izigame.me

It's fine, but it could have benefited from further refinement.
It goes on for far too long. After the action-packed missions are completed, the main story continues for quite a while and becomes rather stale, as there isn't much left for you to do. You'll most likely end up skipping days just to reach the conclusion and finish it.

While there are a few activities available even in the late game, they aren't sufficient to keep you engaged or intrigued.

Storytelling and Characters:
The inclusion of voice acting is a nice touch. While not every side quest or interaction is voice-acted, the main content is.

You'll encounter older characters from the first game, My Time at Portia, which is a sweet addition. However, their voices differ from the first installment, which might be slightly distracting. It’s not a major issue, but I do wish they had retained the original voice actors or found similar ones to maintain continuity.

That said, I’m glad the old cast makes occasional appearances.

Speaking of voice acting, am I the only one who hears DangerousFunny from YouTube in the character of Pablo from this world? When I heard his voice, I thought he was the one performing it.

Anyway, it's a nice change of pace to work together with another builder instead of always competing against each other, as you do in Portia.

I enjoy how the stories, cities, and characters are interconnected between the worlds of these two games

Characters actually develop a little, and things change around the city with missions. Unfortunately, the story is quite linear; while you have choices, they don't significantly impact how events unfold.

Numerous side content pieces are well-written and extremely entertaining. The Bogan Jack stuff, for instance, is very amusing.

The interactions with your childhood friend, mother, and father through letters are heartwarming.

I actually liked the father and mother better in the letters than in person, haha.

Certain characters are, in fact, hilarious: Pen, Justice, Cooper, Andy, Unsuur, Bronco the Kid, Yen, and Qi. They all gave me a good chuckle, and I greatly appreciate that.

I like that it takes longer to build relationship points with characters; somehow, this makes it feel a little more real.

You have a variety of choices in the romantic department as well; the populace is quite charming. Nevertheless, I picked Grace—she's cool.

Not all the citizens are particularly significant, but still.

Most of the dialogue seems somewhat childish, and I was caught off guard when more serious events started happening. The political aspects, the conflicts between regions, the plot twists, and the conspiracies are all quite interesting.

Silly stuff happens as well, though, like spoiler alert:
Logan stealing Matilda without getting detected in the middle of the desert. No one saw him or heard him coming at all. How? Lol.

It's nice for what it is, but it goes on for far too long after certain plots are resolved.

Progression, Crafting, Combat Systems, and Boss Fights:

The fact that you don't need to have the required items for commissions in your inventory saves you time and effort. The same goes for the museum, where construction items and other materials are stored—it's definitely a big plus.

Gameplay is enjoyable, with elements like exploration, item collection, and resource gathering. You then use these to craft and upgrade your equipment and workspace.

The save mechanic, allowing you to save whenever you want, is great. You also have auto-save when progressing through the game or sleeping—sweet!

The mines differ a bit in this game, which is nice. I actually prefer them here over the ones in Portia.
Just because no one has explicitly mentioned it—floor 11 of both the Eufaula and Gecko ruins has no exit because it's the lowest level.

You have to manually exit the ruins from the map, then re-enter to reach the next level and continue.

I saw some players mention that they spent two in-game weeks and three real-world days removing all the dirt from the last level, searching for an exit.

It should have been mentioned somewhere.

Farming is not the main focus of this game, but it is included, and it's a great addition!

"I can't seem to find the recipe for Chromium Steel Bar in the Guild Store."

"I had the same problem not long ago. It's strange since you need Chromium for some things before you actually unlock the ability to get it. Progress through the story a bit more, and it will appear in the Guild Store after a little while"

As you can see here, progression can be weird occasionally.
They should let you upgrade your existing storage rather than making you create new ones. It would save time.

AUTO-FILL button for chests is very useful!

Your inventory is huge; I'm fond of this detail!

Fishing is pretty fun in this game

This game provides a lot more to level up than Portia, which is a fantastic addition.

Each category—gathering, workshop, combat, and social—has its own distinct level system.

The combat system and all the bosses aren't anything too fancy; they're just there and they are okay

You might run into a few bugs.
Such as the duster mechanic: even after I clean it, the uncleaned icon still appears. I have to pick up the construction and put it down again for it to be fixed.
This also slows machine progress when it indicates they haven't been cleaned, despite already being cleaned.

The Visuals and Music:

The music is good for what it is, and the graphics are all right. However, some characters have strange facial expressions, and they disappear entirely from several scenes, as if ghosts were talking, not them.

The atmosphere is soothing and engaging, creating a welcoming and immersive experience.
Even so, invisible walls blocking a straight path, preventing further progress on the map, can break immersion a bit.

Let's get something clear: Logan doesn't weigh more than Owen, nor does he have more muscle.

Logan: 94 kg
Owen: 90 kg

Look at their designs next to each other and tell me you believe their descriptions.

In summary

It's a good game, but it could have been a great one. This happens because the focus is on quantity over quality. The developers have been somewhat lazy, and this can be seen at every corner.

That's a pity, considering Sandrock has great potential but remains just that—lost potential. With more polish and effort, it could have been something special, in my opinion.

There is a lot of filler content—scenes that don't give you anything: no entertainment, no new information; they are just there.
Haru's mouth barely opens when he speaks...

7/10.