Recent reviews by Meruko

One of the most well made nonogram games currently available, and there are enough puzzles to last you quite some time for a very reasonable price.
As a person who considers herself a "veteran" nonogram player, the "battles" could be a tad more challenging (especially the early ones) but it's not necessarily a bad thing if you prefer a more relaxed gameplay.
It's a bit of a shame that the game is mianly focused around RF5, but it's also not a major issue, and it might have more to do with the availability/willingness of Marvelous to supply the dev with assets (getting more game contents from previous games would have meant that Marvelous had to create some high res assets in the same visual style just for this game and they probably didn't want to bother with that).
Overall, if you're looking for a nice nonogram puzzles game with great graphics and some level of progression/interactivity this game will give you a good bang for your bucks.
Also don't listen to the curators, this is not a bootleg game, it's an official RF game made by an affiliated dev with a great track record of nonogram games. :) They are also behind the Piczle Story of Seasons game.

While the game doesn't exactly break the mold, and features some poor gameplay/mechanics choices here and there... It's still one of the most visually stunning and engaging games I've played all year.

The companions, the story and the cheesy lines are what makes a good Dragon Age game, to me. I wasn't convinced at first glance that I would love the companions as much as in older games, but Veilguard proved me wrong. Not only do I love them, I felt for them. And boy did I cry for some of them by the end of the game...

I wish there was more to come, like some DLC, as some storylines feel a bit unpolished... But I guess I'll gladly wait another 10 years for the next instalment! (But hopefully it won't take that long...)

It's a nice jigsaw puzzle game. It has pros and cons, but overall it's still a nice, chill experience and being able to use your own pictures make the replayability very extensive.

Pros:
The graphics are nice.
Having the puzzle outline in a fixed place was a good idea for this game due to the 3D virtual rooms component.
The pictures provided are good quality and interesting.
The game is basically free with paid DLC... So with the base game alone you have a nice amount of stuff to play, and should you wish to help the dev, you can purchase the DLC at a reasonable price as well.

Cons:
Turning pieces is kinda buggy-ish and clunky.
Most pieces spawn bright yellow and the picture on them will only appear once you interact with the piece.
The game attempts to force a more 3D experience by spawning pieces off the main surface intentionally.
The Normal difficulty might still be a tad too easy for adults, but okay for kids, maybe.
Pictures are AI generated... I understand it's to cut costs and be able to offer a free base game but I believe there should have been ways to get nice pictures from photographers and artists for a reasonable amount of money if not maybe even for free. Remember that AI was trained using real pictures of real artists, too often without their consent.
Controls can be clunky (sometimes attempting to place or click on a piece doesn't work until you find the right pixel)
Pieces that fall on their side can be hard to select.
I once had a missing piece in the English Cottage DLC map. It was nowhere to be found until I forced a shuffle of unsolved pieces. It probably passed through the ground at startup and fell out of the map. Thankfully there are easy workarounds should that ever happen to anyone else.

Overall it's a nice, chill experience if you just want to play a few jigsaw puzzles without the hassle of requiring a lot of physical space, pet "interventions" and lost pieces. It doesn't beat old school Jigs@aw Puzzle 2 (Which is still my go-to in 2024), but it comes pretty close. It also, in my opinion, does much better than many jigsaw games I've seen on Steam.

(Edit: Typos + more info...)
While I love the game (I've been playing a lot as my game time can prove), there are some big issues with it.

The game clearly was not ready for release. It still needs A LOT of polish to be at least somewhat stable. It is FULL of bugs at this time, and I can kinda understand why: it was a HUGE game to create with only a handful of devs. Lots of systems, lots of things to go over and lots of things to sadly overlook.

