chose your real idenity if you want the candidates that appeal to you, defeats the purpose of that existing as an idenity in the game. No one is attracted to identities they are attracted to how people look.
Regardless, the only thing that meaningful contributes to "depth" in a game about building relationships, is how much engagement exists.
How many choices, how meaningful they are, how deep the simulation is, how much story material exists, how deeply the characters grow and change with the story and player engagement.
Even in the case of heteronormative, or player-centric orientations for NPCs all of that is deeply possible and achievable at a high level.
This game seems more like a visual novel and a farm sim had a baby, and frankly that's not deep or innovative. Its just... one more thing.
And this time its unfortunate because it doesn't respect the players time.
@@honaleri @mbuckley3828 It's the terms "masculine" and "feminine" that I don't agree with. Once you have gotten out in the real world and met many different types of people with an open mind and kind heart, and some luck, then you'll realize how toxic the terms are.
A male is masculine simply by being male.
A female is feminine simply by being female.
This is year 2024 and if you want to live in a stereotypical gender-role world keep it yourself. Because to do so is to expect another person to be a certain way.
We're not going backwards.
Pink is not just for females. Blue is not just for males.
Same for any clothing, even dresses, and any career or sport.
I had to hear someone complain about how they don't feel masculine enough compared to a dumb anime character. I told them that as long as they're male, then they're masculine enough.
Open your minds and quit living in boxes made by other people. Nonbinary is just a way to ignore the problem. Accept your body is what it is and that it doesn't decide what your personality, your likes and dislikes, are. Much of what you are is made of your experiences.
I've been through my sexist phase, my trans phase, my nonbinary phase. And i've come out on the other end realizing that i am what i am and i cannot change it but i can grow and change my personality with experiences to better hone who i want to be. It takes EFFORT for me to become someone i want, not a surgery or a pronoun adjustment.
@@mbuckley3828 I included a reply below if you're interested. The tag didn't work.
@@cbpostservice
That would imply that, a person who you look at and see as a man, is feminine for being biologically female, even if they have completely "passed" post transition.
Masculine refers to traits associated with being male. Feminine applies to traits associated with being female. That's it.
Some of these traits are objective, like enlarged mammory glands, are behaviorally associated, masculinity is associated with competitiveness, not because of male roles, but because testosterone encourages the behavior of hyper competitiveness.
People can align themselves with masculine traits, feminine traits, or a mix of both. People who feel incredibly disconnect and dysphoria from being disconnected from certain traits, those people are trans or nonbinary. That's not a choice, it's also a biological phenomenon. When brains form in the womb the exposure they receive to different hormones alters what their body becomes and how their brains are wired to interpret their bodies. If exposure is out of balance in certain stages of development the brain can become feminized or masculized in the process creating a person who expects to exist in a body that ultimately don't have. This is a gender divergent person, or a trans person.
Nothing about it is a phase, nor is it something anyone controls. It happens and people live with it and cope in different ways. Some choose hormones to align themselves in body and mind. Others simply dress, live, behave and act like the gender the align with. Others deny their discomfort and conform to whatever society suggests. Others find mind body peace through acceptance in a verity of ways.
The terms exist regardless of of you accept how they are used or not. The terms are fine and are used accurately.
If you are denying the reality of gender diaspora and divergence, than there's nothing more to discuss. But if you simply don't like the terms, then I hope this helps you understand what they are and why the are used. Most people do not choose to behave feminine or masculine, they simply do what is natural to them, same as their bodies grow in ways they don't control. But these natures are largely objective, the roles society allows for them, however are not objective they are cultural and problematic or unfair. Knowing and accepting feminine and masculine things exist doesn't mean you have to accept traditional roles as well. Those concepts are seperate. Anyone should be able to fill any role. Regardless of their gender, appearance or personality.
Chill Town looks so stupid. Just a lazy, blatant rip off of New Horizons. I'm so damn sick of cash grabbing "developers" with no original ideas who just plagiarize popular games to make a buck. Honestly hope it tanks.
I'm real disappointed in Sunnyside.
The gender slider ruins the whole thing. For me to pick my gender, nonbinary, would possibly lock me out of romance options I prefer (male/andro)... because I don't know how the game interprets nonbinary. In real life, I can lean either way, and look more fem or butch/masc. It still limits the people into me, but at bareminmum I have an idea of who those people are!! But, here its... like no if I choose nonbinary, that means ... certain characters would say no, that if they would see my typical expression in real life...would have said yes? I have no idea who would get excluded if "not fem enough" is a legit thing in this game It's so annoying. So the game is gonna force me to pick fem anyway to get the most male options? Or???? The fact that I don't know...is the issue. And if I sit and play for 30 hour and THEN find out which candidates aren't into me... then I'd have to restart game and play as whatever gender should let me marry who I want anyway! 30 theoretical hours gone.
Omg. That's annoying.
I'd say... it's even better to just go with a female only, male only, straight only, because then I know what to pick at the start of the game to get what I want and I can just pretend I look the way I want to. But this way, I literally have no idea what will be the consequences for just... being myself.
Frankly that makes me mad.
It would have been easier to implement a, male, female, nonbinary selection gender idenity, a male, female, androgynous appearance option (decides who is interested), and a male, female, both or neither orientation option.
Then, boom. The game knows everything about you and what you like, and those interested in you will be obvious from the get.
As the system is now...
If the game was Procedural, and there were hundreds of candidates and it was never realistic or intended to know them all, sure. This system would be fine cause you aren't losing specific character stories. But realistically, anyone who wants to see all the games content has to play at least 3 times as 3 different ranges of gender. Or more! Who knows!
