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Garden Story

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Garden Story
Developer(s)Picogram
Publisher(s)Rose City Games
Programmer(s)Picogram
Artist(s)Picogram
Composer(s)Grahm Nesbitt
Platform(s)
ReleasemacOS, Windows, Switch
August 11, 2021
Xbox One
July 12, 2022
Genre(s)Action role-playing
Mode(s)Single-player

Garden Story is an action role-playing game developed by Picogram and published by Rose City Games. The game was released for macOS, Windows, and Nintendo Switch on August 11, 2021, and for Xbox One on July 12, 2022. Limited Run Games announced that physical copies would be distributed in Q3 2022.

The game follows Concord, a grape who takes care of the kindergarten, which is tended by the youngest Greenling. Plum, the Guardian of Spring Hamlet, tells them that the Rot is causing the lack of new Greenlings. Plum appoints Concord as the new Guardian of Spring Hamlet, and Concord goes on a journey across the Grove to defeat the Rot. Garden Story received mixed reviews from critics, who praised the visuals and music, but were underwhelmed by the gameplay.

Gameplay

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Concord fighting Octopihi, a boss.

In Garden Story, players control a grape named Concord, who has to travel across the Grove and eliminate the Rot that resides there.[1] Concord can wield a sword, a hammer, and a dowsing rod. Each weapon can be upgraded with materials.[2] An enemy may require the use of a certain weapon to defeat them.[2] Weapons can be used to solve puzzles and gather resources. Concord can use the dowsing rod to grab items or activate switches.[2] Attacking, rolling and sprinting depletes Concord's stamina gauge.[1]

In each town that they visit, Concord is given a house where they can change their clothes, store materials, and refill bottles.[2] Garden Story has a day-night cycle.[2] The day ends if Concord dies or goes to sleep.[3][2] When Concord wakes up, they are given daily tasks to complete.[1] Each day, the requests on the bulletin board are changed.[2] When Concord rests, the town earns experience points from requests completed during the previous day.[2] The experience points are given to one of three categories.[4] Increasing the level of each category upgrades the inventory of the town's shops.[2] Some towns have to reach a certain level to progress in the story.[2] They are leveled up when Concord completes the town's requests.[4] Concord can collect new resources by planting seeds. Some seeds have to be planted to progress through the story.[1] Concord can build structures around town, and purchase cosmetic items from the stores.[1] To gain access to an area's dungeon, Concord has to complete requests and gather resources. Concord has to defeat the dungeon's boss to move on to the next area.[5]

Orbs can be found around the island.[2] Concord can break them and consume the gems inside of them.[2] These gems provide permanent upgrades to Concord's stats, including stamina, health, resistance, and mind.[2] Perks can be used to change Concord's stats and abilities, which are obtained when they complete tasks.[2] These perks represent memories which alter stats and grant abilities.[2] Concord can restore their health with bottles filled with dew.[2]

Development and release

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Garden Story was developed by Filipino-American creator Picogram.[6] The soundtrack was composed by Grahm Nesbitt, who also composed the soundtracks of Goodbye Doggy and Floppy Knights.[6] Garden Story's development started in March 2018.[7] After seeing the game in Portland-based events, Rose City Games partnered with Picogram.[7]

In August 2019, Viz Media announced Garden Story for PC, with a scheduled release in spring 2020.[8][9] The game was featured at PAX West 2019 Featured at PAX South 2020.[10][11] A demo showing off a region called Autumn Town was released on Steam in November.[12] It was available until December 21.[13] Garden Story was a part of the Indie Megabooth at PAX East 2020.[14] The developers showcased the game at the Fellow Traveller event, LudoNarracon.[7] To prepare for the event, Picogram recorded themselves making art. Grahm had discussions about composition, and played live versions of the soundtrack's songs.[7]

In June, Garden Story was delayed to 2021.[15] In July, the game was featured at Twitch's Indie Showcase.[16] The developers received funding from Kowloon Nights, a funding source founded in 2017.[17][18] Garden Story's demo was playable during the Steam Game Festival: Spring Edition.[19][20] At the Day of the Devs event, a trailer was released, showing gameplay footage.[21] Garden Story was given a release window of summer.[22][23] The game was featured in Wholesome Games' Wholesome Direct.[24][25] In August, Garden Story was showcased at Nintendo's Indie World event.[26][27] A Switch release was announced on that same day.[28]

