Cozy Grove

 I had never played Animal Crossing, never played Stardew Valley... I wasn't entirely sure I'd played any "cozy games" before. I wasn't even sure how far the genre went back... had it even been available while I was still neck-deep in the gaming universe??

I have since educated myself. 

Turns out there are plenty of cozy games on the Switch (there might be multiples already posted here!). After watching countless youtube "best cozy games on the Switch" videos, what was the title mentioned most?

Cozy Grove. 

I don't tend to like games that are vomit-inducing saccharin, so the art style made me a bit wary. Seemed like the kind of game everyone my age would go ga-ga over in high school while I was left to play Ehrgeiz by myself (no easy task, as this is a fighting game). I don't always want to escape into a fantastic world where animals talk to me. Where I look suspiciously like a child, regardless of my age. Where everything has cutesy undertones (the names of foods / locations / characters all eluding to something out of a Hello Kitty bakery box). Not without a little tongue-in-cheek, anyway. I understood that Cozy may have been wildly successful and popular while still not being "for me".

The pieces that swayed me were:

1. Your neighbors (neighbears, as the DLC will have you call them) are dead/ghosts.

----intriguing.----

2. The whole "pretty much everyone's dead" aspect lends itself to a bit of levity, and so: there's a sarcastic edge around most corners of dialogue / which stops the game from being too sweet.

----balance.----

3. You could customize your character quite a bit, as could you customize your home. Always a fun little twist. 

----fun.----

So off I went; into the coziest of groves. It had a bit of a slow start, but it was honestly a lot of fun. You start out on this tiny little island, as a tiny little human. You skip past the foundational dialogue (they shouldn't make it take so long. I'm obviously downloading this at midnight, like a regular person) only to piece together context clues as you go on: you are a "Spirit Scout" who basically is like a sash-sporting cub scout who comforts spirits along so they can [some kind of massive realization and/or lesson] and move on. Into the afterlife. 

MAN. I didn't even realize this one was about the same goddamn thing the last 3 (and some future ones) were (will be) about. I genuinely was like "oh, here we go: next one the list is Cozy Grove - that'll be a nice change of pace!" 

Oops.

Again: not my fault that all of the games from this era were death-related. What were we going through? Granted some of these release dates were during pandemmy, but not all of them... Seems like some kind of a consumer-driven fad. According to this The Guardian Article, video games can be a bit more comforting due to their personal nostalgic cracks and crevices. Stored memories. Just you and the game. Ah, yes, community for the latch-key child. (I was basically the Cable Guy as a child, so no judgement here - merely speculating / commenting.) Hm. Doesn't really give me an insight to why specifically this time was a big grief-gaming period, but... I shan't be distracted any longer! Perhaps I can read more about this and speculate / comment / ponder in my Just Thinking space. Or at least a separate entry in here. Onward!

Okay, so, we're familiar with the basic storyline / goals, etc. The visuals are cute, but still stylized enough to be cool. The bits that you can customize are satisfyingly customizable (nothing is worse!) and if you're not into spending the time on that sort of thing: you don't have to! And the game will still go on. 

There's the main quest / stuff where you can work toward building / expanding this little island, making friends with new spirit neighbears / help them move forward in their personal quests. There's the side quest / stuff where you can putz around with the bakery bear and see what food/recipes you can make, see what arrangement makes your plants/pets happiest to get the most resources from them, see how many different fish you can catch, how much money you can save up so you can afford those clothes/furniture/upgrades.

The seasons change with yours in real time, as does the time of day (light to dark). There are even special events on special holidays (Valentine's Day themed, Spring Solstice themed, etc...).

This is the kind of game where there will always be something to do. The kind of game you would always pray for whenever you were home sick from school. The entertainment factor is through the roof on this one.

Until it's not. 

Listen: how many games do you know of that you can play every single day and never tire of? 
(...Other than Don't Starve.)

I'm not trying to make this a huge strike against the game or anything, I'm just letting you know what my side of the story is/was. I loved it, played the hell out of it for too many days in a row (especially since this was one of the first games I downloaded upon re-entry of the game universe) and just got kind of bored with it. I also think my accomplishment-addicted personality is partially to blame, as I chugged through activities like I was level-grinding before a Final Fantasy boss battle. Hey, Lexx: that's not how you play something like this. Cozy games are supposed to be chill, relaxed... You're doing it wrong. 

I think I made it further than I was supposed to / a bit faster than I should have / I'm bad at pacing myself sometimes. My point: I decided to take a break from this one and that was like... half a year ago?

I do want to revisit it, should my little person still be alive and available by the time I go back. I just really did need a break. I honestly think a big part of what I didn't like was what the production was hoping would be the selling points. A majority of the game, for example, is talking to these neighbears and doing their bidding / finding shit for them after they lose it however many times / it's basically Where's Waldo/I SPY / shits sake, how many times am I going to have to find this goddamn broom for this lazy bear?

Turns out I don't like talking to people. And I really don't like having 90% of a game being a search-and-rescue on a just-expansive-enough-to-be-annoying map. I know how games work: there's gonna be conversation between you and the NPCs here and there - that's fine/to be expected. But when you have to talk the the same twelve characters over and over again... It's just a bit much, is all I'm saying. 

I'm glad this game found great success and that the people who love it found it. And I am also glad I downloaded it: it was like a much-friendlier Don't Starve. Just without the battles, ingenuity, fresh maps and intrigue. I think I will love to revisit this one. 

Just gimmie some time.