Paleo Pines

First of all, i bought this game while it was heavily discounted(80%) and i still feel like I paid far too much. -The artstyle of everything but the dinosaurs was insanely lacking, it made me feel like i was playing a knock-off version of a youtube-kids series. -The character customization was disappointing (the hairstyles specifically were my least favorite). -The map is far too large for what there is to do (which is little) and that leaves the majority of anywhere explorable feeling unfinished and boring. Along side that, the map is very boring to explore itself. There is little to no visual interest at the best of times. -The gameplay itself was monotonous: Find dinosaur, plant food, go to town. -I'd have appreciated at least a couple more ways to interact with my dinosaur aside from petting it and giving it a treat -The stamina system is annoying, it doesn't really refill as the day goes on, nor do you really have enough to get a substantial amount of anything done around your farm. It drains way too fast 99% of the time. -The NPC's are boring. If I'm going to be forced to talk to these dweebs they could at least be interesting to interact with. You get a generic nerd, a generic rancher/cowgirl, an old lady, and an annoying kid who's only thing is being bad at cooking. There's nothing discernable about these characters that makes them stand out from any other game, if they were in a movie about their own lives they would somehow manage to be background characters. I love dinosaurs and anything to do with them but this game was so boring and tedious that i cant bring myself to enjoy it. If you're easily satisfied and enjoy repetitive gameplay-loops this is probably something you'd like.

This game is adorable and worth it. I got so burned out on farming/ranching sims there for a while and I feel like this game is healing that. I specifically want to address some of the common complaints people have about the game, because those reviewers kept me from playing this game for a long time and I don't think they are a fair assessment of this game. 1. A lot of reviews complain about the pacing/how slow the characters move - I don't understand this. They must be missing something in the gameplay because by day 6 in-game I had four tamed dinosaur helpers and Lucky (your starter dinosaur) had leveled up enough that I could sprint all day on him. Past about the third day I didn't feel annoyed by character movement. There are literally dinosaurs valued for their speed as steeds and you catch one in the first or second game day. They're complaining about a game that requires playing to...play? I don't get it? You gotta go fast? Then get a dinosaur that goes fast (hint: YOU START WITH ONE). 2. Farming games are tedious - Stardew valley is so grindy I modded out/cheat coded half the stuff because otherwise I found the game unplayable on the second/third pass. I say this so you understand I am 10000% burned out on any game that requires grinding, especially farming games. This game is not grindy. I see a lot of people say watering is tedious etc....yeah. What do you think the dinosaurs are for? I have a tamed dino that waters 20 squares in two sprays. It takes like...30 seconds. Had him by day 6. Play the game. This is like complaining that a wood pickaxe breaks too fast in minecraft so the game is unplayable. "my farming game is to farmy, my dino game too dinoy. I have to feed my dinosaurs and water my crops waaaaaaahhhh" GTFO with that nonsense you sound ridiculous. 3. Graphics - I don't get this either. The graphics for this game are plastered all over the internet. You know what the game looks like before you bought it. It isn't a realism game. It's a cute game. Like complaining that the characters in Animal Crossing look weird so it is unplayable. The only critique I can get behind is the human character design - it isn't great. But ARK human characters are so bad there is a subculture around making them look as terrible as possible. Many games have this problem, and it certainly doesn't affect the playability of the game. 4. Characters are annoying - again, every game ever. Navi in OOT is the most annoying character in the history of gaming and that game is legendary. Just click A through the dialog if you don't want to read it. Jesus christ like WHAT are you complaining about?? It sounds like you don't want to play a game - you want to watch a twitch streamer play a game. So just do that and don't review bomb a game doing perfectly normal game things. Now here is my original review: The Good: -This game was designed through close work with the community and you can tell. There are so many little things in the game that are overlooked by larger developers ranging from mechanics to little details/character quirks -The pacing is perfect, not grinding but not too fast -The months are long so there isn't this pressure to min/max every day. You can take days to just explore/frolic -it reminds me of games from the 2000s as far as learning/exploring goes. The game doesn't overexplain or over tutorial things. It lets you figure things out, but still guides you down a path if you don't know what to do next. It takes a special kind of developer to hit this balance well, and they've done it. -Scratches the gotta catch em all itch, and they've built a lot of great features in to support this gameplay style -The oversqueezed, worn out farming sim game vibe is nonexistent here because you can use dinosaurs to help you farm. They took the idea of a farming sim and said nah, we're doing it differently. They really nailed it. -Responsibility fatigue has not come up in this game. You can easily manage exploring/farming/animal care/task work without getting fatigued or overwhelmed. This game was designed for you to relax and unwind. While you can min/max factory farm, you don't have to in order to be successful and have a great time. -The dinosaurs are literally the cutest models I've ever seen. I can't handle it. The triceratops makes me want to cry omg. The Bad: -The button mechanics are spongy and sometimes frustrating. There is a lot of contextual press-and-hold actions that my brain struggles with, and interacting with objects is gummy. Sometimes the character does what you want, sometimes you have to run in circles a little bit to get the right interaction angle. Not enough to be disruptive but can be frustrating when you're already frustrated/tired. Playing with a controller setup fixes most of this. -not so much a detractor for the game, but there are some things you take for granted in a farming sim that this game doesn't have. For instance, you can't go inside buildings or breed your dinosaurs. That's fine really, and I don't feel the game needs this, but I was kind of surprised at first. I think as long as you go into the game knowing it's different than the textbook farming sim, you'll love it. The Ugly: -the human character designs are horrible. I'M SORRY. They trigger some kind of ancient survival feeling in me. Their eyes are so scary. Their mouths so tiny. Their faces so....flat. I don't know there is something deeply wrong with them. It's weird to have this world that is so incredibly designed and then these weird looking human characters....lurking around. Waiting. Watching. Hunting. I wish they would change it but oh well.

