izigame.me

I have been following the development of this game for a while, it's great to finally be able to play it! I have things I very much enjoy, but there are also some issues that I hope will be remedied in the future.
Please note that this review may contain spoilers for things such as game mechanics (or lack thereof), and if you haven't played this game, you may find it confusing to follow.
Firstly, the pros:
-The dinos in this game are adorable. Their designs are all great and despite the cartoony and simplified art style, they are surprisingly faithful to our current understanding! It makes the huge dinosaur nerd in me super happy.
-It's very fun to explore and discover new species and colorations of the dinos! Seeing my ranch fill up with all of my paleo pals is very satisfying. Some of the color combos are so pretty!
-Growing/managing my crops is fun too, and figuring out what treats my dinos like best gives them a touch of individuality I was pleasantly surprised with!
-Cooking food with the crops I harvested is very satisfying, and it's cool that they give you buffs!
-The flute mechanic for befriending dinos is so cute. The more complicated songs you have to repeat back to them add a fun little challenge to the mostly laid back gameplay.
-Cute music!
Before I get to describing cons, I'd like to address some things I would rather categorize as 'features I wish were in the game', and things I would like to see in the future!
-The main feature I feel that is missing is the ability to craft. We're able to harvest all of these resources, but all we can really do with them is sell them, turn in minimal amounts for daily requests, or pay someone else to make something. This isn't always convenient, especially when the NPCs (aside from Corlan) stop selling things as soon as it hits sunset. The days aren't long, which isn't a bad thing, but especially when you're exploring the further areas you unlock later in the game, there's no way you're making it back to town in time to snag some needed supplies for a new dino friend you may have made. Crafting is a staple feature in these types of games, so the fact that it is absent here is quite strange to me.
-In the same boat as my previous point, it's strange that we cannot turn our produce into herbivore food for the dinos, or even just put crops into the feeding troughs. I could understand the latter because of balancing, but it's strange we have to go into town to buy special food to feed our dinos (because the snack mechanic does nothing for the daily amount of food they need in their troughs and is only really for gaining trust and affection) when we live on a farm and grow food ourselves.
-In the wild, we can occasionally find herbivore food laying about, but not carnivore food. The only way to get carnivore food is by buying it from Corlan, basically. A fantastic way to remedy this would be to add in a fishing mechanic! Not only could that provide a source of food/treats to our more carnivorous helpers, but it also brings the potential of being able to discover and document fish in your journal, just like your dinos, landmarks, and recipes. This could also pave the way for aquatic dinos/fishing helpers.. (wink)
-In the future I hope the game gets expanded to include more areas and dinos! (especially the ones that were designed but cut before release!!)
-Breeding mechanics! Little baby versions of these dinos would be so cute.
-Dino personalities! Just like each dino having an individual favorite snack, a randomized pool of personalities would add even more individuality to each friend!
Finally, the cons:
-I find myself and my dinos getting caught on invisible geometry both on the ranch and out in the world fairly often. Not just when I'm near objects either, sometimes I'm just out in the open and I'll get blocked by an invisible wall. This happens to the playable character, while riding a dino, and to dinos when they're free roaming.
-The NPCs are pretty basic, I wish they were a little more complex as characters. I think it would be more motivating to complete tasks for them if you could get to know them and care about them more.
-Some of the game mechanics are not self-explanatory or even mentioned in the game. I've seen quite a few reviews on here where players have talked about having no idea what to do/how to do stuff and I have to agree. It does not help that quests logged in your journal are often very vague to the point where the only way to know what you're supposed to do is by googling it, as there's no way to click on the quest for more info.
-The map isn't the greatest, it can be hard to tell what's where. I think more defined pathways would help, as well as the ability to pin locations on the map. Maybe at least being able to zoom in for a more detailed map of whatever area you're in. (As a note to readers, there are some pretty nice intractable maps on the Wiki!)
-The seed pot, which is needed for dinosaurs with the Tender skill to be able to even use their skill, isn't accessible until way later in the game. I saw some people even saying it was by chance when Avery gives it to you, but I'm not sure. Regardless, it takes a while to get a hold of. I didn't even know it existed until I googled how to use the Tender skill.
-It is weirdly difficult to get turnips, which are needed to progress the main quest at one point.
-The daily quests are very repetitive, there's not much variety so they get kinda stale after having to give someone a hat for the 30th time.
This game has a ton of charm and it's clear a lot of love was put into it, and while I am mostly enjoying it, it definitely could use some polish because in it's current state it does not feel finished. Despite the flaws, I recommend this game, as it's still quite fun and I hope that the support encourages the developers to continue refining and expanding this game!
(P.S. if I have said anything incorrect please feel free to let me know!)