There are issues with some tooltips, some seeds give the wrong info, some info is incomplete or easily misunderstood (tomatoes and red peppers, I am judging you HARD for driving me insane in spring).
There is also the fact that the game encourages you to go slow and take things at your own pace... But there is the elephant in the room: if they really wanted us to go slow, they would not have thrown in the god forsaken raccoon that's been driving me NUTS for two seasons. Early game, I was told by Gabe to "adopt a dog" as it would keep foxes away... and it mistakenly led me to believe that it would also apply to raccoons. In fact, it would have made sense, right? Yeah, nope... My dog ignores the racoon, can walk right next to it in fact and not give a damn (and the contrary is also true.) So in summer, after losing over a dozen crops to the little f... I finally fenced my field. Alas, that also was quite the adventure, as I would have liked a ranch fence, but the gazillion screws and hardwood beams it requires would have taken forever to get, so I dropped the idea fast... And I had to fight my way through a very buggy build feature to deleted the blueprints I laid down to replace them for an easier, quicker, bamboo fence... Not the look I was hoping for but at least it works.

On the subject of screws... Someone clearly did not test the game nearly long enough. When you have to, say, build 100 fences that require 20 iron screws each.... Why the heck do I have to add screws one by one in the shop?!?! That was very, very poorly thought out.

In addition to that, the shop interfaces are riddled with bugs, for example, when adding numbers, sometimes the UI goes out of screen and you can no longer add or remove items, so to counter that, you're forced to buy twice (or more). Another example: clicking too fast on the buttons will "disable" them until you move your mouse away, then back on the button.

I have also lost count of the number of times I have been ejected from my bike for no visible reason (was staying far from lamp posts), which could be kinda hilarious if it wasn't so tedious to get back on and get back on track. Sometimes even that required out-of-the-box thinking because I once got my bike stuck in the stairs near the temple, which required me to walk over to a flat spot and re-summon my bike from there (which, of course, spawned facing the wrong way, causing to have to make the very slow maneuvers to turn it around).

And did I mention the ungodly amount of time you have to go into town (which is daily) because you require some materials to build something, only to realize that the store you needed is closed? But that part maybe is just my poor planning...

I also wish we gout upgrade out inventory space, because I keep having to juggle my inventory around and still finding myself trying to buy stuff only for it to drop on the floor and prompt me to have to delete stuff.

I also find that some ressources are near useless and extremely abundant (sticks...), meaning that you have to delete stacks and stacks of them, or else, risk losing other valuable materials (it happens especially in the mines, when, if you don't have the inventory space, the item is lost forever). Sure there are a few, very limited uses for sticks, namely paths and fences.... But not everybody wants those (myself included). And I have yet to find a single use for flexible bamboo (but maybe I just didn't dive deep enough into the crafting system and maybe there are plenty of uses).

Also another sore point: going to bed. The game doesn't ask you if you really want to go to sleep, so, if, like me, you ran over to your tent to get something in a storage you placed nearby, and like an idiot, go to the tent instead of the storage and hit "E".... well then you just lost a day.

And finally I don't care much for the battle system, in fact, it keeps me from diving deep into the caves because I don't have the time or patience to deal with all those enemies...

BUT... I guess I complained a LOT. So now here are some positives:

The set of characters, while very large, is very interesting. People have different thoughts on different things and they do kinda feel deep enough to feel alive, somewhat. They all are actually interesting enough that, for once in a game, I feel like trying to hang out with everybody (so the game does fulfil it's main purpose to be a relationship building game.

I do also love the gardening/farming, although the watering can be a bit tedious because the aiming system isn't great (sometimes even buggy, I dare you to water them raised garden beds...), I do feel a lot of pride when I look at my HUGE garden. The seeds, for once, are cheap, so it does make it very easy and satisfying to make your garden as big as possible (but again, more inventory management because you often get more seed than you need and many are regrowing crops). I am in the process of building a second area with another hose to expand even more since I pretty much hit the area limit on the first hose (lol). Also, do yourself a BIG favor: do visit the tree shrine often to check on your skills and perks. Some of them make farming much better early on! Don't be me and wait too long because you sold all your potatoes (hint, hint)... XD

The crafting system is HUGE. So many blueprints.... So many possibilities...!!! Once you get a house... (I have yet to get there...)

