Give yourself a chance to partake in this exquisite journey that, for a time, grants you the profound sensation of being understood, regardless of who you are. If you long for something that isn't a repeat, you found yourself in a good company. This "game" (although calling it a game is an affront to what this piece of poetry really is), doesn't narrate your personal story, but a story so universally familiar that you find yourself feeling a deep connection to anyone else who might have experienced it. The art, the music, the writing, the characters, the world, everything is so meticulously crafted that it's hard to believe it's a product of human hands. Where I thought I'm in for a boring conversation with a stranger, I found myself in a deep, meaningful dispute with a friend I didn't know I needed.

The unbound depths of this masterpiece allow you to delve into it for hours at a time, always discovering something relatable in a context that ought to feel truly alien. It's a challange to articulate the sheer brilliance of the minds behind this creation. Never before have I been so enamoured in a video game as an adult. It's akin to reclaiming lost fragments of your past, recapturing something you feared was irretrievably lost. After all, we've encountered innumerable stories that recycle the tired trope of a protagonist lost in their own despair, yearning for brighter days. However, this game compels you to introspect, to view yourself through the eyes of a stranger, realizing that in justifying the actions of the protagonist, you're also making excuses for your own shortcomings. It jests with you, at you, in moments you least expect. It shows a fresh perspective on the human condition, a simple reminder that we're all just trying to make sense of the world around us but in a form that was so completely new and unique.

The best part is that this art piece has seemingly no right to be this engaging. After all, you're just talking and talking and talking. But for some inexplicable reason, I didn't want it to ever stop. And the looming sensation of inevitable end was so dreadful, it... It made me appreciate the time I had with it even more. I didn't want to check how far am I, how much more there is, because I was truly afraid. And when the end came, it was so... Sudden. What the feeling truly was, was a hinted realization of your own impermanence. It challanges you to not go quietly into the night, but extend this beautiful ephemeral moment forever, whether you can or cannot.

Borrowing a term from the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows, we all harbor a longing for Yù Yī, and this poetic work made me feel, if only briefly, the childlike wonder where the intensity of the experience is more than what I thought an irreversibly lost memory.

Pros:

- BUILD BIG TOWN, I LIKE
- GOOD GRAFIC, NOICE

Cons:

Lacks Atmosphere: Missing voice acting and an engaging soundtrack, making the world feel lifeless.
Repetitive Quests: The tasks become monotonous quickly, with little variation or depth.
Underwhelming Storyline: The main quest feels uninspired, lacking compelling storytelling.
Pointless Combat: The combat system feels unnecessary and unpolished, with limited NPC interactions.
No Impact on the World: Your actions have no effect on the surrounding environment, reducing the sense of immersion.
NPC Interaction Lacks Depth: Conversations with NPCs feel repetitive and hollow, with limited dialogue options.
Unrewarding Gameplay Mechanics: Many mechanics, such as hunting and sneaking, don't add meaningful depth to the gameplay.
Mediocre Rewards: The game's progression system offers little in terms of satisfying achievements or rewards.


TL:DR:

I spent almost 50 hours (I thought but now I see it was 92 WTF is wrong with my masochistic self @_@), which could make you ask a valid "why" question. That's the question I was asking myself every fifteen minutes. I guess the positive reviews made me want to find the "special" that I was expecting to finally come across.

Right from the get-go, something felt off. No voices, no atmosphere, and the music? More like background noise that somehow makes the empty world feel even emptier. The quests just keep you running in circles without much payoff. This gem had more running errands than Death Stranding (but there it was at least rewarding). Progress feels... meaningless. You're grinding away without any real 'wow' moments or a sense of achievement.

The main quest felt like it was slapped together by a bot. No twists, no turns, just flat. I mean... You will find twists and turns if you're 8 years old, but I don't think that was the target audience. And the combat? It's like, why bother? You fight a few bandits, and that's pretty much it. Can't even mess with the townsfolk after you hear the same comment for the thousandth time - your attacks just ghost through them. Steal something? Lose some rep points, but nobody really cares, or says anything. There's no risk, no thrill. And talking to NPCs is like hitting the replay button on a broken record... "Heard anything interesting?" "Yeah, someone has some super fun errand of getting another freaking bow somewhere". Apparently, every single NPC loses a bow in this game.

And to add to the combat system... Why the hell build walls around your settlement when there is no danger looming over it ever. But you'll, of course, hear people saying "Walls are better protection than a guy with a torch", whether you have walls or not.

For a game that's supposed to be about building a thriving community, the villagers have nothing interesting to say. No varied dialogues, no surprises. And animals? Hunting feels pointless, sneaking around doesn't get you anywhere... It's all just kinda there.

When I started hearing NPC's saying "All right, then. Keep your secrets", or "Nothing is true, everything is permitted" etc. I smiled, saying "Eh, that's kinda cool". But... Hearing that said from everyone all the time, made me hate it to a special degree. Like... If said once or twice here and there would add depth, hearing it all the time, breaks immersion and drives you mad.

I love a good grind when there's something worth grinding for. But here? The rewards don't match the effort. Everything feels so... mundane. If you want to level your building skill, build 10 000 low fence just so you can learn enough building skill to build a slightly better house. Why was there no log house? Or stone house? Other buildings have variants so why not one of them that you spend more time catering to? Game allows you to customize the experience to make the xp gain 10x for example. Which I utilized during the end-game as the thought of building another fence seemed like it was made solely to drive me insane.
See... You can have grind like in Minecraft where you spend hours underground and it doesn't drive you insane. Why? Because there's reward for your grind every now and then. Here it was completely unbalanced. Insane.

After all that time, I did have "some fun," I guess. But looking back, it's more about what could have been. The game's got the bones, (mangled bones), but none of the heart. Really makes you wonder how it got all those good reviews. I wanted to love it, I really did... But in the end, it just left me feeling disappointed.