izigame.me

This is once again a game where I wish we had a mixed review rating.
The game does a lot right, but the more you play the more you'll notice a lot of its flaws.
Certain mechanics that are fun at the beginning just feel like a chore later in the game.
The best example is its main appeal, the farming. It takes quite a lot of time before you get sprinklers and upgrading your tools to cover more than one tile will only be available later in the game as well.
I also feel like the game is kinda falsely marketed. Most people expect some kind of anime Stardew Valley with some RPG elements. However, this is game first and foremost a JRPG. While the farming is an important part of the game, most of your time will be spend repeating dungeons or clicking through dialogue.
As I'm writing this review I've played ~50h and just finished chapter 7 out of 8/9.
The reason why I'm writing this now and not once I have finished the game is that I don't even know if I'll finish it.
EDIT: I just finished the game, mostly by brute forcing my way through the last chapter. Climax was kind of a let down, but at least I can put this game to rest.
The story, while not being bad, is filled with a lot of cliches and it never really feels like there is anything at stake. Characters are different enough to care about them, but not that well written to a point, where you're bothered if one of them would be gone.
The combat is probably one of its best aspects while also being one of its worst.
The idea of different jobs (basically different classes) is kinda cool and mostly well executed. Sadly the combat cannot really shine due to a really clunky combat playstyle. You technically have a dash, but that hardly every matters as most non ground targeted attacks will hit you anyway. This leads to either camping range and letting your party members tank which makes the combat trivial or being melee and thus tanking hits and healing yourself with food all the time.
Oh did I mention that you can jump? Yeah that's a thing... I almost forgot, because you use it like... never. I think after 50h there were maybe 2 or 3 sections where I actually used the jump button. Most things like stairs, fences etc. have invisible walls, so you cannot even jump down stairs.
There is also a stamina system, because apparently every RPG nowadays needs one. I wouldn't even be too bothered about this as the game is kind of designed around it. You cannot (mostly) buy things like potions or anything to boost you stamina. You'll have to grow crops and make food yourself. HOWEVER, pretty much everything in this game cost stamina. Running, attacking, picking up gathering spots etc. I'd say if running wouldn't cost stamina it would be fine. Sadly running is by far the most stamina intensive activity in this game. If you're someone that likes to sprint everywhere because you feel like walking is too slow, you'll be eating non stop. Oh wait... you cannot even eat as much as you want. Eating will grant a certain amount of stamina and as long as your stomach isn't empty, you'll (VERY) slowly recover stamina. But once your stomach is full, you cannot eat anymore. This'll result in often times waiting for stamina to recover in order to continue whatever you're doing. Personally I already looked for mods to remove stamina consumption from sprinting, but it seems like the game is pretty much un-mod-able (all files are encrypted for whatever reason).
The game is divided in your typical four seasons, tho I feel like they're either too long or the game is lacking content. I'm currently at the end of fall in year 1, cleared 7 out of 8/9 chapters and most side stories as well as completed all character stories. The game seems to be build to play at least 2 full years as there are things you likely won't be able to do in your year.
I don't think the game actually needed seasons. The game has too much "farming" and too little "RPG" for what it wants to be. This isn't a game that you'll continue playing once you're done with the main story. There just isn't any appeal to it. After completing the story, side missions and character stories (which btw are 98% of the time dialogue only), it's mostly a pain to go for things like missing achievements.
Despite all the negativity in my review, I did have a lot of fun at the beginning. For me I think after maybe ~30 hours I started to feel bored. I started only skimming a lot of dialogue as the games pacing can be quite off. Sometimes you play for like an hour with minimal dialogue and sometimes it locks you in in nearly 30min of pure dialogue without a way to quit without loosing progress.
Overall I'd say there are a lot of good ideas here, but most of the seem half finished and not fully thought through.
I probably wouldn't recommended the game, unless you are desperately looking for a JRPG and already played most well known ones. It also doesn't help that the game is a full price 60€ game and at most 50% off, while other great JRPGs like Persona 5, Atelier Ryza etc. are often times cheaper.