Graphically speaking, the game is astoundingly pretty.

If you like a farming sim that has a lot of dept, a very large amount of crops (seriously I have a hard time keeping track) and goes beyond the "cutesie" and "kid friendly" basic game... This one has a lot of potential...
Once the devs polish it (a lot) more.

All in all, I still recommend it, but maybe wait a bit until the biggest issues are ironed out... OR get it on sale (eventually).

Charming little nonograms game to wind down and relax whenever you need. I really love the fact that every puzzle you complete "unlocks" items for the farm, which flourishes and evolves in the background as you progress.

Pros:
- The farm evolves as you play, making the experience even more rewarding.
- I love being able to unlock entries in the almanac and see iconic and loved characters being unlocked.
- It has ALL the options and QOL of various nonogram games floating around, but you have the choice of using them or not as you want.
- I'm 9 hours in at the time of this review and I don't even have a fourth of the puzzles completed... Meaning the game has a LOT of contents, making it well worth the price. And I like to think I'm kinda fast at completing them.
- On PC the graphics are really pretty.
- At the time of this review, the game is not yet Steam Deck certified, but I can confirm that it works very well (with some caveats that I will cover later).

Cons:
- You may lose track of time playing this game and realize that 3 hours went by in a flash. Beware.
- The 25x25 puzzles can be a bit small on a Steam Deck screen, but it certainly beats the same types of puzzles on, say, a phone screen...
- Some color schemes can lack a bit of contrast, making it a tad bit harder to read the numbers on the sides. I mainly notice this with the winter theme (without using the accessibility modes).
- If you plan on playing the game on a Steam Deck, do not apply a FPS limit, at least not a the time of this review. The dev is working on it. :)

Overall, the positives far outweight the negatives, and I strongly recommend this game to all the Picross/Piczle/Nonogram fans! And if you're new to nonogram puzzles, fear not, they're very simple to understand and this game can be a fantastic introduction to them!

Okay so this review is long, LONG overdue... But here is my honest, spoiler free review:

TLDR; I absolutely recommend the game, it is definitely one of those hidden gems on Steam. Unless you have no time and patience, then skip it, as you are not the intended audience anyway (sorry, I did say "HONEST"!).

Pro tips for new ghost hunters:
- Read the emails and wiki carefully. They will help you a lot.
- Don't rush it. If you're naturally impatient, this game may not be for you.
- Always start with EMF and thermometer, don't stay in the same spot and walk around. Again, this MAY take a while at first, and the larger an area is, the longer this may take.
- Ghosts walk around. That means that once you do get some EMF and temp readings, the ghost will likely not stay in the same spot. Attempt to follow it to get a full reading.
- You can get EMF and temps from ANY ghosts in a map during an investigation to kickstart your hunt. If X ghost is easier to locate and use to start you up, use it, then move on to the ghost/location you intended to investigate.
- Enjoy the experience! Asks yourself question! Sleuth!

Long version:
This very atmospheric game has you play as Conrad, a professional Ghost Hunter. Do you like ghosts? I hope so because each location will pit you against 3+ ghosts, active at the same time and interacting as THEY see fit. Don't expect a constant adrenaline rush as you try and survive against a murderous ghost, this game is NOT it. It will have long stretches of... Well. Nothing. Especially the first time you visit a new location. Don't despair, however, because the more you investigate the same ghost/location, the more active the ghosts become, until you see yourself needing to run away from a literal demon, screaming like a baby. As you finally recover from the terrifying interaction, you will be put back at ease by an unfazed Conrad. The guy fears NOTHING, I tell you.
Don't feel like fighting demons? Don't worry, the map probably has one or two chill ghosts... And THAT can't go wrong, right? ... Yeah... Right...

