Main game
2.84 average rating based on 19 ratings
I’ve come to the credit roll. I’m not quite done because I have a season and a half of activities left, more villagers to invite, side quests to complete, and that damned boximal to find. Despite all that I’m putting it down. I don’t think I want to play any further, not while the game remains unpatched. I’m either going to replay it later or finish up this playthrough once it’s patched. I know there’s a game that I think I can enjoy a great deal more than I did during this playthrough at the heart of Mineko’s Night Garden. It’s a beautiful and sweet game that tugs at your heartstrings in more ways than one. But at present I find very little joy in the combination of highly repetitive mini games and bugs that drain a lot of the joy the game is able to instil. I hope that when I revisit this in future I’ll experience something that manages to better balance mechanics and storytelling, especially elevating the former to the level of the latter.
This title's gorgeous visuals, great sense of humor, and creative crafting make it much easier to overlook the areas in which it falls short. The game weaves a delightful tale full of feline-centric magical realism that's truly delightful, and it's possibly one of the best releases for cat lovers since Stray. Despite its flaws, Mineko's Night Market is perfect for any player looking for a creative and relaxing world to get lost in.
A frustration I have with this game is that it’s clear the PC version is getting patched with fixes for some of the more tedious elements, while the console version hasn’t yet
A number of very annoying minigames have been reworked or replaced with direct player exploration in the PC version. RNG for boximals has been fixed (with the devs admitting that the catfish was nearly impossible to get from a blind box, the very boximal I’ve spent a fortune trying to get). Mulberry branches now yield two instead of one branch, a huge boon to anyone trying to collect 90 branches for a quest and only being able to pick up 8-12 per orchard visit.
But none of that has come to the Game Pass version. The only reason I’m playing the Game Pass version and not on PC is because I originally bought a physical copy for Switch and then switched to Xbox because the Switch copy is poorly optimized. I should have gone with PC but I didn’t want to buy the game twice. And now it’s far too late to start over on PC, because I doubt the patches resolve all of the tedium present in …
A frustration I have with this game is that it’s clear the PC version is getting patched with fixes for some of the more tedious elements, while the console version hasn’t yet
A number of very annoying minigames have been reworked or replaced with direct player exploration in the PC version. RNG for boximals has been fixed (with the devs admitting that the catfish was nearly impossible to get from a blind box, the very boximal I’ve spent a fortune trying to get). Mulberry branches now yield two instead of one branch, a huge boon to anyone trying to collect 90 branches for a quest and only being able to pick up 8-12 per orchard visit.
But none of that has come to the Game Pass version. The only reason I’m playing the Game Pass version and not on PC is because I originally bought a physical copy for Switch and then switched to Xbox because the Switch copy is poorly optimized. I should have gone with PC but I didn’t want to buy the game twice. And now it’s far too late to start over on PC, because I doubt the patches resolve all of the tedium present in the game. But it is a shame that I’m playing this game its worst, rather than best, state.
As far as games with unecessary stealth go, Mineko’s Night Garden might take the crown. It starts off innocuous enough but eventually builds toward a point that the stealth puzzles are very poorly designed.
I’m very torn over this game. I like quite a bit but it’s also deeply flawed. From bugs causing loss of progress, to increasingly tedious stealth, to a crafting system that loses its lustre pretty quickly, this game really tries one’s patience. But it’s such beautiful game with a focus on themes of friendship, family and community and the love and support that each can give each other. I just wish the mechanical component of the game didn’t drag an otherwise enjoyable game down.
Sadly not well optimized for Switch with quite a bit of visual and audio stuttering, especially during transitions when the game is loading. Jumping over to the Xbox version because it’s on Game Pass, and it’s already much better.
Oh my god, a demo!!!!
I can't believe there is still no release date, and I was certain that today's inclusion in the Wholesome Games Snack meant one was about to be announced. But we got a demo instead, and I guess that really means I have nothing to complain about, lol! I'm just so excited for this.
Really thought there’d be a release date trailer in the Indie World showcase today given a newish trailer dropped about a week ago that still just said coming soon. Thought maybe that was a sign a launch trailer would be forthcoming, and when better than a Nintendo showcase? Oh well.
Second only to Tunic for indie titles I've been salivating over for years, apparently Mineko's Night Market was playable at PAX West and I'm dying over the idea that there are people out there who have had a chance to actually play a demo of the game. Sweet god I can't wait to play this.