The 11th of August Steam Garden Story, the new fatigue of Picogram. It is a very original indie game, especially for the context in which we will be immersed.
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History
We're going to dress up ♪, a small grain of grapes (yes, you have read well) working as a gardener inHamlet, a bucolic place where nature is a mistress. However, since the very first cutscene, we will discover that the tranquility and balance of our village have been put at risk; aggressive and dangerous creatures, the so-called ‘Rot’, are invading and attacking the inhabitants and their commercial activities, undermining the structure itself and the safety of our little bucolic paradise.
After the very first minutes of play, in which we will be explained the commands and how to get around within the scenario, the former Hamlet guard will summon us saying that it serves our help to defend the town to Spring Village; unfortunately, we will be forced to abandon our small hut immersed in the thick of the woods to start having a more active part within the community. We will discover, in fact, that until then Concord was a very quiet and solitary gardener, who rarely showed up in the village. Its only purpose was to take care of the thick vegetation of Hamlet and make sure that everything lived in harmony. Thanks to the name of our protagonist, I could not fail to make a connection to Walt Whitman, the famous American poet who decided to live in harmony in the woods surrounding the town of Concord, in fact.
The gameplay
Let's add now in the gameplay: the other inhabitants of our village will be mushrooms, fruits, nice vegetables or small animals with which we will have to interact to unroll and discover the main story of Garden Story; the daily ones will be very simple and quite repetitive, asking us to eliminate some 'Rot', collect material for the inhabitants, repair structures or cure the vegetation. However, through unexpected dialogues with the NPCs scattered around the map, we will discover away what is happening in Spring Village and why we have been designated as guardians and guardians of this small corner of vegetation.
The controls are very simple, so as not to request the use of the mouse: we can do everything quietly with the keyboard (which is very convenient especially for those who always have the laptop in the backpack and want to make a game by train); I found, then, very nice and original system to restore their health: we will have in the backpack a small glass jar full of dew that, if necessary, we will spray on to refresh ourselves (literally) and resume the energies. If you die, by the way, no fear! The day ends and recovers from the next morning, without loss of experience or money, as could happen in titles from the similar aftertaste like Stardew Valley.
In Garden Story, we will also have a simplified RPG system that will allow us to upgrade our skills thanks to the objects we will find or how many we will solve. It will be possible, exploring the map, to be in hidden or particular places, which will create a ‘retard’ in Concord: each one of these, selectable when going to sleep, will give us different boosts, so carefully choose what you will equip!
The only flaw is, in my opinion, the fact that the game can only be saved automatically at the end of each day, when we decide to go to sleep. I ask vein, but personally I am still a lover of the ‘Save when you want’ or places to save scatters for the ‘Resident Evil’ style map.
Technically speaking
Passing to the technical side, I must say that I liked the graphics a lot. Despite both in 2D and in cartoon style, it is very well cared for: the bright colors, the richness of elements on the screen and the simplicity of the models are definitely one of the aspects that conquered me most as soon as I opened the game. The soundtrack is pleasant and will keep our minds relaxed while we break between one area and the other to complete our daily quests; the sound of rain, then, is made very well both outdoors and the ovate effect inside a building: it will be extremely relaxing to conclude an intense day of work and to lay on our giant leaf that acts as a bed and make Concord sleep with the sweet sound of the rain that beats on the roof.
The HUD is very clean and sympathetic: on the lower left there will be the image of a backpack with all our equipped objects; on the other left a small indicator will tell us in what period of the day we find ourselves and how much life we have; in the lower center, instead, a yellow bar will tell us our stem.
Conclusions
In conclusion you can say that Garden Story is a very pleasant and relaxing game, both thanks to the soundtrack and the nice graphics. The longevity and mysteries to be discovered make up for what can be a discreet sin, i.e. the repetitiveness of these daily ones. However, the curiosity to find out what we will encounter during a day started will normally make sure that the game becomes more interesting as the hours flow and our skills increase. Recommended especially for those who want something to detach and relax from the frenzy of shooters or rpg online; Garden Story is definitely a small dive in a bucolic place away from stress and negativity.
