Sugardew Island [Review]
One of my favorite things about being a game reviewer is finding innovative video games coming out. I’ve found a decent amount of games this way, many that I wouldn’t have tried otherwise. But then there’s my least favorite part of the job. A game comes out from a very nice dev team, and I have to write about 500 words (give or take) about why you shouldn’t purchase this game. I don’t like tearing down anyone’s hard work, but there’s just no way around it – Sugardew Island is a bad game.
The plot is paper thin and ultimately doesn’t matter. Sugardew Island is the newest cozy game, a genre of games that are meant to be relaxing. This genre seems to have started with Harvest Moon, but it truly rose to prominence due to the success of Stardew Valley. As such, most games like this share the same core: Owning a dilapidated farm that players restore and improve on, befriending townsfolk and making lots of money.
In this case, our main character has washed up on an island. The island is in disrepair due to reasons and it’s her job to build harmony. This, in turn, will restore and upgrade parts of the island. Players obtain items through farming and then sell items to forest creatures in the island shop. There are a few characters to befriend, and there is money to be made. Everything that needs to be in place for a cozy farming game is here. I even think the game boasts some really interesting thoughts, such as not having a clock that players have to adhere to. The problem is the gameplay mechanics present are so shallow and basic that it plays more like an unfinished alpha then a complete experience.
Take for example, running the store, which is a key part of the game. Players can set any object out for sale, the forest spirits will come buy it, and each purchase generates money and harmony. There's sometimes a little negotiation with the customers, which takes up a couple dialogue windows. It’s slow, tedious, and not particularly interesting. Ultimately what players put out for sale doesn’t matter much. No matter what the forest spirits purchase, one purchase gave me one harmony. I was able to cheese through the work needed to progress by just putting up a bunch of weeds for sale every day, and found myself quickly unlocking everything. If it were one system that was under cooked, it would be a problem but I would still be able to enjoy the game. However, the entire game feels very thin and lacking in content.
That's the game's second biggest problem: The lack of content. In games like Stardew Valley, there are a wide variety of activities to engage in to the point it can be overwhelming. Sugardew Island doesn't give players enough to do. Once the plants and animals have been tended to and the shop opened for the day, that's bulk of what can be done. All that’s left is picking weeds, chopping trees and crushing rocks. Every day is the same as well, as there are no special events or festivals to break up the tedium. The world of Sugardew Island just feels empty and lifeless, with the bare minimum needed for a farming sim present here.
Then we have copious bugs and strange technical choices. They may not break the game but they plague the entire experience. In my first cut scene my character ended up with two models side by side. After the cut scene was over, I returned to only having one character. My tools would disappear from my character’s hands daily without fail. Whenever I talked to another character, it loaded a whole new scene just for one line of dialogue, and then loaded back into the overworld. Overall it's very messy and should not be available for purchase in this state.
In the end, this is not the worst farming sim I've ever played but it's not one I can recommend. Sugardew Island just offers nothing new to the huge world of farming sims and feels like a slog to play.
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