Green is one of those games that you understand practically at first glance. Pastel colors, small creatures to take care of, buildings to place and a deliberately quiet rhythm, almost devoid of any form of pressure.
Antimeta Studio's cozy city builder, published by Assemble Entertainment, does not try to test the player with complex economies or cities to save from collapse: he simply wants to offer a relaxing space in which to build something nice and watch it grow.
And in this, it must be said immediately, Verde works.
The problem is that it seems to stop exactly there. Everything is pleasant, everything works as it should and hardly anything really annoys. At the same time, however, there are few elements capable of leaving a strong impression or creating that desire to immediately return to one's own little plant world.
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A small world inside a jar
The idea behind Verde is certainly nice.
We play the role of the eponymous protagonist, a young magician with a passion for gardening who joins the Gardening Club of the Academy of Magic. Our task is to take care of small worlds enclosed within jars, slowly bringing them back to life and creating a suitable habitat for Seedlets, tiny plant creatures that will gradually begin to populate what we build.
The botanical theme runs through virtually every element of the experience: houses, shops, decorations and structures seem to sprout directly from the ground and even the visual language remains constantly linked to nature.
It's a simple but apt premise, especially since it gives the classic cozy city builder an instantly recognizable identity. Don't expect any big surprises, though. Verde introduces his idea, develops it neatly, and rarely really tries to go any further.
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The story: more tutorials than adventure
The narrative component remains deliberately light.
The Story mode serves above all to accompany the player to discover the various mechanics, gradually introducing buildings, resources, new biomes and the needs of the Seedlets through a series of very simple objectives.
The setting of the Academy of Magic, the Gardening Club and the characters we meet add a minimum of personality, but the plot never becomes the real engine of the experience. In practice, the story mainly serves as a long tutorial.
This is probably the choice most consistent with Verde's philosophy: no particularly dramatic events, no pressure and above all very few chances of really doing something wrong.
You proceed with extreme tranquility, completing one task after another and progressively unlocking what you will need to expand your small settlement.
It works, but it will hardly be narrative curiosity that pushes you to continue.
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Gameplay: Build, Content, Decorate
The heart of Verde is that of an extremely simplified city builder.
Houses are built to increase the population of the Seedlets and then structures capable of satisfying their needs. Water, nutrients, entertainment and other services must be distributed within the area paying particular attention to the range of action of the buildings. Happy Seedlets produce leaves, the main resource used to continue building and expanding the village.
The cycle is basically this: you build, you increase the population, you fill a need, you get more resources and you build more.
There is no real race for efficiency and Verde practically never expects every inch of the city to be optimized. It is of course possible to think about the placement of buildings and look for better configurations, but the game always leaves a lot of room for aesthetics and personal creativity. This is where one of its best features emerges: Green does not want to punish the player.
There are no sudden catastrophes, economies ready to collapse or particularly severe systems. Even a city built without too much attention generally continues to function.
In addition to the Story mode, there is a Creative mode, which allows you to build freely having everything immediately available, and a Sandbox mode that maintains part of the management of resources but leaves more freedom.
The progression also leads to the discovery of different areas of the map, including green, desert and snowy areas, introducing some additional needs such as heating and cooling.
The system is intuitive and after a few minutes you already have a clear idea of practically everything that Verde requires... it is both its merit and its limit.
Because if at first seeing the jar fill up with small houses, shops and Seedlets is pleasant, with the passage of time a certain repetitiveness emerges. Many buildings perform similar functions and the construction-need-resource cycle changes very little.
You continue to play without particular effort, but often you miss that new objective, that mechanic or simply that surprise capable of really rekindling interest.
Green is relaxing. Maybe too much.
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Personalization: the most successful side
An important part of the experience is fortunately dedicated to customization.
Many buildings have different aesthetic variations and colors, while many decorations allow you to transform your settlement into something more personal.
For those who love above all to build for the pure pleasure of creating a pleasant environment, this is probably where Verde manages to give its best.
The game allows you to forget the objectives for a few moments and simply devote yourself to roads, plants, buildings and small details.
However, there remains a certain feeling of limited variety, especially when you start repeating the same structures necessary to meet the needs of the population over and over again.
The possibilities are there, but they don't always manage to hide the relative simplicity of the underlying systems.
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Graphics
Visually, Verde has a coherent and pleasing art direction.
The hand-drawn 2D style, isometric view, and soft color palette build exactly the cozy atmosphere that the game wants to convey. The Seedlets are nice, the buildings have an immediately readable design, and seeing an initially empty area progressively transform into a small village full of elements remains satisfying.
Even the transition between the different settings manages to slightly break the visual monotony. However, I would not speak of a memorable artistic direction.
It's all nice, tidy and pleasant, but I rarely stopped simply to observe something or because I was particularly impressed by a new area.
Verde has no obvious visual problems: he simply prefers a safe and consistent solution to a truly surprising one.
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Audio
The sound sector also follows exactly the same philosophy.
Quiet music, delicate effects and no particularly invasive elements perfectly accompany the long sessions dedicated to construction.
The soundtrack does exactly what it should do in such a game: it stays in the background. Maybe even too much?
After closing Verde I find it hard to remember a single precise musical theme. Not because the audio is badly made, but because it seems designed above all not to disturb.
It's pleasant while playing and practically invisible immediately after.
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Conclusion
Green is probably one of the easiest games to judge that has happened to me recently.
It's done well. It's cute. It's relaxing.
The mechanics work, the graphics are nice, the controls are simple to understand, and I didn't find anything that really compromised the experience.
At the same time, however, after several sessions I still had the feeling that something was missing. Not necessarily a specific mechanic or a higher difficulty.
Rather that small spark capable of transforming a simply pleasant game into something that you really want to reopen.
Verde builds its identity around the absence of stress, simplicity and the possibility of creating freely. It is an absolutely legitimate choice and, for those looking for exactly this type of experience, it can work very well.
The downside is an extremely predictable progression.
You build something, watch the Seedlets arrive, meet their needs, and move on to the next facility. Then to another jar. Then to another area. Everything flows.
Perhaps this is the best definition of Green: a game that flows pleasantly without ever really bothering, but also without almost ever being able to surprise.
I can't point out a really wrong element, just as I struggle to identify one capable of sticking with me. It's an honest, accessible and well-packaged little cozy experience, which does exactly what it promises.
Nothing less. But also little more.
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About the Author
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- Direttore di KotaWorld.itRecent Articles
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