Peachleaf Pirates

Peachleaf Pirates released in 2021 by Dog Kiss Studio as a relatively unknown pirate themed point & click farm-sim adventure. Upon playing I could feel the heart and soul that went into it's simple retro styled graphics and it's lighthearted point & click adventure story sets it apart from the post-covid market saturation of cozy farming simulations. This review is available on video here; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lLfBWCgkOI The game begins when the player character, who they call Joe, washes up on the shore. Afterward Joe has to start life on the island, working a farm and meeting all the wacky inhabitants. Voodoo witches, casino goblins, tribal robots and a slew of other captivating pirate island types. The main story consists of a variety of point & click style puzzles full of dad-jokes in which Joe ends up thwarting an evil wizard from the island. As per main story, its weakest point is that the end section feels awfully abrupt. I imagine some content was cut and/or rushed. It is implied through dialogue that a DLC expansion or sequel are potentially underway though I'm not holding my breath on it. Besides the main quest there are quite a few side quests that function similarly. The largest chunk of gameplay exists as the standard Stardew Valley styled farming simulation. Use different tools to work the farm, plant your crops, water them and wait for growth. Finally sell them to earn monetary compensation and perpetuate the process growing the farm bigger. I liked the fantasy diseases that could infect crops. I don't recall that being a feature in other farm sims I have played previously and it was an interesting mechanic to further micromanage the farm. Potential downside for some folks; Generally farm games are not for me and overall most of my playtime was spent doing the point & click stuff rather than farming. I keep meaning to return and put a solid chunk of time into the farm section but am distracted by other titles and feel my opinion of the game wouldn't change regardless. A third section of gameplay exists through combat in the mining section. This is a sort of mini roguelike experience where you use a sword and level up some magic abilities RPG style. I definitely spent the least amount of time in this gamemode as to me it seemed the most minimal and felt a bit clunky. Perhaps if I spent more time here I'd start to "get it" better but as per now I've mostly waved it off as being not for me. The graphics are very colorful but also very simple. I can see the angle people come from where they find it distasteful but I am exactly the opposite. The highly simplistic style I think works great with its story and presents itself as more unique in my eyes. It reminds me of a more vibrant and detailed NES or maybe Atari game. The music and sounds are very enjoyable for me as well. Even though it has been months since I put hours into playing this game I still find myself hearing the theme song in my head. It gives me a feeling similar to childhood nostalgia although its only been something like a year since I've first heard the song. Despite not delving wholeheartedly into every aspect of the game I still managed to put a solid 12 hour chunk of time into Peachleaf Pirates and I definitely feel I got my worth as I cherish the time spent playing. My walkthrough of the main quest is available here; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Or7s4zrwF1I