On August 11, 2021, Garden Story was released for Windows, macOS, and Nintendo Switch.[29] The game was also featured at Nintendo's Indie World Showcase.[30] Garden Story received a free expansion, which added shops to the Perennial Plaza, and cosmetic items for Concord. The expansion was released on Steam on October 28.[6][31] At Limited Run Games' LRG3 presentation, a physical release for Garden Story was announced.[32] The copies are slated for pre-order in Summer 2022.[33]

Reception

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Garden Story received "mixed or average" reviews, according to review aggregator Metacritic.[34][35]

TouchArcade's Shaun Musgrave called the world "positively adorable", and described the game as a "Zelda style" action-adventure. Musgrave wrote that the presentation and characters helped "pull it along". He criticized the technical issues of the Switch version, including the length of the load times. Musgrave believed that Garden Story would appeal to fans of Blossom Tales or Ittle Dew.[36] Kate Gray from Nintendo Life praised the game's music and the variety of systems, but felt that the game quickly lost momentum.[4]

Izzy Parsons from RPGFan lauded the game's graphics and enjoyed the soundtrack. However, Parsons felt that the game design was repetitive and that there was no sense of cohesion or progression in the dungeons. Parsons believed that the characters and world had a magnetism, and wrote that Garden Story was "definitely worth checking out".[2] Nintendo World Report's Jordan Rudek felt that the game made a good first impression, but did not build on its momentum. He praised the art style and music, comparing the visuals to Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion. Rudek believed that the story and combat were insufficiently compelling, and deemed the gameplay loop uninspired.[1]