Pros:
- You get a nice, chill ghost hunting experience. Most times.
- You WILL crap out your pants every once in a while. The ghosts have a mind of their own.
- The experience is extremely atmospheric.
- The graphics are insanely good.
- Conrad is the honey badger of ghost hunters. Except less angry. For better or for worst.
- The intricate backstories of the ghost will have you deep diving into lore and losing yourself in the experience. Seriously, you will be mind blown at times. The stories are fictional but borrow from real life historical events at times. Sleuth away!
- Hate jumpscares? Turn them off. You will still get jumpscared, but not by loud noises anymore. Just the ghosts being, well... ghosts... "Natural" jumpscares like closing a door and ending up face to face with a ghost screaming at you, because that how he flies...
- Ghosts have personalities and a mind of their own. While they have set preferred locations and paths, you're never 100% safe from a random happening.
- Realistic EMF and temps spots to annoy you (gently) at time. That said Conrad will 100% let you know if they are not relevant spots. You'll figure them out and avoid them after.

Cons (because nothing is perfect):
- The graphics can be a bit tough on some lower-end computers.
- You may need 5+ investigations on a single ghost to finally get a picture.
- Be armed with patience. LOTS of patience.
- You will need to grind a lot to unlock all of the equipment. Like, HOURS worth of time.
- I am personally not really fond of the batteries mechanic. I find it annoying to need to run back to the truck mid-investigation because I ran out of juice on my equipment... Is it realistic? Yeah. But is it fun? Meh.

Bottom line? If none of the cons really bother you to the point you see them ruining your experience and you are naturally curious and patient, GET THE GAME. Be unfazed. Be Conrad. Become the honey badger of ghost hunters.

This game is an absolute delight so far!
It's very atmospheric and even though I usually don't like jumpscares all that much... In this game, they are so well integrated into the environment that they are absolutely brilliant.
You can tell they love and care for their game, the lore and the players. They are some of the most open and friendly developers I've seen in quite some time.
Sure it's not perfect, there are still bugs and some areas that could be perfected on, like the time it takes sometimes to get all the evidence (sometimes it's a breeze, but most times, it takes a bit too much time, and in some rare cases, it becomes tedious). That said, the response and reactivity of the devs had been phenomenal so I have no doubt those kinks will be ironed out little by little. It's hard to find a balance when your ghosts have a mind of their own...!
I really look forward to playing it more and to see what this game will become!

God I hate granny...
But the game does bring to the table a very interesting story (typos aside) and a great combination of game mechanics. Loved to hate every minute of it. 11/10 would hate it again.

Update 2 (Dec 2022): A lot of colors were added, which is a welcome improvement. We are still waiting for varnishes, sadly. New items have been thrown in, which is nice, but the end game still lacks contents.
Most of the bug remain in the game. The devs only fixed major game-breaking bugs (preventing completion) and achievements. The rest of the bugs that remain unfixed being: FPS drops between tools, FPS drops on and off in cutscenes (As a new addition, some cutscenes during my playthrough were just white screens with subtitles), you are still forced to chose a tool to start de-assembling, The textures on the items you fix for Grandma still have messed up textures when you finish them and see them back in the house, trays counter is still not functional. It's nice that they are adding new contents, but the game still lacks love and polish... Please, before you release any more content, fix the bugs that have been present since day 1!!! This game can be GREAT, but it feels highly neglected. You can't just cram more contents in in the hopes of changing review and ignore all the other issues...!!! QoL stuff would feel worthwhile too, if the game wasn't plagued with immersion breaking bugs. Please show us you LOVE your game and your players, and maybe the general opinion will change.

Update: Still broken, was able to finish the game at least, but most of the bugs still happen on and off. Also the achievements are broken.

This game should NOT have been a full release. It should be an early access game, at best. It's buggy as heck and I'm getting a bit fed up with the bugs. Still, it has potential and I'm really hoping the devs fix the game within a reasonable timeframe.

Pros:
- Really chill.
- You get to fiddle with things and the little tinkerer in me is very happy.
- It's not a pixel hunting game, the tasks are auto-completing once you have enough done by yourself on each piece.
- The graphics are really nice.