That coupled with the...hyper modern stuff. Is a huge turn off.
If I wanna text people, I don't need a game for that. If I wanna be in a city as a homeless dude in a tent. Don't need a game for that. 😅The HarvestMoon/Farm Sim genre started as an escape genre. Escape the conflict, escape the city, escape the worries of everyday modern awful. It's the premise of almost every farm sim. Grandpa dies and leaves a farm, escape the city and get away from the world. Almost every Harvest Moon game starts something like this, so did Stardew. It's a formula that works because... people want to escape. That's what these games exist for.
But this game was like "let's bring the dread of city life and modern misery to farm sims!"
☹
I love the attempt at innovation! I want more innovation across the board. But well done innovation not... stuff that makes me regret my own gender.
I didn't expect to be upset about it. But I kinda am. I had an idea what this game was and the demo really proved its not for me.
Hope it does well regardless, but... I'm salty and out this time around.
Just like real life, most of the interactions you have with others is not going to be about expecting to build a dating relationship with that other individual. I think that's what RainyGames was going for here with their game.
That you are not going in knowing that all of the dateable NPC's are dateable in a single playthrough because they are so shallow that the on-screen text really means nothing at the end of the day because they'll love anyone and everyone regardless.
I tend to look at it as, almost everyone has certain looks they are looking for in a potential partner, the gender fluidity scale in the game is each character's preference that makes each of them their own person, so to speak.
@@mbuckley3828
Yes, "looks". Not idenity.
The expression of the gender is what makes people attracted in real life. Not the idenity.
This muddles the whole thing completely. For a nonbinary person, what I say I am, typically has no impact on who likes me or doesn't. In fact, most people don't know what I identify as regardless in real life. They look and if they find attraction, that's the end of it. In this game, that's now inverted. And it makes for a less realistic experience.
Besides, I play games like this to have a small fantasy life encounter unlike what real life offers. Make a big mansion in the woods, play with a bunch of farm animals, enjoy the company of some NPC that I got to know and had little fictional NPC babies with. That is exactly why I play these games. I don't play them to experience rejection based on my gender idenity.
Heck, I'd prefer rejection based on my appearance, my personality, even my income. Over rejection based on my gender idenity.
That's not the experience I want. Boko for you if you enjoy rejection for the pronouns you use. But, I certainly get enough of that already.
And games like this can take hundreds of hours, to not be able to get the fully story in one playthrough because it was literally auto locked out the moment you designed a character, demands hundreds of hours more from the typical player tha what is at all appropriate or necessary. If this was just a visual novel, sure, you can skip the dialog, but this is a game where 1 play through could be indefinite and cost 300+ hours before concluding the major story. That's a very concerning design flaw for any character centric story game.
I get what you are saying here but look at what we have gotten up until this point for most games, the shallow relationship system that is as proliferate as is today.
While RainyGames system here may not be perfect, it is a step at finally adding some real value to the overall mechanic as a whole.
My only suggestion is, don't look at the scale as being strictly tied to gender fluidity but more just each NPC's preference scale instead, whether it be tied to appearance, personality, or even occupation. It was just RainyGames way of trying to make each NPC their own distinct being and not dateable by everyone every single playthrough.
Push comes to shove, if you are only interested in a certain character, one could wait until it's established where they fall onto the scale and choose their preference based on that. Or as RainyGames brought up in their response to another post here, they're pretty certain modders will do exactly what you're asking for here and tackle this issue by bypassing the scale altogether and making all of the dateables available any single given playthrough.
@@mbuckley3828
If someone else has to make their game playable for them...they don't deserve my money. Sorry. If they lable the bar my gender identity, than that's what it is. I shouldn't be expected to lie and be forced to play as something I'm not in order to have fun when the option to be what I am, is already there. It's worse when they aim to be "inclusive" but end up being more exclusive than those who don't even try.
If they innovated intelligently, I'd still be interested. They did not. I'm no longer interested. Mods cannot fix something that they claim integrally alters the experience.
And nothing about this adds value.
It adds controversy.
So far nothing about this game goes deeper than a typical Visual Novel. Most farm sims are shallow but also aren't character focused. The focus is the overall gameplay of farming. Innovation in farm Sims that I would appreciate would be far deeper than this. Something procedural, or similar to how Disco Elysium is set up, or anything at all.
But orientation locked characters adds nothing, other than loads of commentary on being gay and being straight and being what have you. Which isn't depth, it's just more content around the topic. And if modders could change it by disabling it. Then...how was it an innovation if an off switch keeps everything the same except...more options?
It doesn't even seem like it makes sense because I'm certain it won't. Its not the innovation you think it is. It's just a farm sim and vn hooked into the same game. If you want not ever player to get every candidate, lock them out based on dialog options and personality and choices IN GAME. Not at the character creation screen.
Instead of looking ato this from your own wants and desires, how about try looking at in another perspective altogether. You're not liking how it's handling non binary and its possible effects. How about play as someone who is ninbinary instead. Many games didn't, and many still don't, give the player character the ability to play as a female. This one you can play as any male or female, straight, gay, bi, or even non binary. Have you never played a game as the opposite sex? Well, do so here as another gender fluidity, even if how it is implemented is not exactly how you would have done so. Or you can play one of the many that never tries to break from the status quo and keeps churning out what already dominates the market as is. Again, it might not be perfect in implementation according to how you see it, which I agree to a certain extent, they are still attempting their own take at tackling this subject all the same.
Yea Chill town still needs more improvement 🫣😮💨
Get on a real lawnmower then i'll check out your sponsor with video proof 🤭any way only littlelands caught my eye but still oddspark top of my list before any of these.