izigame.me

So I've sunk nearly 100 hours into this game, and I've "finished" it, so I feel like I can make a judgment about it.
This game basically takes what's great about Animal Crossing and Stardew Valley and simplifies everything. It's the perfect game to play when you're low on spoons/energy. It's super chill, and it's got that "just one more..." element to it.
Essentially, you rebuild a town by placing houses (as you meet villagers who want to move in) and various other buildings, and also the country as a whole. Like SDW, there's a simple leveling system for various skills, like fishing, farming, and crafting. There's no combat in this game, though there are enemies to be avoided (though it's very easy to do so and the only real consequence if you're caught is getting booted out of the area were you were and not being able to return until the next day).
I ADORE SDW but it's often a bit overwhelming for me with all the content and the combat gets pretty challenging farther into the game, so this was a really wonderful "alternative" for when I wanted something simple that didn't require too much dexterity or brain power.
I think my fave element is the design quests. Villagers will have 3 lists of things they want for their interior or exterior of their house, which means you need to find the recipe and ingredients to craft all of those. I honestly wish there had been 5 lists not 3, but I get that this was a really small indie project, so I understand why they stopped there.
It's very well balanced, progression-wise, at least for most of the game. Once you get into the late game, though, I could see some people losing interest. Once you max out your skills, build all the houses/buildings/decor and go through all the villagers' design requests, there's not too much to keep you playing except just completionism/achievements/seeing all there is to see.
My biggest gripe with the game, and one I know that disappointed a lot of players, is the fact that the story has a lot of build up but no real payoff.
The story is basically this-- you're the hero who saved the world from destruction by the Dark Wizard, but lost your memory after and now are rebuilding from the destruction he caused. But the story unfolds as you meet new people and read the books you collect. You end up discovering things aren't what they might have seemed at first, and there's a very strong implication that one of the villagers could become the next threat.
I eagerly worked hard to collect all the library books in order to unlock the last area, hoping that I would get more to explore, unlock a "twist" on the gameplay, or just get some of the questions resolved, but it was a giant disappointment.
The game has no real ending at all, not even a little cutscene when you get to that last area. (You can get the credits after you marry, but that's not really an ending since you can marry really early in the game.) I understand the dev maybe wanted a "game that never ends" like Animal Crossing, but the difference is that AC doesn't have any story. I also suspect that the dev may have bitten off a bit more than they could chew and may have had plans for that last area that they ended up scrapping. Regardless, I really think that one tiny cut scene or some kind of "new game plus" would have been really nice.
Like, I think I'll start a new save and continue trying to unlock/find all there is to find/max out, but it would be really cool if once you unlock the new area you have the option of resetting your skills or something like that.
Idk. I always say it's a good thing when a game leaves you wanting "more," but in this case, that's a huge flaw if that's what really matters to you.
As for me, I only want *more* and will probably keep playing this whenever I need a low-spoons game. I heard the dev is working on another game set in the same world, so maybe we'll get that in the new game.
TL;DR: This is a great game if you love stuff like Stardew Valley or Animal Crossing, but wish they were a bit simpler. However, if you get upset if a game's story is "unfinished," you may not enjoy this game as much as others.