Cornucopia [Early Access Thoughts]
Cornucopia is a cute, pixelated farming game developed and published by Subconscious Games and is currently in Early Access. The game has its goofy moments as you start the game by being chiseled out of a block of ice. But, it seems the town is eager to take you in and have you start working the old farm!
Cornucopia has a similar art style to other farming games we’ve all seen. The art style is pixelated and reminds me a bit of Stardew Valley. What’s interesting about Cornucopia is the game's 2.5D camera perspective. This is not something I'm used to seeing in farming games, however, it gives the game a unique, charming look and feel that is similar to how Square Enix's approach with their latest JRPGs Octopath Travilar and Star Ocean. Cornucopia takes some clear inspiration from other games and farming sims. These inspirations don't set it too far apart from other farming sims, Luicly this game has a lot to offer and plenty of features and little things to do that drive its uniqueness home. However, that doesn’t mean the game doesn’t need improvements and with a sigh of relief this game is in Early Access so everything is subject to change and improve over time.
Since the game is in Early Access, I want to mention things that can be better but in no way does this mean the game is bad. It does work properly on the Steam Deck and has controller support on PC, though there is no way to change controls or map buttons yet. This doesn’t hinder gameplay. I just personally like to change the controls on games like this one. Something that caught my eye rather quickly was the UI. The UI is obnoxiously large. There are text boxes across the screen, text pops up every time you switch weapons, and your quests are always shown. I was able to turn a few of them off but some can only be shrunk. This problem is both on a PC and on the Steamdeck. The fishing minigame is a bit lackluster as it’s a pachinko game with five prizes at the bottom. The only thing you are able to affect is by using bait for better rewards to show up. It just makes fishing feel skillless.
I believe Cornucopia has potential. The town is large and there is a lot to explore and people to meet. There is also dialogue between the townspeople and the player with dialogue options every once in a while. At the moment the dialogue options seem to be for how friendly you wish to be with a townsperson. The town is very friendly. Perhaps a bit too friendly… And I mean in personality and in gameplay. While you’re being stalked throughout the town you’re also being sent tons of gifts from soon-to-be potential friends. There seems to be a present in the mail every day. It makes it a little less special than how other farming games do the mail system, with most treating it like a rare occurrence or as a way for more dialogue options.
I like their slice-of-life changes. There’s a large storage shed on your property and if you have a full inventory anything you pick up from then will be transported to your storage box. This works both on and off your farm. However, it would be nice if the storage had some sort of “sort from backpack” button where all the items that already have a stack in the storage will be sent to the shed. And, the setting and the NPCs are nice. The town is large and there are a few different buildings to explore. There’s a decent amount of townsfolk as well. Plenty that are available suiters for a romance.
Cornucopia is another farming game that tries to do what it can to stand out. While it seems to fall flat slightly, I do want to see what this game can become. And, the game can get a bit easy with just how many free gifts, scratch cards, and level-up rewards you get. I will say, that there’s something joyous about running and jumping around in a 2.5d perspective that this game has. I’ve used this word before but it really does fit the game well, it just makes it more charming. That’s what makes this game successful to me, its charm. Cornucopia is currently available in Early Access on Steam.
I recommend trying this game out! Cornucopia is another farming game that tries to do what it can to stand out. I do want to see what this game can become. This game has a lot to offer and plenty of features and little things to do that drive its uniqueness home.