Everdream Valley Review (PS5)

Can there be more beautiful memories than visiting your grandparents for the summer? Gathering freshly laid eggs in the morning, kicking the trees to gather apples, plums and other fruits, chasing butterflies all day long, petting alpacas and wild boars? If you feel like some of the activities listed are a bit off the mark, wait ‘till you see your grandparents madly twerking on the garden table with the village merchant and the alpacas.

Everdream Valley is a family friendly title with endearing graphics that tries go off a tiny bit from the path beaten by Stardew Valley or Doraemon: Story of the Seasons. Its gameplay is much more forgiving and relaxed, with no pressure from any time limit or constrictions imposed by gameplay objectives. That said, there are some odd choices in the game, which are not entirely fitting the overall cozy vibe.

The dance party following the quite dinner celebrating your grandmother’s birthday is by far the strangest, but also alpacas are not a common sight in the traditional farms. Same goes for the cooking system with a handful of recipes using only a small part of the crops you can grow. And lastly the fact that after your arrival your grandparents seem to forget how to do the chores they supposedly carried out before your arrival.

So, after your parents drop you off and you learn the basics, all the farm activities become your responsibilities. Beyond some gameplay tips and a few missions, and the daily drop off of raw materials from your grandfather, your beloved Gramsie and Grampy will not be of too much help. Luckily, as I already said, the game is quite forgiving, so you will not experience any real headaches.

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You will start with repairing buildings, planting crops, kicking trees to gather fruits, and slowly bringing in the animals that have wandered off. Really, it is a miracle that the farm is still standing, since except for the barn and the house itself all the structures are in dire need of repair. Also, it is a bit hard to explain all the animals that have wandered off from the farm.

But let’s not question the game’s logic or lack thereof, since it is quite fun chasing down chickens and bringing them back to the hen house, building coops so they can lay eggs that can be either turned into omelet, or with the help of an incubator into an entire feathery dynasty. You can name each animal individually, although the game seems to have some trouble remembering your creative designations. During my playthrough, I have Christened our flock of ducks at least three times, since Evergreen Valley tends to forget the names given to the feathery snail eaters.    

Other than that, there were no major bugs, and even if explored much further than the pace envisioned by the developers there were ways to still achieve the goals of the quests laid out in front of the players. The story itself is not very creative, but it serves as a good enough reason to go and explore the countryside and befriend cows, sheep, pigs, horses, goats and alpacas.

Early in the game, you will also be introduced to the cat of the farm, and you will have the chance to adopt a dog. There are quite a few races available, each looking cuter than the other. Beyond their design there is no difference between them, but choosing your best friend is the perfect opportunity to introduce the only other human character you will meet besides your grandparents: the merchant.

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You will visit him quite often to sell products or animals in order to buy the cosmetic or utility items you will unlock by completing quests. This is the most annoying and greedy aspect of the game: the quest rewards do not unlock the items themselves, but the right to buy them from the merchant. Once your farming operation grows, making money will not be too big of an issue, especially since you can sell anything from animal poo to insects.     

Although the tasks can pile up and start to feel like a chore, you will always have time to catch up and even enjoy a bit of slack. Although you are supposed to feed the animals first thing in the morning, you can get away with skipping this task occasionally since your friends can get their nutrition by chewing the grass under their feet.

Beyond the mundane, you will discover that your animal friends can talk and even invade your nightly sleep time with dream missions. These short games can yield resources and items to personalize your tree house, but also can cause some damage if you fail them. Specifically, the wolf attack mini game in which you control your trusty dog can lead to some troubles since even if you protect your sheep from the predators, the red eyed menaces destroy your pens, and you will wake up with your woolly friends all over the fields.   

The visual style of Everdream Valley is really endearing and colorful, creating a nice atmosphere. The framerate is mainly stable, but after a prolonged session you might need to restart the game, due to some stuttering. There is no voice acting, and the music while fits the game entirely is completely forgettable.

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The Good

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