A lot slower and child-like than i personally wanted. refunded cause i preferred games like amber isle and palia and thought this would be like it due to suggestions. Not my personal cup of tea.

I love dinosaurs, so I really wanted to like this game, but the controls are chunky, and it's kinda hard to follow quests. I'm not sure what I have to do and can do, and where I should go. Hope they update the game.

I don't normally make reviews, but this game deserves it. I am a very mentally ill person, smiling is even hard for me more often than not, but this game never fails to make me grin. You genuinely get attached to the characters and feel like you are making a difference in their lives. You feel like you matter. The game is very forgiving and nothing has true consequences. I get excited to wake up now, because it means I get to discover more of this amazing game. This game has helped me through one of my worst ruts in my entire life and has made me feel more than I have in years. I cannot thank or recommend it enough.

Farming/ranching simulation game. You are the young owner of a pet dinosaur who has grown too big for your family home, so you have set off to make a new home for the two of you in abandoned farm. Develop your new home. Meet the villagers. Discover and tame other dinosaurs with your magic flute. Find your pet's origins. I may be jaded from other games. Farming games like Coral Island. Industrializing and village-interacting games like My Time at Portia. Critter acquisition games like Palworld. Games where more effort meant more accomplishment in a more direct way. Games that were more distinct and less...pastel. The devs attempted to make a cute, pretty, family- (perhaps even kid-) friendly game. There are cute dinos. There are cuteish people. Everything looks...quaint. But for me, at least, all of that got tiresome. I got tired of the somewhat washed-out greenery in my face as I roamed across the countryside. Especially as it interfered with harvesting certain materials...I somehow gathered three dandelions and I still don't know what they look like in the wild. Some things about it don't play well with my eyes. I turned on high contrast and still have difficulty reading the journal, tooltips and help. Some of the camera realignments left me dizzy. And my eyes got very, very tired from wandering the countryside looking for dreamstones. Maybe kids' eyes are more suited to this, though I have to wonder what it does to their development if it's affecting my aging eyes like that. It feels like it's hard to accomplish anything. There's a stamina bar for you and your dinos, and no (discovered) means of replenishing it. Tending to a farm with twenty planting plots drains my stamina. Clearing some of the land drains my dino's stamina. I gather from some of my still-locked Steam achievements that the trick is to get the dinos to do the work, but that takes time spent feeding and petting them every day until they're willing to cooperate. I just got to a point where, rather than excitement at prospects and possibilities, I was like, "Okay, what do I want to do now? And how much does it feel like work?" Got the game in a Humble Monthly, so my effective cost was US$2.00. I consider that a good amount to pay to find out I got tired of it easily. Maybe buy it on deep discount to try it out and see if it's your thing. I'm afraid it isn't mine.

I want to like this game, I really do, but it's very bland in terms of what it's capable of. I got it when it was a demo, was happy with it then, have had since early release sale, and I'm just not happy with where it is now. Maybe I'll check back in a couple years, given the devs keep updating, but as of right now, it just doesn't scratch the cozy farmer (+dinos) itch.

This game needs a lot of polishing. First of all you cant jump. Why? Every gamer knows that jumping makes you run faster. Im not saying dinos need to jump just the player character. Second. The fact that player character stamina does not regenerate and you can't even eat is outrageous. Third. You cannot stop and smell the roses in this game, you need to grind and grind fast too because the day does not wait for you. Tame new dinos, find everything to make your dinos happy otherwise they might run away, and farm so you dont become broke. Also complete quests, and cook something for the villagers so they like you. Fourth. Why am I expected to build new pens for my new dinos when everything is covered in rocks, logs and debris? I can't even clear it out because either my dinos are out of stamina or i need a dino that i wont have for a long time. Fifth. The map shjould be more interactive. I'd like to see the name of the zone my mouse is on, and id like to be able to view any zone's map no matter where i am.I will continue playing but i might burn out quickly at this pace.