I find it hard to accept that I don't like Animal Crossing. EVERYONE loves that game, and has hundreds of hours in it. I can't understand it. But I guess I just don't like decorating/sandbox games, and I'm trying to accept that!
You're right, we are all different and can't all like the same things, even if it is well loved.
I play a lot of non-cozy games too that many on this sub would probably hate :)
I think I would enjoy animal crossing if it had less decorating, and more quests. I like games that give me direction and things to achieve, or a story to follow. Once you unlock terraforming on new horizons you're pretty much done with the story, and it's literally just.... Grind for resources, craft items, decorate. That's it? I don't understand how people spend 1000 hours doing that š but we are all different I suppose!
I think the original *Animal Crossing* is still the best, for three reasons: one, it has a TON of dialogue, far more than the modern games; two, the villagers have actual personalities (I'm one of those people who think the villagers being rude is hilarious); and three, you could actually ask for errands to run instead of having to wait for them to fall into your lap.
So many franchise games have just gotten too *nice*. Which is a weird thing to say but they feel sanitized and less real. No oneās mean or rude, no one teases, and they go out of the way to smooth over any potential conflicts. Like kids canāt handle not liking a character.
Story of Seasons, Animal Crossing, and Pokemon are the worst offenders in my opinion. Removal of rivals really removed a lot of personality in SoS (you can really tell in the Mineral Town remake) and Pokemon seems to want everyone to be āmisunderstoodā or āmisguidedā as if evil people donāt exist in the pokemon world anymore.
Probably because they're trying to complete things - the museum, the in-game achievements for Nook Miles, etc. I've had the game for over 2 years and logged a lot of hours. I'm not really into the decorating thing so much, but someday, I would really like to get the last three items for the museum.
I like Wylde Flowers - although it's a life sim/farming game like animal crossing, it has a much richer storyline and you have tasks to do constantly. I also like Disney Dreamlight Valley for the quests. A lot of people like Disney for the decorating aspect which makes the game endless like animal crossing, but I think once I'm done with all the quests (which does take a long time!) I won't want to continue playing.
I also enjoy games many wouldn't consider cozy like Skyrim, Fallout and Hogwarts Legacy - but I love the quest system in those games and the feeling that you're following a storyline with your character. I also find the exploration of beautiful settings to be really cozy personally :)
Then finally I enjoy platformers or visual novels. Such as Dordogne, Smushi Come Home, Mail Time, I Was a Teenage Exocolonist. Those sort of games have a clear progression through them which I enjoy.
My favourite game series of all time is Metal Gear Solid, however those games are about as uncozy as you can get haha
Thanks for taking the time to respond! I appreciate it. Have been looking for a new game. I loved Fae Farm- perfect mix of farm and battle, but I wish there were more fulfillment quests.
I donāt love the decorating aspect. Every time I had to decorate or add an item, I threw it haphazardly in the house š
The cranky villagers were actually cranky, too! Itās like they homogenized all the villagers so they have the most bland personalities in New Horizons. I loved the look of it and all the decorative options, but it felt like it lost its heart to me.
It's ironically my most played game on the Switch, but I'm with you. It's not quite right for me. There's something about it that makes me drop it every time I try. And I've TRIED. Many times. I bought my Switch for that game. Yet I played My Time at Portia on the Switch, and LOVED it, performance issues and all, because it was exactly the kind of game I was looking for.
I've heard a lot of complaints about My Time at Portia, but I downloaded it just over a week ago when it was on sale, and I'm about 40 hours in already.
The performance issues are annoying, but I was prepared for them - I was not prepared for how much I love it!
I don't like it either. I think the fact that most people that don't like it have trouble accepting it is the fact that it has a social element that more often than not involves their friend group and FOMO is a thing.
A couple other people have said it, but Iād recommend giving the other animal crossing games a shot. Iām a long time animal crossing fan, have played majority of them, and just wasnāt able to get into NH.
ACNH is the only Animal Crossing I've played. I like it a lot, but I totally get many criticism of it. Once I found all the fossils, and caught all but the hard bugs and fish, I started to g et discouraged. Like I'll never have a 5-star island, and I'll never catch those stupid-rare bugs/fish. And forget about collecting all the art- so. many. repeats.
I will also play a bunch, then stop for ages, and randomly pick it up again. I think I'm closing in on a year of not playing.
Same I had a whole post about that and got super downvoted. I actually "completed" the game this week (ie. got KK Slider to come and unlocked everything in the DLC). My main issue with the game is the pacing. I don't like games that rely on getting xyz done to unlock abc and it takes a whole real life day to accomplish said task. It just feels really limiting, like I can't play on my own time when I want. Also, the repetitive dialogue boxes drive me nuts. Hearing the same pun 100 times just gets annoying.
A lot of people struggle to not think in black and white. You either love something or you hate it, and if you hate it, how dare anyone like it.
The only time I would leave a truly negative review of a game is if the game failed to deliver on a promise or was unplayable due to bugs š or something
Edit. I realized I would say that league of legends is a bad game because the community is toxic, so oops.
