izigame.me

MY NON-BIASED RATING: 7.5/10
MY PERSONAL RATING: 9/10 (it has its flaws, but I enjoyed it so idc)
DA GOOD STUFF

The pixel art on this game is just immaculate, and really captures the cozy and whimsical feel that the story projects throughout the whole game. And that goes for the environment where each village (spring, autumn, winter, and summer areas) which are distinct from each other, motif and layout-wise (I don’t want to say more details as it would kinda spoil new players).
The characters are done nicely, and their sprites are very expressive. Which just brings a lot of life to your adventure when meeting new characters. And I also like the touch of some characters having the names of the characters based on their vegetable/fruit f in a different language (example is one of the early characters that you meet is “Sili” a hot pepper with a name that is just the Filipino translation of a hot pepper).
The pacing, I personally did not have a problem with the pacing of the game. You go from different villages to new ones in just about a right amount of time. You don’t spend too much time in one zone where you get sick or tired of any village. And that also goes for the tools/weapons you get along the story.
For the soundtrack, it really completes the game for me. I can’t really say anything else for the soundtrack and sound design of the game other than to hear it for yourself and just enjoy.
The perk/ability system is wonderfully done and implemented. Essentially you have the freedom to change and customize your perks/abilities as many times as you want throughout an in-game day. And these perks/abilities can give create some “builds” like a combat fisherman where the main weapon you use is the fishing pole tool which I really had a fun time playing with.
Story bussin, that’s all.

DA NOT SO GOOD STUFF

You are kind of better off using a controller although I don’t mind it, some people would prefer using a keyboard/they probably do not have a controller. And due to the game not having support to mouse controls it may be iffy to some where they are just forced to use just a keyboard to play with.
The core gameplay loop of completing the daily quest can get repetitive. And some of these quests can just be boiled down to “gather this item A and go to place A” (not all the quests are like this) which may get old and boring fast to some people. But on my personal experience, unless if you are going to go for 100% completion and just go on to complete the story. The gameplay loop would not be that repetitive.
The combat is pretty basic (personally not a problem for me, but to some it may be a problem), I also did not really find any of the bosses really that hard. But for a cozy and chill game they are good enough and the difficulty of the combat is probably targeted for more casual players. (If you want a more challenging top-down Zelda inspired game, try Hyper Light Drifter).
If you are going to 100% complete this game, it will get very grindy. Especially when the items you need are crops where you need to wait for them to grow or you must fish them out where there is a chance to not get the item you want to grind for.

TL: DR
A reminiscent game of old top-down Zelda games that has a very cozy, cute pixel art, astounding soundtrack/sound design, and wholesome story to boot. And warning, do not treat this game like it is harvest moon/stardew valley. As things will get repetitive and you will be disappointed if you treat it like any simulation game since it is not that type of game.
Short description of my experience:
I completed the main story in about 16 hours but stayed to 100% complete the game (getting max upgrades on weapons/tools and villages) which clocked out at 27 hours. Really enjoyed the main story of the game and I would really recommend this game. Due to its very simple gameplay, cute and charming pixel art, and casual/newbie-friendly nature.