To live a good life, one must endure hardships. This is the story of one man’s struggle to find happiness in adversity.
The the good life reviews game is a game that was released in 2014. It has received mixed reviews, but the developers have focused on making it as realistic as possible.
The Good Life will put you to the test. It raises an intriguing issue of whether rushing through life makes it a poorer, more difficult experience in general. The Good Life can make even the most regular activities feel overwhelming by stacking minor annoyances on top of benign activities and chores, including real-life, apparently random penalties on top of innocuous activities and responsibilities. It makes you wonder if each system or meter included in the game’s mix of life simulation and RPG action is designed to create as many problems as possible. The solution to the posed question is ultimately unsatisfactory.
Players take on the role of Naomi Hayward, a photographer who has amassed a pile of debt and has been entrusted by her boss with researching a peculiar English hamlet dubbed the “happiest” location on the planet. Upon her arrival, she discovers that she is not only tasked with solving the town’s riddle, but she is also tasked with solving a murder mystery. She must also find out why she can change into animals while simultaneously uploading pictures to social media and earning as much money as possible to pay off her debt and meet her daily necessities.
(Photo courtesy of White Owls, Inc.)
There’s a lot to keep track of here. In the sense that you’re always juggling several concerns at once, The Good Life seems like it comes close to a real-life experience. There are meters that vary from extremely significant to covertly consequential, such as charisma (which Naomi maintains by bathing and following a “beauty” routine every day) or tension. When you’re in the middle of it, it’s not as onerous as some of the more advanced real-life simulators, but failing to pay attention to any of these meters may make the whole experience worse.
Naomi may pass out from hunger or sickness (resulting in a “game over” and expensive medical expenses), or items in town could get more expensive as people are less eager to be near you. The major issue with paying attention to all of them at the same time is that not all of it is properly explained. It’s not enough to keep track of how much Naomi eats; what she consumes, as well as the incorrect kinds of foods she eats, may cause toothaches at any time. Illnesses seem random (and will reduce Naomi’s already low stamina) since there’s nothing you can do to prevent them. The same goes for controlling her hunger and fatigue at the right times.
Making things even more inconvenient is how difficult it is to get about town. It’s an open-world setting, yet it seems deliberately constrained by barriers that compel Naomi to go great distances to get from point A to point B. When you acquire the Cat metamorphosis, you can finally leap over them, although this is problematic since the cat can’t exactly go over every kind of wall. You must also change back into Naomi after unlocking the Dog transformation before you may turn into a cat. There are certain barriers that the dog can’t leap over, so if you wanted to cut through a specific area, you’d have to change into Naomi first, then into the cat, with a little pause in between.
(Photo courtesy of White Owls Inc.)
When attempting to get through the actual RPG portion of the game, the real-life simulation aspects become even more cumbersome. There are major missions and side quests (of which you can only do one at a time) that change as you go through the game, but there are also numerous fetch quests. Naomi need a certain outfit, therefore she must, for example, seek out specific components for it around the city. However, each of those parts will need you to get another thing before you can obtain the first piece. Throughout it all, you must stroll or sprint (slowly and on a stamina bar that requires a cool-down time) through large swaths of the town while your different meters deplete.
On more than one occasion, I’d lose my streak on a major mission because Naomi needed to return to her house to sleep. It is possible to warp Naomi home, but this consumes energy. There’s also a warping option throughout town, but it’s only available at certain shrines that you must visit and activate (for a dollar), and it costs money each time you warp. As a result, it seems like The Good Life is penalizing you for attempting to complete major missions at your own speed. When you add in the fact that the townsfolk and their services are unavailable throughout the night, you’re trapped in that cycle.
It’s an RPG with the sluggish pace of a life simulator, and it’s exacerbated by annoyances that are either poorly explained or executed in a punitive manner. This is simply in terms of gameplay, and the Nintendo Switch version of the game has several obvious technical problems (which was played for review). There are slowdowns, and the title’s rough edges don’t make it seem especially appealing. The picture is nice, and the characters are amusing, but part of the writing is tiny and unreadable (either playing in handheld or docked modes). Taking pictures thus seems less gratifying since everything is the same murky color.
(Photo courtesy of White Owls, Inc.)
Unfortunately, The Good Life, in addition to its numerous flaws, lacks engaging narrative components. Its kooky storytelling devices don’t hold enough water to compel through all of those intentional and unintentional inconveniences, and its characterization is light (though Naomi makes a fun lead for this kind of experience), and its kooky storytelling devices don’t hold enough water to compel through all of those intentional and unintentional inconveniences. There are three narrative paths to follow in order to solve the core mystery, and they don’t relate to one another since you may take them in any order. For those who are truly committed and want to fully immerse themselves in the game’s primary mission mystery while dealing with the awkward life-simulation aspects, there is at least a climax, but it’s a lot to ask.
The Good Life is full of challenges, for better or for worse. It may be the sort of experience you’re searching for if you’re seeking for a reminder of how difficult life can be at times. However, that may not be the best way to live.
2 out of 5 stars
On Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Steam, and Xbox One, The Good Life is now available. The publisher supplied a Nintendo Switch review code, which was tested on a basic model Nintendo Switch.
The Good Life Switch Review is a blog that reviews games. This blog will be discussing the game The Good Life Switch. The review will discuss how this game is similar to other games, and what makes it different from them. Reference: the good life switch review.
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