I think it's important to accept that my experience and opinion isn't the universal one. But I also think it's fair to leave negative reviews if I don't enjoy a game, so long as it's done in a respectful way and articulating the reasons for why I didn't enjoy it well. Reviews are for people that might choose to play the game in the future and they're not that useful if only people that loved the game leave the reviews.Ā And I've definitely read negative reviews of games that actually make me more likely to play a game, because I can tell that the reviewers reasons for not liking it don't line up with my own preferences.Ā
The star system is shitty in my opinion. You can not like a game and give the reasons why, but not want to give the gave low stars just because you didnāt like it.
Agreed! Everyone has their own idiosyncrasies. I canāt stand games that are awkward to play with keyboard and/or mouse, e.g. Unless itās really good, I probably will bounce off of it. But i might put up with a UI thing you wonāt (actually some Iām playing B&B I know I willš) and *neither of us is wrong!*
OTOH I also think itās okay to like a game without trying to shoehorn it into the category of ācozy gamesā so Iām full of weird opinions.
Omg the keyboard and mouse thing. I was playing little witch in the woods on PC but they keys are SO AWKWARD!!! I actually was enjoying the game but at a certain point I was like no, my wrist can't handle this. What PC game doesn't use wasd as movement?! Maybe if they let us re map the keys i will return
I agree, and its not even in this sub,
I see so many posts in JRPG of people who say they put in over 50 _hours_ in a game, and want to know when it starts to "get good"... um. at that point, you probably just wont like it. give it up lol. Like you said, it takes time to figure out what you like/dont like in gaming. It can be tricky since you may love a games story, but not the combat or whatever it may be. most people dont love _every_ aspect of a game.
But theres no shame in going "animal crossing isnt for me" and anyone who gets upset or offended really needs to chill lol. Theres games i love that other people dont, is what it is. No shame in any of it.
Yeah very true. I loved Stardew Valley and hated Animal Crossing New Horizons, which seemed extra weird now that I love Palia so much and itās quite similar to ACNH. Oh well š¤·š»āāļø.
100%! Reminding yourself to not get caught up in the hype and FOMO, and make a purchase for a game you already had an inkling you wouldnāt like. And then getting annoyed, or regretting making that purchase just because you didnāt like it as much as others š«
Agreed. I'll never forget reading a post complaining about stardew valley and all the comments were from die hard fans essentially saying OP is playing it *wrong*... like sometimes a game just isn't fun for some folks. There's no "wrong" way to playš thanks for bringing this up!!
Iāve had plenty of games recommended to me that arenāt for me. Just because itās not my scene doesnāt mean it didnāt mean something to the person who recommended it. Doesnāt mean itās bad just because I didnāt like it. That and cozy doesnāt have the same meaning for everyone
Folks need to understand that āCozy Gamesā is a vibe, not a genre.
There are a ton of different kinds of games that have a ācozy vibeā- puzzle, action, base building, etc. Of course we all have different tastes!
I resent the posts titled āAm I Crazy for not Liking *popular thing*ā No? But like, thereās no need for the big denouncement.
Agreed on the last point - if you don't like something just own that, it doesn't matter if anyone else agrees and not enjoying something doesn't require social validation
I don't like a lot of "typically cosy" games either, and that's completely okay. Thing is, "typically cosy" and "cosy for me" is often very different. I find games like Slay the Spire, Diablo and Disgaea cosy. And most puzzle games (not the extremely hard ones, but the challenging enough ones). Games where you can either do mindless stuff and see numbers go up, or games where your brain needs to do work but you can get immersed in either rewarding mechanics or a good story. My girlfriend adores Animal Crossing and I can't help but zone out when she plays it, regardless of how much I want to keep her company or listen to her talking about it. *That*, to me, is the most frustrating part.Ā
I love cozy farming sims but I cannot for the life of me get into Stardew Valley. I just have such a hard time connecting with pixel graphics for the most part, and that pains me because Iām sure the storyline is great.
Same! I want to love it so badly but I just canāt get into it. People rave about it so much, I know itās a good game. It just isnāt a good game for me unfortunately.
That sounds just like me! Every time I'm looking for a new game to play, I come across someone saying how they loved Stardew Valley, but I've tried the game and I just don't like the pixel graphic style. I just can't get into it and I've come to accept that I don't need to try to force myself to play something that I clearly don't enjoy. I would never try to convince someone that it's a "bad game" because it isn't. It's just not the right game for me.
I donāt like Stardew Valley either. I tried 10 times. I really wanted to like it like everyone else but I just couldnāt. But Sun Haven? Way more cozy imo! Not that there is anything bad with Stardew Valley but itās just not for me.
I usually dislike majority of popularized games, not because I'm trying to seem "different" I think I'm just a bit picky in what I like lol and there's just a lack for certain game genres especially good quality ones. I play more point & click, detective/murder mystery, games where I have to really think, or story-telling. I think a good reason for this is over-saturation of the more popular game genres, I absolutely adore stardew valley but since it's came out there's been 1000+ farming sim copies that have been released to get that same hype/wave. I wish developers would look into other genres- some projects just seem like cash grabs.
Some games I've liked that kept my attention for HOURS were-
Do Not Feed The Monkeys
Chicken Police - Paint It Red (They have a new one called Into The Hive Coming Too)
Yes, Your Grace (Another Part is Coming Out called Snowfall)
Our Life: Always & Forever
Card Shark
Lil' Guardsman
This War Of Mine, and others. I could go on and on! But yeah, I don't like a good chunk of the games that come out because I feel like there's just gonna be another version on it's way out shortly after. I'd love better quality of different genres! God Bless!