References

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Notes
  1. ^ Score based on 6 reviews.
  2. ^ Score based on 17 reviews.
References
  1. ^ a b c d e f g Rudek, Jordan (19 August 2021). "Garden Story (Switch) Review". Nintendo World Report. Retrieved 26 June 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Parsons, Izzy (2 September 2021). "Garden Story | RPGFan". RPGFan. Retrieved 26 June 2022.
  3. ^ Gerblick, Jordan (22 October 2021). "Have you tried… Saving the world as a grape in Zelda-meets-Stardew RPG Garden Story?". GamesRadar+. Retrieved 27 June 2022.
  4. ^ a b c d Gray, Kate (22 August 2021). "Review: Garden Story - A Flawed But Charming RPG In Farm Sim's Clothing". Nintendo Life. Retrieved 26 June 2022.
  5. ^ Nightingale, Ed (23 August 2021). "You need to play this delightfully wholesome game about sentient, non-binary fruit". PinkNews. Retrieved 27 June 2022.
  6. ^ a b c Bashir, Dale (20 October 2021). "Filipino-American Action RPG 'Garden Story' Getting Substantial Autumn Update This Month". IGN Southeast Asia. Retrieved 26 June 2022.
  7. ^ a b c d Windom, Jenny (14 May 2020). "Cultivating Curation: LudoNarraCon 2020 Recap". Gamasutra. Retrieved 26 June 2022.
  8. ^ Fuller, Alex (21 August 2019). "VIZ Media Announces Garden Story". RPGamer. Retrieved 27 June 2022.
  9. ^ Romano, Sal (20 August 2019). "VIZ Media and Rose City Games announce pixel graphic adventure game Garden Story for PC". Gematsu. Retrieved 26 June 2022.
  10. ^ Welhouse, Zach (9 September 2019). "Garden Story PAX West 2019 Impression". RPGamer. Retrieved 27 June 2022.
  11. ^ Denzer, TJ (24 January 2020). "Garden Story hands-on preview at PAX South 2020". Shacknews. Retrieved 26 June 2022.
  12. ^ LeClair, Kyle (12 November 2019). "Free Demo For Cozy Adventure/RPG Game Garden Story Now Available - Hardcore Gamer". Hardcore Gamer. Retrieved 27 June 2022.
  13. ^ Chalk, Andy (15 November 2019). "Try the super-cute adventure-RPG Garden Story for free in the new demo on Steam". PC Gamer. Retrieved 27 June 2022.
  14. ^ Romano, Sal (11 February 2020). "Indie Megabooth announces PAX East 2020 lineup". Gematsu. Retrieved 27 June 2022.
  15. ^ Mejia, Ozzie (25 June 2020). "Garden Story pushes its harvest back to 2021". Shacknews. Retrieved 27 June 2022.
  16. ^ Chalk, Andy (27 July 2020). "Twitch's Indie Showcase will feature Garden Story, Nuts, Werewolf, and more". PC Gamer. Retrieved 27 June 2022.
  17. ^ Van Allen, Eric (5 February 2021). "Kowloon Nights announces litany of indie studio partnerships". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved 26 June 2022.
  18. ^ MCV Staff (8 February 2021). "[From the industry] Kowloon Nights announces 23 new titles, continues to quietly revolutionize game funding". MCV/Develop. Retrieved 26 June 2022.
  19. ^ Adler, Matthew (18 March 2020). "Steam's Spring Game Festival Features Over 40 Playable Demos Until March 23rd". IGN. Retrieved 26 June 2022.
  20. ^ Fuller, Alex (19 March 2020). "Steam Game Festival Makes Limited-Time Demos Available". RPGamer. Retrieved 26 June 2022.
  21. ^ Tekaia, Pascal (12 June 2021). "Garden Story to Sprout This Summer". RPGamer. Retrieved 26 June 2022.
  22. ^ Romano, Sal (10 June 2021). "Garden Story launches this summer". Gematsu. Retrieved 26 June 2022.
  23. ^ Valentine, Rebekah (10 June 2021). "Day of the Devs: Everything Shown Including Last Stop Release Date, and Axiom Verge 2 - Summer of Gaming". IGN. Retrieved 26 June 2022.
  24. ^ Valentine, Rebekah (12 June 2021). "Wholesome Direct: Everything Announced, Including Lake Release Date, Skatebird Accessibility - Summer of Gaming". IGN. Retrieved 26 June 2022.
  25. ^ Fuller, Alex (27 May 2020). "Wholesome Direct Highlights Upcoming Indie Titles". RPGamer. Retrieved 26 June 2022.
  26. ^ Fuller, Alex (18 August 2020). "Nintendo Indie World Showcase Round-Up". RPGamer. Retrieved 26 June 2022.
  27. ^ Dornbush, Jonathon (18 August 2020). "Nintendo Indie World August 18 Showcase Highlights 14 Switch Games". IGN. Retrieved 26 June 2022.
  28. ^ Romano, Sal (18 August 2020). "Garden Story adds Switch version". Gematsu. Retrieved 26 June 2022.
  29. ^ Romano, Sal (11 August 2021). "Garden Story now available". Gematsu. Retrieved 26 June 2022.
  30. ^ Stewart, Marcus (11 August 2021). "Everything You Need To Know About Today's Nintendo Indie World Showcase". Game Informer. Archived from the original on August 11, 2021. Retrieved 26 June 2022.
  31. ^ Gray, Kate (19 October 2021). "Free 'Garden Story' Update Adds New Shops, Shortcuts, And Hats". Nintendo Life. Retrieved 27 June 2022.
  32. ^ Denzer, TJ (6 June 2022). "Limited Run Games LRG3 2022 showcase - All announcements & trailers". Shacknews. Retrieved 26 June 2022.
  33. ^ Fuller, Alex (7 June 2022). "Limited Run Games Reveals New Physical Releases". RPGamer. Retrieved 26 June 2022.
  34. ^ a b "Garden Story for PC Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 26 June 2022.
  35. ^ a b "Garden Story for Switch Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 26 June 2022.
  36. ^ a b Musgrave, Shaun (23 August 2021). "SwitchArcade Round-Up: Reviews Featuring 'Fort Triumph' and More, Plus the Latest New Releases and Sales – TouchArcade". TouchArcade. Retrieved 26 June 2022.
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