izigame.me

This is a first introduction to the game review after a few hours of game play.
I have played the original years ago back when Adam Sessler was yelling at it on X-Play that it "NEEDS MORE SEEDS!". Okay, let's begin...
## Core Game Mechanics ##
Good change/update. The game pacing is faster. You no longer run like a waddling penguin that takes six hours to cross the map. I appreciate this very much - you can actually get a lot of errands done in a single given day, unlike previously.
Controls are... Different with a mouse and keyboard but given enough time you learn them like any other game.
However, the Stamina mechanic I feel is too generous if it is being true to the origin of the game. At the beginning, per the old game, you had very little Stamina. By "working" the farm, as years go on, your Stamina increases significantly, allowing you to do more - it literally paced the game for you outside of pure monetary means in-game. This mechanic seems gone now. You're really only burdened by the clock of the day, and your wallet. I can complete the dig site, farm, and run around and barely hit half of my Stamina.
Graphics look good! Big improvement, if not at times stuttering. Clearly could use some performance enhancements to make the frames smoother in some locations, but overall a non-issue. No crashing so far!
Targeting your "boxes" for watering, etc., can (and still is, like the original game) a little jank. To overcome this, however, I realized by aiming your camera straight down your targeting is far more forgiving. Thankfully, the camera completely rotating when you walk into one of your fields is gone from the original game.
You can be rewarded by finding random recipies scattered throughout the place at various locations. Some exploration is rewarded, thankfully.
## The Dig Site ##
Dig site is the same, mostly. Only issue here is the character hit-boxes block your character. A result of this is you can easily miss-click your action in the dig site, and some squares can be a PIA to target, making this issue a rather consistent annoyance.
## Farming ##
Works the same as the last game, really. I do still agree with the past criticism of the game "NEEDS MORE SEEDS!" but, honestly, it is fine in the end.
Animals are the same, mainly.
However, they removed the Sheep and we got Goats. Sure? Take that for what you will.
You can pick-up a multi-stack of hay from the silo to fill your feed troughs in the barn. Not sure how I feel about this - QoL is better if you have a lot of animals but it is weird thinking you can grab a stack of 30x hay bales and just do everything in bulk. In a weird way, the manual labor is what appeals to some of us.
I wish there were more building upgrades available. (There may be more later on, but I doubt it. Felt like it was a missed opportunity).
Start of the game is FAR more forgiving - they even give you an apple tree seed to start! (Whaa?) EZ-Mode.
## NPCs ##
Interactions were improved a lot from what I remember. Cut-scenes and stories are more fleshed out and a LOT more common. Characters in the past that were hard to "find" consistently seem to be far more available.
You now have a set of "hearts" you can track for relationships as well as a sliding bar to see how much people like you. I wish there was a way for you to track what "people liked" for gifts through trial and error, seeing as everything has a journal entry, but now I'm nit-picking.
You can be a girl OR a boy!
I wish you could sell more via the bin in your farm. I'm STACKING collectibles from the fields, flowers, etc., and can't sell them until I see the traveling merchant which can be a bit of a drag.
## Conclusion ##
Overall, good game. I am still just starting so some of what I say may not be entirely true late-game. This is also a day-one release review so remarks about performance, etc., may not be valid even by EOD tomorrow - who knows. Keep an eye on patches.
The game in the end is true to the roots of the old game, with some added in extra material. However, I feel the extra material is still conservative to what they could do. They could truly expand a lot on this game and still not ruin the formula of the old one and I hope they do.
My only main gripe is the clear failure of the Stamina bar. It, weirdly enough, is a core game mechanic that truly helps dictate game pacing. It makes rainy days feel liberating, it makes the dig-site an all-day consuming activity, and makes you prioritize just HOW much you are willing to farm without being fully burdened by your own self-inflicted workload. It also means meals, and Stamina rejuvenating items lose all meaning to the game. In the original you wouldn't catch me without stuffing my face full of Mugwort (Now an Herb) every day for that little extra hit of Stamina. Now, it is a stack of 20x+ sitting in a cabinet waiting to be sold.
Oh, and the fishing -- Just get rid of the literal fish in my opinion and make it a shadow or something. It just looks... Weird. If you get the game, you'll see what I mean... Has no implications on the game... It is just... Yeah...