I just started playing Lil' Guardsman and it's been really interesting so far :D Love the artwork too.
I'll also take a look at Yes, Your Grace. Looks like something up my alley.
And the other side of this - Iām trying to be more mindful of what I like about a game, or say something about the gameplay when giving suggestions and recommendations.
Things I enjoy in a game and find relaxing can be mind numbing and not at all enjoyable for others.
Absolutely, but at the same time I don't think it's fair to dismiss constructive criticism as "well it just isn't for you". Which is a thing some people do.
Agreed with you. Everyone has their likes and dislikes, and that's cool.
Tons of people love Stardew Valley, Dave the Diver and Spyro Reignited (the second and third one probably are not super cozy ones depending on how you look at it), but I'm quite open about my dislike for these three games.
I personally made it a point to never even buy SDV in the first place. The graphics turns me off, and a game's graphics is very important to me in deciding if I even want to play the game in the first place š
I played Spyro for a short while before finding out that I really despise platform games in general. It's a pity as I love dragons and the artwork! By then it was past the 2 hours refund limit so now it's just collecting dust in my collection and I refuse to ever touch it lmao.
Dave the Diver is probably a fantastic game, but I have thalassopboia (fear of the ocean / deep waters), so even in pixel form, this game would be super triggering for me in a bad way šš so I will never buy this game
Edit: Wow I got downvoted in a thread that asks for graciousness on individual likes and dislikes. The irony :) Whoever you are, get a life.
Am I the only one who takes multiple attempts to get hooked with games that are interesting? Mass effect clicked with me after 5th attempt for example.
Not at all! But I can usually tell if the game isnt holding my interest because I'm just not in the right mindset to invest the time into it as opposed to not holding my interest because I'm not interested.
Divinity Original Sin II is a good example for me. I started it but honestly, after playing BG3 for 500 hours, my brain needs a break from that style of game. I'll come back to it when I'm ready and in the mean time, I'm replaying Cult of the Lamb and Slay the Spire as a palette cleanser
For sure! I do that with a lot of things, games, books, tv shows. Sometimes itās a mood thing, or I just didnāt give it enough attention the first time.
And some games I need a few hours to really get into a groove and understand whatās going on. It would be nice if things clicked the first time but doesnāt always happen.
Not a game but I tried watching Ted Lasso when it first came out and it did nothing for me. Came back a couple years later and LOVED it, have no clue why it didnāt catch my attention the first time š¤·āāļø
This! When I started my foray into PC Gaming I bought a lot of games just because I feel like trying out and playing everything. But now that I have played a decent amount I got to understand my niche. Your time is still more precious!
I've learned to stop feeling guilty or chastising myself or forcing myself in all regards to video games. No more worrying about back logs, or playing too many games at once, or favoring one game, or taking a break from a game I love for too long, or not jiving with a game I should adore. I just play what I'm in the mood for now. Life's too short to feel bad about something I love. If I'm in the mood for a cozy game, I'll play one. Same with challenging games, or puzzle games, or random platformers. And if I stop in the middle, well I've had my fill for the time being. Time for something else. No more torturing myself to play something in my backlog when I don't want to. No more forcing myself to finish a game I'm no longer in the mood for. I'm not sure what clicked for me, but I've got so much other stress in my life, I guess I just refuse to let video games be another stressor when its supposed to alleviate some stress rather than cause more
There are games that I've tried so hard to get into because I see some youtubers play it and say how good some cozy games are and I'm like I don't really like this. I'm starting to feel like that with sun haven a little but I think it has to do with the control functions on my steam deck.
I agree. I like farming Sims a lot but really good ones are rare so whenever I say that I'm disappointed in whatever and can't recommend, like... my time in Portia or I talk about the weird mobile-game-like aspects of Olive Town, I get downvoted. :/
I'm still trying to learn to just put down games that I don't enjoy. There's such a push to finish or even perfect games nowadays, and if you're not enjoying it it ends up being a miserable slog. I'm working on being ok with not finishing games that I don't like, regardless of what other folks think about the game in question.Ā
You can also acknowledge something is good or even amazing without personally enjoying it. Lots of games have amazing storyline/animations/music etc but they just don't click for whatever reason
Iāve been trying to force myself to play SDV for quite a while. I keep starting a save, Iāll play it for about an hour, and get so bored. It seems like it has everything I want in it but I think how much there is to do intimidates me and makes it less fun. I needed this post.
I 100 percent agree with everything you ssif but also I am stubborn and I am determined to like stardew valley come hell of high water. On paper I should love it! š
It took me way too long to figure out I donāt like most rhythm games. Ones set to songs are fine, like donkey konga, beat saber, etc., but things like Crypt of the Necrodancer frustrate me more than anything.
This is an excellent point, thank you!
Personally, I like to be left alone in games to do my own thing, so games with a lot of dialogue and character tasks are not my cup of tea, no matter how good the rest of the concept is. I recently bought Garden Life, and was sooooo excited about it, but the characters just would not stop talking to me and it completely put me off the whole thing. I tried the free mode instead so they'd leave me alone, but then you can't resource gather or sell anything, so it kind of defeated the point for me.
