Recent reviews by Elli

This is a nice game to play when you want to feel like rolling in the dough. It provides enough of a challenge in general and the options to upgrade your horses, drills, etc. allow you to develop your own play style. I enjoy thoroughly throwing the AI competition under the bus-- er, wagon. Plus, there's really just something fun about digging into the unknown...

I want to start off by saying that a lot of people are comparing this to the likes of Harvest Moon and Stardew Valley.
...I would like to respectfully disagree with them. Yonder is it's own game, and while there are farming aspects, it is not at the center of the game like SV and HM. I have more to say on that, below.

Yonder is a beautiful exploration game. There is an interesting story with curious NPC's to meet, many items to craft, and land to discover. The game doesn't hand you all of your tools, character customization... ANYTHING at the beginning. You find all of this along the way. The in-game bartering system is something that I really enjoy, although I do find that I need more inventory space...! I don't have a fishing addiction, I swear. =^)

As others are saying, this is a very relaxing game, there is no combat, no enemies at all, and I do enjoy that. I do feel a little limited in where I can go, if I land in deep water I'm respawned quickly (which is good!) and I can't climb up some places I feel like I should be able. Seasons pass really quickly... I notice them, I suppose, but boy they seem to pass in a snap. There doesn't seem to be any penalty for "dying" (like landing in deep water) or having a negative reaction to the weather -- my character was shivering in winter but no death or anything. Essentially you could really hand this game to a kid of any age and I doubt they'd run into any issue.

While I did not want to spend a lot of time on what Yonder isn't, I think it is important to note, particularly for the people that are undecided on buying and are hoping for something similar to HM or SV: This is a relaxing game, but it is not a farming sim. Farming is basically optional, and you can absoulutely shovel that work load off on to a farm hand, which you will likely do in favor of exploring and crafting. There is no relationship/marriage system in this game. And I don't think that's a bad thing. This isn't a Harvest Moon title, this is something totally different. It's a lovely game, and truly an enjoyable experience.

As a long time Harvest Moon (and Rune Factory) fan, I throughly enjoy Stardew Valley.
Stardew has been able to accomplish what recent entries into the HM line have not -- compelling characters, gameplay, and humor. Even after the 93+ hours I've logged, I still haven't done all that I can do.

Farming is the name of the game, and there are a handful of animal types, and many, many, different crops to raise. I have always enjoyed mining and Stardew brings it in spades. Fishing can be a bit of a challenge, but who doesn't love that? Actually struggling to catch a legendary fish is worth it, in my humble opinion. There are loads of different items to craft and a huge cast of villagers to befriend. The marriage candidates are diverse, and have fairly interesting stories.

Overall, I definitely reccomend this game. There is a lot of content and it is very well done. I hope to see more in the future.