One of 2021's Best Games Went Under the Radar (Garden Story Review)
116Grab Garden Story on Steam Here: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1062140/Garden_Story/
0:00 Intro
0:16 Ants Paradox
0:48 The Developer
1:00 The Game
2:35 Accessibility
3:28 Closing Thoughts
-- Transcript --
Imagine if the good vibes of Animal Crossing was transplanted into an actual game. That’s Garden Story!
Garden Story was one of a couple vegetable based games released in 2021 in what is commonly known as the Bugs Life vs Ants Paradox.
I initially started playing this game on a whim via Xbox game Pass but stopped half way through because I’m A. too much of a monk to allow myself that much a good time and B. Limited Run announced a physical release and I decided I would prefer to play it on switch anyway. Don’t subscribe to that sites emailer if you want your rat child to have debt free higher education. Anyway I ordered that in September last year, and got it last week in a bent case. I didn’t even know Switch case’s could be bent like that.
The game was made by Picogram, and that’s not a studio, that’s a single person. Absolutely disgusting. You can’t do art this friggin adorable and be any good at programming also. Talent concentrated at this level in a single person should be outlawed. Raw uncut talent must have pretty awesome street value though.
You play as a little grape who’s been lumped with the role of guardian of the grove, not because they’re the chosen one or anything, just because the workload needs to be spread out among the few guardians who remain. I think more stories need to throw off the Chosen One trope and embrace the mundanity of being the Chosen one of many reality of life.
This is an adorable world that’s looking down the barrel of mortality. Don’t worry little fruit people, your little rotting bodies might make good alcohol one day.
There are four towns that you slowly unlock as you play, each with a mini dungeon run and a boss encounter to deal with at the end of each, which offers a tasty little plate of combat. As you play you accrue memories which are building blocks for various combat buffs. Mix and match em to create the stat loadouts most appropriate for your playstyle. In real life I have collected all my memories to give myself a +2 to wetting myself uncontrollably in elevators
Most of the time though you’re going to be familiarizing yourself with the names of the surrounding areas of town, because you’re going to be roaming them a lot doing optional daily mini quests for the village and gathering resources as required. Upgrades to the towns equate to new gear in the shops to upgrade your weapons. All of this Feeds back into making you feel like you're actually a part of little communities, and not just in some fallout "oh man these helpless fucks need defending again?" Kind of way.
I’m trying to avoid falling into the trap other reviewers have, of mentioning the light building mechanics or evoking names like Stardew Valley for no reason to mislead you about what sort of game to expect. Or Animal Crossing- Oh wait, fuck, shit. Ok, So it’s mostly the music that does it for that last one ok. I can justify it.
The days blast by, you’ll get a little quest to pick up some glass off the beach and kill a couple slimes and by the time you’re done with that it’s god damn midnight already.
The accessibility options can actually help here, delaying the night and harder monsters, or even granting you invincibility. This is a game for everybody and being no good at combat is not a requirement for entry if you don’t want it to be. I remember when invincibility was something you had to randomly learn from some sketchy kid at school, none of this going to a menu and turning it on shenanigans. I used to play games walking up hill in the snow, both ways!
Your inventory is miniscule, But I feel like it teaches you to only gather when you have to, rather than compulsively vacuuming the world of it’s items. Looting in moderation, in this economy??
I think I value games that make me just chill out and enjoy my time in the little worlds it’s crafted for me. The dailies really feel like a synthesis for the mill of daily life in a small town with vegetables you like.
In an interview Picogram talked about what led them to make this game. “The idea of doing labor for people you care about was something I really wanted to bring into games, making a connection between being the hero and also supporting your community,” they told IGN. “I think that the idea of a hero going out to a world unknown maybe isn’t as representative of the kind of heroism I want to see in games. I want people to elevate those in their community and make role models out of people who just want to contribute to those around them.”
I think that’s beautiful, and I like that this game lets me for a moment pretend I’m someone who could both kill slimes and fix bridges. Instead of what I am most of the time which is a vegetable.
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