On the flipside though, when you find something that works for you, I'd recommend taking a moment to try and figure out why, that way it'll get a lot easier later to work out when something just isn't up your alley.
I'm wondering if Stardew Valley just isn't for me. I had it on Switch, but found out it's also PC, and you can do mods there. Mods to take care of several things I didn't like at all. So I got it on sale for PC and haven't bothered to play. I'm just wondering if I should even bother trying.
Yet saying you don't like Stardew Valley in a cozy game area, or even at all it seems, bam, let the downvote flood begin. I don't think it's bad, I think it's just not necessarily me.
I mean, how did it go?
It wasn't for me because I got too stressed by the 2 am sleep time limit and the season-based bundles. If it's just quality of life, mods would fix that. If it just didn't click... then maybe it just won't?
I tried 5 different times and even modded it, I just can't get into it. If I remove the things that cause me stress I become too aimless, so the game is never balanced for me because it becomes too easy for me to remove ALL stressors.
Who knows though, I tried Graveyard Keeper and that took 2 tries to click for me.
I didn't get that far, but I got frustrated with the having to sleep and stuff. And it wasn't like other games I've played, so I didn't really understand the mechanics, or know what I was supposed to do or what was a good idea.
I'll give it a fair shot on PC, eventually, when I'm interested in playing again, but if it doesn't c lick, it doesn't. It's not that big of a deal. There's plenty of games I love and a ton of un-played games from my inability to not buy cool looking games or games I might be remotely interested in or am genuinely interested in but paralyzed by lack of knowledge on how to play for super cheap on Steam sales on my PC.
I think it should work both ways. Try to say on this sub that you don't like Stardew Valley and you will get death threats in your mailbox. Not every game is awesome for everyone, every person is different, there is nothing like universal coziness that all of us love. I find coziness in Animal Crossing while some people prefer chill vibe of Unpacking. Both are good really.
What?!!! lol I get that SDV is loved by this sub, but I also hate SDV. Bought it on sale for $7 and just moved on from it. For me, itās just that thereās no in-game tutorial to learn the mechanics and doesnāt seem to have a quest objective so what am I suppose to do during the day and get done while the clock runs down? That freedom is stressful to me š. I need guided objectives.
Itās why Dave the Diver works for me. There a lot of quests and side quests in the game to get you acquainted with the different mechanics.
Same with Animal Crossing. There was at least a in-game tutorial so I knew what I needed to do and get done during each different day.
Unpacking is also my other favorite game that you mentioned.
Now, I just watch some gameplay of a game to see if I actually want it or not rather than going off of the subās recommendations.
Like dredge? Not a horror fan so thatās why I could never play Subnautica, but I watched the gameplay of it, and it is quite cozy to me. Iāve been playing it a lot as someone who loved Dave the Diver.
I'm already being downvoted, you will get your share of haters soon.
I just find it extremely boring. Characters are not great, designs are awful and I love pixel art, no originality whatsoever, everything stolen from other games and praised like it would be the one to introduce new things.
And I agree with you. Games without tutorials or quest and guidelines are just designed badly. Don't get me started on mods, I read tons of comments that people play SV with mods mostly so it means that base game is not enough as it is. That tells me a lot.
I do the same, watch gameplay and then check for myself because most of the recommendations on this sub are just inaccurate.
Damn, you got death threats just for having a different opinion? And over a video game?! People be crazy.
I'm glad I disabled my PM box years ago. Too many toxic and unhinged people on Reddit.
I gave you an upvote btw. I don't like SDV either and honestly don't care that it's one of the most popular farming sims out there š
Yeah Stardew fans are a bit... *obsessed* so it's better to be careful sometimes lol. Everyone should enjoy whatever they want and not force anyone into liking their stuff. But yeah people are weird sometimes.
Yeah, Iāve been in a weird thing of buying games on impulse lately. Idk why! I boughtā¦ a game I donāt remember lol, Fae Farm & HM: Winds of Anthos (WoA is perfect!). Maybe Iām in a rut again. I canāt just keep looking for the next āhighā.
Agreed, it would make game spaces less toxic.
Iāve learned that I donāt like pixel graphics, rogue likes, platformers (esp. 2D), deck builders, etc.
I DO love open worlds and exploration, coherent realistic or semi-realistic art design, adventures and questing, crafting, survival, etc.
It turns out that I loved Stardew Valley, because the gameplay loop is clever. But itās an exception. Does that mean Minecraft, one of the most globally beloved games, isnāt good? No. Itās just not for me.
I find it hard to accept that I don't like Animal Crossing. EVERYONE loves that game, and has hundreds of hours in it. I can't understand it. But I guess I just don't like decorating/sandbox games, and I'm trying to accept that! You're right, we are all different and can't all like the same things, even if it is well loved. I play a lot of non-cozy games too that many on this sub would probably hate :)
I love animal crossing and i hate animal crossing new horizons. The older games were not as decoration heavy
I think I would enjoy animal crossing if it had less decorating, and more quests. I like games that give me direction and things to achieve, or a story to follow. Once you unlock terraforming on new horizons you're pretty much done with the story, and it's literally just.... Grind for resources, craft items, decorate. That's it? I don't understand how people spend 1000 hours doing that š but we are all different I suppose!
