Graphically, the game leaves something to be desired. It sounds like a small thing but for a game where accumulating stuff is a big deal, little things like this zap a lot of the fun out of it. It’s a mess, and one of several things that made me want to avoid the game altogether. I ended up dropping dozens of items on the floor of my house, but I had to be careful to avoid them so they wouldn’t get picked up again automatically. This is because storage quickly becomes a major issue. Items on the ground are automatically picked up. For this genre it’s important that you make it clear how to play, because there’s a lot that you can do, and without guidance it’s easy to become lost. Stuff like this is common in Hokko Life, and it drives me mad. Turns out, I needed to talk to the villager that requested them between steps. In one case I was supposed to build and craft two benches, but nothing happened after crafting them. At other times there were some design issues that bugged me to the point that I thought I was encountering some bugginess. For example, I was asked to make dye days before the option was available to me. The requests can be a bit annoying, as people will sometimes request things of you that you can’t do yet. Requests are things like building furniture or delivering packages. Villagers will often make requests sometimes it is story-related but usually, it’s not. Talking to every character every day tends to help, as goes exploring every possible nook and cranny. And you’re on your own when it comes to story progression. You’ve played this kind of thing before, most likely. In that time you’ll putter around town and make use of the various areas: the shop, a field turned residential zone, the beach, the mountains, the mines… you get the idea. The days are long enough to get everything you need to done. Once you get into the thick of things, Hokko Life operates on its own time. Lucky that a tree was blocking the path to anything else! From there the tree goes away and the game opens up quickly.
You arrive in town via a train one evening, looking for a fresh start in life, and despite zero instructions it’s easy to end up where you need to be: the inn. That’s a lot of pressure for one indie game. The problem is, these games are now a dime a dozen and for one to stand out, it really has to be special. I’m sure other farm/life sims were also considered. The game’s inspiration is clear: I see elements of Animal Crossing and Story of Seasons/Harvest Moon. So I’ve known about Hokko Life for a while now, and have covered it on DDNet in the past. As such, I’ve been keeping an eye out for games that fall into that general category. I spend a shocking amount of time playing Disney Dreamlight Valley and Animal Crossing daily, and that’s before you even get into all the others I’ve had to enjoy.
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