Kynseed

so slow, too little direction.

Okay, so my issue with Kynseed so far is its gameplay and storytelling is fiercely at odds with each other. It's story is an eldritch horror/fae trickster mix, and its gameplay is trying to be a social sim. But the two parts don't interact in any meaningful ways, at least that I can see so far. Fae and eldritch horror stories are difficult to write, because it requires agency against the impossible. Basically, you are tackling creatures beyond your comprehension, BUT, you still need to have control and choices. And those choices must affect the outcome of the story, just in service to the tricksters or gods, because they are so powerful that they overwhelm your choices. But you still must be able to choose. However, the game doesn't do that, instead giving you an illusion of choice instead, taking away your agency. The best example of this is one of the first major decision in the game. When you first get the contract for the Kynseed, you have a choice to decline. But it turns out to be a fae trick and you will accept anyway. That part is fine. It's all in line with the tricksters. But when you reunite with your sibling, whatever YOU chose, your sibling will hate you for having…

So, Kynseed is not exactly a bad game, but it is a bland one that do not deliver on the promise of an adventure over multiple generations. You get everything done before the end of the second in-game year easily, before your kids are old enough to even consider as successor or could have trained enough to be a real step up from your original character. And even then, the world kind of forget that you're the child, not the original character ! To me, the game would be vastly better if time passed, like, 10 times quicker - you would probably get to go through a couple generations to reach the goal, with kids being gradually stronger and able to tackle harder stuff. The game should be more honest with your options - there is no realistical way to avoid fighting in dungeons, but you can be very hands off with the rest - so basically, any choice that makes you a worse fighter is akin to picking hard mode. With what's in there, you can have fun if you want a clunky Stardew Valley with a bit more tactics in your combat and an overarching story; but manage your expectations.

I found this game years ago, as a demo. It caught my eye but there wasn't anything substantial to really impress me--but it was extremely new in early, early access. Years later, I'm blown away. The depth and breadth of the story and lore is impressive. The ability and fighting system is simple yet rewarding. Without spoilers, the way the story unfolds and gives you unique mechanics that evolve over time is so much fun to experience. There's this perfect mix of cozy life sim, farm and family sim, and story/world exploration. Want to focus on the farm/family sim side? Go for it. Do you want to push into the story and focus on your relationships with NPCs? Absolutely. Become a business tycoon? Check. The mechanics feel really good, you have the freedom to play how you choose, and personally I think the writing is incredible. For fans of Stardew Valley, Moonstone Island, My Time at Portia, etc you will really enjoy this. And if you're concerned with the overwhelming amount of lore and information to keep up with, the game does the best I've seen with tools to track details, events, and in-game information. At the time of writing I'm 30 hours in, and there's SO much I hav…

The developer broke mods. Also the crafting mini games are total ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ ass.

Incredible game, beautiful style and the story is compelling. I try to go into games story-blind and I must say the prologue had me yelling. I have no clue how far I am into this game but I'm hooked and I'll definitely be replaying Highly recommend, can't wait to see more of it