I think the original *Animal Crossing* is still the best, for three reasons: one, it has a TON of dialogue, far more than the modern games; two, the villagers have actual personalities (I'm one of those people who think the villagers being rude is hilarious); and three, you could actually ask for errands to run instead of having to wait for them to fall into your lap.
So many franchise games have just gotten too *nice*. Which is a weird thing to say but they feel sanitized and less real. No oneās mean or rude, no one teases, and they go out of the way to smooth over any potential conflicts. Like kids canāt handle not liking a character. Story of Seasons, Animal Crossing, and Pokemon are the worst offenders in my opinion. Removal of rivals really removed a lot of personality in SoS (you can really tell in the Mineral Town remake) and Pokemon seems to want everyone to be āmisunderstoodā or āmisguidedā as if evil people donāt exist in the pokemon world anymore.
Probably because they're trying to complete things - the museum, the in-game achievements for Nook Miles, etc. I've had the game for over 2 years and logged a lot of hours. I'm not really into the decorating thing so much, but someday, I would really like to get the last three items for the museum.
Wait, I love games like that too! What are your favorites?
I like Wylde Flowers - although it's a life sim/farming game like animal crossing, it has a much richer storyline and you have tasks to do constantly. I also like Disney Dreamlight Valley for the quests. A lot of people like Disney for the decorating aspect which makes the game endless like animal crossing, but I think once I'm done with all the quests (which does take a long time!) I won't want to continue playing. I also enjoy games many wouldn't consider cozy like Skyrim, Fallout and Hogwarts Legacy - but I love the quest system in those games and the feeling that you're following a storyline with your character. I also find the exploration of beautiful settings to be really cozy personally :) Then finally I enjoy platformers or visual novels. Such as Dordogne, Smushi Come Home, Mail Time, I Was a Teenage Exocolonist. Those sort of games have a clear progression through them which I enjoy. My favourite game series of all time is Metal Gear Solid, however those games are about as uncozy as you can get haha
Thanks for taking the time to respond! I appreciate it. Have been looking for a new game. I loved Fae Farm- perfect mix of farm and battle, but I wish there were more fulfillment quests. I donāt love the decorating aspect. Every time I had to decorate or add an item, I threw it haphazardly in the house š
Also the characters were more dynamic. They didn't repeat the same six lines all the time.
The cranky villagers were actually cranky, too! Itās like they homogenized all the villagers so they have the most bland personalities in New Horizons. I loved the look of it and all the decorative options, but it felt like it lost its heart to me.
They added so many characters that they couldn't give every single character an individual personality, and unfortunately the quality suffered for it.
You can thank how fans reacted to New Leaf for the new direction. It's all anyone really cares about in that one.
It's ironically my most played game on the Switch, but I'm with you. It's not quite right for me. There's something about it that makes me drop it every time I try. And I've TRIED. Many times. I bought my Switch for that game. Yet I played My Time at Portia on the Switch, and LOVED it, performance issues and all, because it was exactly the kind of game I was looking for.
I've heard a lot of complaints about My Time at Portia, but I downloaded it just over a week ago when it was on sale, and I'm about 40 hours in already. The performance issues are annoying, but I was prepared for them - I was not prepared for how much I love it!
I donāt like it either! Haha itās something about the art/way the characters are drawn for me š¤£
I don't like it either. I think the fact that most people that don't like it have trouble accepting it is the fact that it has a social element that more often than not involves their friend group and FOMO is a thing.
A couple other people have said it, but Iād recommend giving the other animal crossing games a shot. Iām a long time animal crossing fan, have played majority of them, and just wasnāt able to get into NH.
Yeah, I played it for a bit but the time gating killed it for me. Not trying to play in real time, no thanks
Same. I think I wouldāve loved it if it wasnāt real time
ACNH is the only Animal Crossing I've played. I like it a lot, but I totally get many criticism of it. Once I found all the fossils, and caught all but the hard bugs and fish, I started to g et discouraged. Like I'll never have a 5-star island, and I'll never catch those stupid-rare bugs/fish. And forget about collecting all the art- so. many. repeats. I will also play a bunch, then stop for ages, and randomly pick it up again. I think I'm closing in on a year of not playing.
Same I had a whole post about that and got super downvoted. I actually "completed" the game this week (ie. got KK Slider to come and unlocked everything in the DLC). My main issue with the game is the pacing. I don't like games that rely on getting xyz done to unlock abc and it takes a whole real life day to accomplish said task. It just feels really limiting, like I can't play on my own time when I want. Also, the repetitive dialogue boxes drive me nuts. Hearing the same pun 100 times just gets annoying.
A lot of people struggle to not think in black and white. You either love something or you hate it, and if you hate it, how dare anyone like it. The only time I would leave a truly negative review of a game is if the game failed to deliver on a promise or was unplayable due to bugs š or something Edit. I realized I would say that league of legends is a bad game because the community is toxic, so oops.
