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Kynseed is a generational game.
A genre I am... obsessed with.
For context a generational game is just "A game where through some mechanism, time will pass and the game will continue even when characters you use die of age or other causes"
Still working on that definition.
Otherwise I wouldn't really have given it much attention.
Honestly the game has a bit of a jank to it like most games in this genre. But nothing game breaking or experience ruining. Its Jankiness can be somewhat fun at times
Its combat system is very fun and unique which surprised me cause it took 5+ hours to get to it since the game is harvest moon esc for the most part. I would play a game thats just the combat expanded into a roguelike.
The generational aspects are... hit and miss, some very very smart choices, but other choices that hurt it.
It has one big issue in this regard, a single generation is too long, even with its smart life tax system. You can do everything in a single generation if you wanted. Which makes the whole having kids thing seem kinda pointless.
The system works fantastic when you die. But it took 25+ hours for me to speed to my death.
Also people just don't have kids fast enough. The world's population goes down faster then it grows so you'll get batches of random added into the mix over time. It works but is a bit sad to see a family line you liked die off. Contrasted too Crusader Kings where in a generation or 2 down and you will be warring with the ancestor of your founders best friend, moments like that are really fun!
As far as generational games goes here is my Pros and Cons:
Pros:
Combat is great and training your heir to be good at fighting is satisfying. Stats matter, so making sure your heir is set up to play how you want is important.
The life tax system is genius. It's a system in which dying in combat, or buying specific upgrades accrue a life tax. At the end of a single year, time jumps x years in the future equal to that tax. It's mixed in with the narrative, adds weight to your choices and speeds up time without just fast forwarding time like games like Massive Chalice or CK have to do. This system reminds me of “years of peace” in Wyldermyth but is a lot more direct, controllable, and impactful. This system is complemented by having a hard set death age. 50. At 50, you die, all left over life tax applies to your heir. Makes you really consider actions that affect life tax. Plus 50 is kinda a nice year to die, makes a reasonable "then he retired" age.
It Utilizes Life goals really really well. You get random life time goals, a few of them. If you fulfill one you get to add a stat to your heir in any stat you choose. 3 of these are the same every generation it seems: make x money, make x rep, make x friends. With 3 random ones. This felt like a really good amount. A few of these I would be fulfilling during regular gameplay, while others made me do things I might otherwise skip or ignore. Plus the reward is good! But not too good, I felt like I had the wiggle room to ignore annoying ones, like the make 40 friends one.
Cons:
25+ hours to get to generation 2... when I was rushing. The Life tax system helps a lot, taking 10+ years after every single year, resulting in you hitting the next generation in 3 years time… but 3 years in a stardew like game? Star dew has your grandpa judge you at the end of year 2, thats end game for some. This is further pushed into the limelight by the fact that you can beat the whole game in generation 1 no problem. The Years are long, I feel this only really helps with farming. But honestly the farming is so shallow and just plain that I would prefer a version of this game without farming.
The town ecosystem is just super dry. People don't really do... anything for you and so people aging, dying and being swapped out feels engaging as a whole. In Most Generational games, most characters can be used by you. Sometimes as units or enemies. In this game they can be used as shopkeepers, but I found the only stat that matters in running shows is “hourly rate”. your shops will be quite lucrative with the worst employees if they don't cost much. An alternative would be to have a town event like a tournament, the combat in this game is unique and deserves a lot more content and attention anyways. This way, you might grow a personal rivalry with a family via combat. Basically I have no reason to care for anyone, and my wife was chosen based on A) looks and B) traits.
This kinda leads into another Con, their is minimum NPC on NPC interactions outside of the occasional marriage that just change where people live it feels. To continuesly mentioned Crusader Kings (CK), this type of game always benifits from people having their own relationships with eachother. I dont think this is nessasary tbh, and is more just one way to help NPCs feel less static. NPCs right now are just a list of stats, traits, likes and dislikes, and relationship points. Traits + likes and dislikes, are a good start to building a NPC that feels interesting, but unless those NPCs interact somehow, they just feel like systems designed for me to have to exploit. A simple way to put "likes and dislikes" into NPC interactions would be to just have that NPC grow liked plants in their home.
Changes that I would suggest from a "generational game first" view.
Shorten every season by half.
14 days a season Is too much, 7 would make generations come fast. You can get a lot done in 7 days.
Remove farming/Focus less on farming, the farming aspects are already really shallow. The game feels more like monster hunter but you own shop's on the side(ie Gathering + Fighting for monster parts). So double down and add more content to gathering and combat. Farming feels so lackluster cause your seeds are non renewable and you kinda have to jump all around to get the seeds you want. Plus your farm is set, you can't customise or organise it, it's just very shallow for a game about farming.
Have weekly events involving townsfolk. That way they feel less static. Things like, coming to your house to sell/give you a rare item, maybe dates, rumours, the aforementioned tournaments. Things like CK 2 events add alot. Simple character building moments, maybe your just given a choice and it gives you a weekly buff/debuff. Maybe gives you items or other things. Lots of variety could help, and so could having traits determine what kind of events pop.
I think heavily cutting back on the farming and crafting mini game count would make time and space for these changes.
Just some less structured nitpicks:
Im 40 hours in so maybe the plot just admits this, but is this some body snatching stuff? Cause if not a few things that bug me:
Why when generations pass does your wife and siblings get nuked? That just seems like your missing out on alot of those fun family bond situations generational games offer. My angry brother would have run the shop if not for this, which would have made it funny to run in and say hi to me.
Why does your friendship not reset on death? its weird to me that I would be best friends with my dads friends.

TLDR:
As a generational game case study: 10/10
As a harvestmoon like farming game: eh, the farming is meh compared to owning businesses and hunting
As a RPG: the combat is good, but feels like it got less attention in development then other systems. Would love to see more of it!.
Overall I really enjoy this game and it was an excellent case study on generational games!
I just keep feeling like its being held back by small things, always a "but":
Generational stuff is fun! BUT season are too long.
Combat is fun! BUT their is only 3 areas and only 1 weapon type.
The Town ecosystem is cool! BUT NPCs dont... do anything.
Anyways, yeah, I do like this game.
If you like me, are into the Generational game genre, give it a try if you can and are willing to sit through 20+ hours per generation.