Cons:
- Painting can get tedious with the first two tool (paintbrush and airbursh).
- Lack of colors for painting, I need the whole damn rainbow! ;P
- Huge FPS drops when switching for tool to tool (necessary once you get the detergent, since you have to switch to the rags and so forth to work on a piece.
- Huge FPS drops in cutscenes and after cutscenes as well (yes, even the 2D one.
- The whole concept of finishing a day is nice, but it's extra unclear, and may lead to confusion and thinking that pressing the button didn't do anything. If the game auto-backs to the main menu of the computer screen, with the new email notification, it would at least make it clear that something DID happen and you're on the next day.
- When in the Disassembling/Reassembling station, you can't start working on the piece until you select a tool (even if the first few parts don't need any tools)
- The "completed part" sound effect sounds way too much like the sound you hear in a Google Meet when someone joins and it annoys the crap out of me. (sorry!)
- The higher end tools are extra expensive, which means that you may only be able to unlock then very later into the game and the jobs you complete barely give you any money, no matter how complicated they are (25$ for the basket with over a 100 parts, really???)
- I wish you could VARNISH wood parts instead of painting them. Painting wood feels like a sin on some of the pieces.

And because it need a whole section to itself, here is a list of immersion-breaking bugs I hit so far:
- After a cutscene, you are stuck with the "Press E to..." prompt in your screen until you interact with another item (door, tools, etc.)
- Alt to show parts doesn't always work.
- When I got to the reassembling part of the sewing machine, I hit a progression break. The first part would pop up on-screen and stayed in the tray. I was forced to save, quit the game. and come back for things to go back to normal... But then it started happening on every item I tried to reassemble.
- I am at the bread cutter, and I can't disassemble it... I tried saving, quitting and restarting the game, no dice, complete progression break there.
- The "Trays" counter doesn't work and always stays at "0/xx" trays in progression.
- The "part completed" sound effect doesn't always trigger.
- At one moment, I lost most of the subtitles and animations in a cutscene, I had been playing for a few hours straight, which leads me to think there is a memory leak somewhere...
- When reassembling the basket, the first piece was invisible, and the rest got build around it normally... It just looks like mine is missing a piece, visually... (Whoops...)

Bottom line: love the game, but it needs to be fixed, so I don't recommend buying until then. This review WILL change once the most major bugs are fixed (hopefully soon?)

The game has a lot of potential, but it is clearly early access.
It was mostly enjoyable, with lots of spooky happenings, we had a lot of fun, but at this moment I find that its biggest weakness is that you spend about 5 minutes surveying the houses to find the cold spot, gather the evidence and observe a few phenomenons and 30-45 minutes of reading through the ghost wiki to figure out the ghost type as per the phenomenons you observed. And with the amount of ghosts that Kyle has planned for the game, there will definitely be a need for an easier method of going through the ghosts types and figuring out the likeliest type.
The problem is that many interactions we got in our games night were quite "generic" as they were listed for many ghosts, so we had to read, re-read, re-re-read and re-re-re-read the interactions to pinpoint the correct ghost type and it was really, really an arduous and boring task. And it kept going like: "Well it did a lot of this and that, which are common for this ghost type but not for those ghost types, so it should be that first ghost type". After minutes upon minutes of re-reading the wiki and deliberation, we were almost always right, but it still took a hell of a long time and it made for quite long and boring moments of either standing in the equipment room and shushing up during haunts or standing outside to be able to exchange info more freely as a team.
But unless you remember each and every ghost type and all the interactions by rarity for each, you are inevitably forced to read the wiki over and over again.
A checklist of interactions would be a nice way to avoid these long (and quite frankly boring, at least for the people who were watching my stream) moments of deliberations. If you could go through a checklist with lists and categories of interactions it would take away that time you waste on re-reading the wiki and take the focus back on surveying the house to observe phenomenons, note them, and narrow down the list of suggested ghost types.
Despite this weakness, it is still a game that I recommend and I'm looking forward to how Kyle shapes it out in the future.