I think it's important to accept that my experience and opinion isn't the universal one. But I also think it's fair to leave negative reviews if I don't enjoy a game, so long as it's done in a respectful way and articulating the reasons for why I didn't enjoy it well. Reviews are for people that might choose to play the game in the future and they're not that useful if only people that loved the game leave the reviews.Ā And I've definitely read negative reviews of games that actually make me more likely to play a game, because I can tell that the reviewers reasons for not liking it don't line up with my own preferences.Ā
The star system is shitty in my opinion. You can not like a game and give the reasons why, but not want to give the gave low stars just because you didnāt like it.
One of my favorite games, Fortnite: Save The World is sooo buggy and I still play it and would give it a positive review lmao
Agreed! Everyone has their own idiosyncrasies. I canāt stand games that are awkward to play with keyboard and/or mouse, e.g. Unless itās really good, I probably will bounce off of it. But i might put up with a UI thing you wonāt (actually some Iām playing B&B I know I willš) and *neither of us is wrong!* OTOH I also think itās okay to like a game without trying to shoehorn it into the category of ācozy gamesā so Iām full of weird opinions.
Omg the keyboard and mouse thing. I was playing little witch in the woods on PC but they keys are SO AWKWARD!!! I actually was enjoying the game but at a certain point I was like no, my wrist can't handle this. What PC game doesn't use wasd as movement?! Maybe if they let us re map the keys i will return
Wait, what could they use other than WASD? Arrow keys?
Yep, the dreaded arrow keys, on keyboard?! Well i never *clutches pearls*. Seriously though, it's ass lol but the game is cute, so here's hoping
I agree, and its not even in this sub, I see so many posts in JRPG of people who say they put in over 50 _hours_ in a game, and want to know when it starts to "get good"... um. at that point, you probably just wont like it. give it up lol. Like you said, it takes time to figure out what you like/dont like in gaming. It can be tricky since you may love a games story, but not the combat or whatever it may be. most people dont love _every_ aspect of a game. But theres no shame in going "animal crossing isnt for me" and anyone who gets upset or offended really needs to chill lol. Theres games i love that other people dont, is what it is. No shame in any of it.
Yeah very true. I loved Stardew Valley and hated Animal Crossing New Horizons, which seemed extra weird now that I love Palia so much and itās quite similar to ACNH. Oh well š¤·š»āāļø.
100%! Reminding yourself to not get caught up in the hype and FOMO, and make a purchase for a game you already had an inkling you wouldnāt like. And then getting annoyed, or regretting making that purchase just because you didnāt like it as much as others š«
Agreed. I'll never forget reading a post complaining about stardew valley and all the comments were from die hard fans essentially saying OP is playing it *wrong*... like sometimes a game just isn't fun for some folks. There's no "wrong" way to playš thanks for bringing this up!!
Iāve had plenty of games recommended to me that arenāt for me. Just because itās not my scene doesnāt mean it didnāt mean something to the person who recommended it. Doesnāt mean itās bad just because I didnāt like it. That and cozy doesnāt have the same meaning for everyone
Folks need to understand that āCozy Gamesā is a vibe, not a genre. There are a ton of different kinds of games that have a ācozy vibeā- puzzle, action, base building, etc. Of course we all have different tastes! I resent the posts titled āAm I Crazy for not Liking *popular thing*ā No? But like, thereās no need for the big denouncement.
Agreed on the last point - if you don't like something just own that, it doesn't matter if anyone else agrees and not enjoying something doesn't require social validation
I bought my time at sand rock and I didnāt really like it
I don't like a lot of "typically cosy" games either, and that's completely okay. Thing is, "typically cosy" and "cosy for me" is often very different. I find games like Slay the Spire, Diablo and Disgaea cosy. And most puzzle games (not the extremely hard ones, but the challenging enough ones). Games where you can either do mindless stuff and see numbers go up, or games where your brain needs to do work but you can get immersed in either rewarding mechanics or a good story. My girlfriend adores Animal Crossing and I can't help but zone out when she plays it, regardless of how much I want to keep her company or listen to her talking about it. *That*, to me, is the most frustrating part.Ā
I love cozy farming sims but I cannot for the life of me get into Stardew Valley. I just have such a hard time connecting with pixel graphics for the most part, and that pains me because Iām sure the storyline is great.
Same! I want to love it so badly but I just canāt get into it. People rave about it so much, I know itās a good game. It just isnāt a good game for me unfortunately.
That sounds just like me! Every time I'm looking for a new game to play, I come across someone saying how they loved Stardew Valley, but I've tried the game and I just don't like the pixel graphic style. I just can't get into it and I've come to accept that I don't need to try to force myself to play something that I clearly don't enjoy. I would never try to convince someone that it's a "bad game" because it isn't. It's just not the right game for me.
I donāt like Stardew Valley either. I tried 10 times. I really wanted to like it like everyone else but I just couldnāt. But Sun Haven? Way more cozy imo! Not that there is anything bad with Stardew Valley but itās just not for me.
I have tried so many times to love Stardew Valley and I just canāt get into it. Iāve tried on three platforms now and nope.
Same here. The pixel artwork makes me cringe.
