Video Game Review: Everafter Falls

https://open.spotify.com/episode/6Mmg9UWsNv6B3NLKDdrpx7

Let's be real for a second, farming simulators are a dime and dozen at this point ever since Stardew Valley came out and struck it huge. A lot of them feel kind of similar with very few deviations in the general gameplay loop. You end up running a farm through some plot demand and you grow seeds, cultivate crops, sell the crops, buy more seeds and animals, and build an empire. Most times you also have to build relationships with other people living in the town around the farm, but that's not really a requirement. Everafter Falls feels like a new version of this same gameplay flow, with some gameplay from Animal Crossing thrown in for good measure, and delivers a fun gameplay experience.

The best way to discuss Everafter Falls is to talk about what it does differently from other games in the genre and whether it works or it doesn't work. For a frame of reference, I've clocked about 35 hours of gameplay on the Nintendo Switch version of the game and am just about at the end of the first year's Fall (for reference, the game starts in Summer). Here are some of the key differences to keep in mind:

• Because this game is a seamless blend of the tropes of a game like Animal Crossing and a game like Stardew Valley, there is a collection mechanic where the player has to fill a museum with just about everything that they can collect. There is a very useful quality of life improvement here where, if an item is in the inventory, anything that has not been collected appears with a little blue star. This prevents the player from having to consult with a journal or other in-game record keeping system to remember what they need compared to what they already have put into the collection.
  • That said, there is the issue where the log is not available to view from the pause menu, the player has to buy collections of books and place them on surfaces in their house to consult or go into the museum and look at what they have already collected and what they still need. Considering how completing the museum is a key objective and the related point system gives the player key bonuses, this is a little bit of an annoyance. The biggest issue where this lies is with the objects that the player grows on their farm.
  • The use of the terrarium in the process of collecting all the frogs, dragonflies, and butterflies can make the process drag a little bit as well. Considering that the terrarium can only hold one at a time and it takes multiple days for a caterpillar or nymph to fully mature, it considerably slows down the process.
• The game can also fall into what I call the "cascading series of successes" gameplay loop where, as the player has more and more success, the game gets easier. Considering how the attack stat is calculated, it is very easy while exploring the dungeon areas to quickly become overpowered to the point that there is little to no actual challenge. This is compounded by augmentations to your pet that are pretty easy to obtain that can give the passive ability to heal.
• The Pixie system does a lot to balance gameplay so the player does not have to spend as much time harvesting things they need, rather than doing what they want in the game. Because there is a long wait period for some of the items like the tapper or the silkworm farm, allowing the pixies to gather the harvestable resources without forcing them to manually go out and chop trees or mine ores is very helpful.
• The relationships between the characters are some of the deepest in this genre and make for interesting interactions and cut scenes. In a real and tangible way, this world feels more lived-in than most in this genre, including the games we consider industry standards. Because of this, the lack of a relationship system for the player does not feel like something lacking from the gameplay experience, especially as one gets pulled into the drama within the existing characters.

All of that said, this game is still a 5/5 must-buy experience for those looking for a new iteration on games of this type. Everafter Falls launches on Steam, Switch, Xbox, and PlayStation on June 20th, 2024.

★★★★★

A copy of this game was provided at no cost for review purposes by Akupara Games.