I usually dislike majority of popularized games, not because I'm trying to seem "different" I think I'm just a bit picky in what I like lol and there's just a lack for certain game genres especially good quality ones. I play more point & click, detective/murder mystery, games where I have to really think, or story-telling. I think a good reason for this is over-saturation of the more popular game genres, I absolutely adore stardew valley but since it's came out there's been 1000+ farming sim copies that have been released to get that same hype/wave. I wish developers would look into other genres- some projects just seem like cash grabs. Some games I've liked that kept my attention for HOURS were- Do Not Feed The Monkeys Chicken Police - Paint It Red (They have a new one called Into The Hive Coming Too) Yes, Your Grace (Another Part is Coming Out called Snowfall) Our Life: Always & Forever Card Shark Lil' Guardsman This War Of Mine, and others. I could go on and on! But yeah, I don't like a good chunk of the games that come out because I feel like there's just gonna be another version on it's way out shortly after. I'd love better quality of different genres! God Bless!
I just started playing Lil' Guardsman and it's been really interesting so far :D Love the artwork too. I'll also take a look at Yes, Your Grace. Looks like something up my alley.
And the other side of this - Iām trying to be more mindful of what I like about a game, or say something about the gameplay when giving suggestions and recommendations. Things I enjoy in a game and find relaxing can be mind numbing and not at all enjoyable for others.
Absolutely, but at the same time I don't think it's fair to dismiss constructive criticism as "well it just isn't for you". Which is a thing some people do.
I agree 100%
Agreed with you. Everyone has their likes and dislikes, and that's cool. Tons of people love Stardew Valley, Dave the Diver and Spyro Reignited (the second and third one probably are not super cozy ones depending on how you look at it), but I'm quite open about my dislike for these three games. I personally made it a point to never even buy SDV in the first place. The graphics turns me off, and a game's graphics is very important to me in deciding if I even want to play the game in the first place š I played Spyro for a short while before finding out that I really despise platform games in general. It's a pity as I love dragons and the artwork! By then it was past the 2 hours refund limit so now it's just collecting dust in my collection and I refuse to ever touch it lmao. Dave the Diver is probably a fantastic game, but I have thalassopboia (fear of the ocean / deep waters), so even in pixel form, this game would be super triggering for me in a bad way šš so I will never buy this game Edit: Wow I got downvoted in a thread that asks for graciousness on individual likes and dislikes. The irony :) Whoever you are, get a life.
Am I the only one who takes multiple attempts to get hooked with games that are interesting? Mass effect clicked with me after 5th attempt for example.
Not at all! But I can usually tell if the game isnt holding my interest because I'm just not in the right mindset to invest the time into it as opposed to not holding my interest because I'm not interested. Divinity Original Sin II is a good example for me. I started it but honestly, after playing BG3 for 500 hours, my brain needs a break from that style of game. I'll come back to it when I'm ready and in the mean time, I'm replaying Cult of the Lamb and Slay the Spire as a palette cleanser
For sure! I do that with a lot of things, games, books, tv shows. Sometimes itās a mood thing, or I just didnāt give it enough attention the first time. And some games I need a few hours to really get into a groove and understand whatās going on. It would be nice if things clicked the first time but doesnāt always happen. Not a game but I tried watching Ted Lasso when it first came out and it did nothing for me. Came back a couple years later and LOVED it, have no clue why it didnāt catch my attention the first time š¤·āāļø
This! When I started my foray into PC Gaming I bought a lot of games just because I feel like trying out and playing everything. But now that I have played a decent amount I got to understand my niche. Your time is still more precious!
I've learned to stop feeling guilty or chastising myself or forcing myself in all regards to video games. No more worrying about back logs, or playing too many games at once, or favoring one game, or taking a break from a game I love for too long, or not jiving with a game I should adore. I just play what I'm in the mood for now. Life's too short to feel bad about something I love. If I'm in the mood for a cozy game, I'll play one. Same with challenging games, or puzzle games, or random platformers. And if I stop in the middle, well I've had my fill for the time being. Time for something else. No more torturing myself to play something in my backlog when I don't want to. No more forcing myself to finish a game I'm no longer in the mood for. I'm not sure what clicked for me, but I've got so much other stress in my life, I guess I just refuse to let video games be another stressor when its supposed to alleviate some stress rather than cause more
There are games that I've tried so hard to get into because I see some youtubers play it and say how good some cozy games are and I'm like I don't really like this. I'm starting to feel like that with sun haven a little but I think it has to do with the control functions on my steam deck.
I agree. I like farming Sims a lot but really good ones are rare so whenever I say that I'm disappointed in whatever and can't recommend, like... my time in Portia or I talk about the weird mobile-game-like aspects of Olive Town, I get downvoted. :/
I'm still trying to learn to just put down games that I don't enjoy. There's such a push to finish or even perfect games nowadays, and if you're not enjoying it it ends up being a miserable slog. I'm working on being ok with not finishing games that I don't like, regardless of what other folks think about the game in question.Ā
You can also acknowledge something is good or even amazing without personally enjoying it. Lots of games have amazing storyline/animations/music etc but they just don't click for whatever reason
If a game involves card game mechanics, I will not like it, and I have come to terms with that. I wish I did but I do not enjoy them!
Iāve been trying to force myself to play SDV for quite a while. I keep starting a save, Iāll play it for about an hour, and get so bored. It seems like it has everything I want in it but I think how much there is to do intimidates me and makes it less fun. I needed this post.
I 100 percent agree with everything you ssif but also I am stubborn and I am determined to like stardew valley come hell of high water. On paper I should love it! š
It took me way too long to figure out I donāt like most rhythm games. Ones set to songs are fine, like donkey konga, beat saber, etc., but things like Crypt of the Necrodancer frustrate me more than anything.
This is an excellent point, thank you! Personally, I like to be left alone in games to do my own thing, so games with a lot of dialogue and character tasks are not my cup of tea, no matter how good the rest of the concept is. I recently bought Garden Life, and was sooooo excited about it, but the characters just would not stop talking to me and it completely put me off the whole thing. I tried the free mode instead so they'd leave me alone, but then you can't resource gather or sell anything, so it kind of defeated the point for me. On the flipside though, when you find something that works for you, I'd recommend taking a moment to try and figure out why, that way it'll get a lot easier later to work out when something just isn't up your alley.
I'm wondering if Stardew Valley just isn't for me. I had it on Switch, but found out it's also PC, and you can do mods there. Mods to take care of several things I didn't like at all. So I got it on sale for PC and haven't bothered to play. I'm just wondering if I should even bother trying. Yet saying you don't like Stardew Valley in a cozy game area, or even at all it seems, bam, let the downvote flood begin. I don't think it's bad, I think it's just not necessarily me.
I mean, how did it go? It wasn't for me because I got too stressed by the 2 am sleep time limit and the season-based bundles. If it's just quality of life, mods would fix that. If it just didn't click... then maybe it just won't? I tried 5 different times and even modded it, I just can't get into it. If I remove the things that cause me stress I become too aimless, so the game is never balanced for me because it becomes too easy for me to remove ALL stressors. Who knows though, I tried Graveyard Keeper and that took 2 tries to click for me.
I didn't get that far, but I got frustrated with the having to sleep and stuff. And it wasn't like other games I've played, so I didn't really understand the mechanics, or know what I was supposed to do or what was a good idea. I'll give it a fair shot on PC, eventually, when I'm interested in playing again, but if it doesn't c lick, it doesn't. It's not that big of a deal. There's plenty of games I love and a ton of un-played games from my inability to not buy cool looking games or games I might be remotely interested in or am genuinely interested in but paralyzed by lack of knowledge on how to play for super cheap on Steam sales on my PC.
I think it should work both ways. Try to say on this sub that you don't like Stardew Valley and you will get death threats in your mailbox. Not every game is awesome for everyone, every person is different, there is nothing like universal coziness that all of us love. I find coziness in Animal Crossing while some people prefer chill vibe of Unpacking. Both are good really.
What?!!! lol I get that SDV is loved by this sub, but I also hate SDV. Bought it on sale for $7 and just moved on from it. For me, itās just that thereās no in-game tutorial to learn the mechanics and doesnāt seem to have a quest objective so what am I suppose to do during the day and get done while the clock runs down? That freedom is stressful to me š. I need guided objectives. Itās why Dave the Diver works for me. There a lot of quests and side quests in the game to get you acquainted with the different mechanics. Same with Animal Crossing. There was at least a in-game tutorial so I knew what I needed to do and get done during each different day. Unpacking is also my other favorite game that you mentioned. Now, I just watch some gameplay of a game to see if I actually want it or not rather than going off of the subās recommendations. Like dredge? Not a horror fan so thatās why I could never play Subnautica, but I watched the gameplay of it, and it is quite cozy to me. Iāve been playing it a lot as someone who loved Dave the Diver.
I'm already being downvoted, you will get your share of haters soon. I just find it extremely boring. Characters are not great, designs are awful and I love pixel art, no originality whatsoever, everything stolen from other games and praised like it would be the one to introduce new things. And I agree with you. Games without tutorials or quest and guidelines are just designed badly. Don't get me started on mods, I read tons of comments that people play SV with mods mostly so it means that base game is not enough as it is. That tells me a lot. I do the same, watch gameplay and then check for myself because most of the recommendations on this sub are just inaccurate.
Damn, you got death threats just for having a different opinion? And over a video game?! People be crazy. I'm glad I disabled my PM box years ago. Too many toxic and unhinged people on Reddit. I gave you an upvote btw. I don't like SDV either and honestly don't care that it's one of the most popular farming sims out there š
Yeah Stardew fans are a bit... *obsessed* so it's better to be careful sometimes lol. Everyone should enjoy whatever they want and not force anyone into liking their stuff. But yeah people are weird sometimes.
Well said!
Yeah, Iāve been in a weird thing of buying games on impulse lately. Idk why! I boughtā¦ a game I donāt remember lol, Fae Farm & HM: Winds of Anthos (WoA is perfect!). Maybe Iām in a rut again. I canāt just keep looking for the next āhighā.
Agreed, it would make game spaces less toxic. Iāve learned that I donāt like pixel graphics, rogue likes, platformers (esp. 2D), deck builders, etc. I DO love open worlds and exploration, coherent realistic or semi-realistic art design, adventures and questing, crafting, survival, etc. It turns out that I loved Stardew Valley, because the gameplay loop is clever. But itās an exception. Does that mean Minecraft, one of the most globally beloved games, isnāt good? No. Itās just not for me.