Starsand Island

Y'all are nuckin futs. Outraged over anything and everything... even things that don't exist... or at the very least pointing your... steaming hot pile of virtue... in the wrong directions. I don't care about (almost) any of the reasons this game is getting review bombed so you'll have to excuse my extra SNARK on what is my 127th review in 22 years on steam with my catalog of over 1200 games on my profile that's never changed its name, never had a ban or a VAT and isn't set to private AND you can even comment to me if you want to, on my profile or on this review! Shocking. TLDR: I think Starsand Island is A LOT fun, I did get it in EA, but didn't play until after release. I did only pay about 13 bucks for it, but honestly... I think its worth 40. You heard me. I'm 20 hours in (remember this playtime is 100% post-release, not EA) and I'm having an absolute blast... it looks amazing, the characters are fun, the gameplay is fast and rewarding and there's a ton of content. I've only had 1 crash in these 20 hours (and I was really doing some weird stuff at the time) and yes it seems like there is a bug right now in the explorer quest line, that the devs have acknowledged and said they are working on a patch for it. Starsand Island is basically a Chinese anime baby of My Time at Portia and Stardew Valley. Its got all the QoL you'd expect and more... and wow it is fun to play, things feel quick and impactful and the town is AMAZING, the decorating and building is amazing... and there's even premade housing templates that you can plop down and then customize to your hearts desire... or just build from scratch. The vehicles are fun and varied, granted its not like Forza 6 but... come on man there's skateboards, rollerblades, motorcycles, hoverboards, jet skis. The character creation isn't super deep but I was still able to make a character I was happy with and I'm having a good time playing dress up. As you progress through the quests for the 5 professions you unlock a lot of stuff and it starts out quick and easy but ramps way up. Even once you do finish a profession there's still A LOT left to do. A LOT. Now don't get me wrong, I'm all for review bombing. Its a proven way to get our voices heard when for decades we've just been screaming into the void. What I'm saying here is that THIS SPECIFIC game... I don't really get the complaints. At least not to the level that people are taking it. 1) AI... The Devs say no and I don't see any, so... who should I believe some rando on the internet with a rage problem or the people making the game? Eh. I'll need more than that to get my heckles up. What actually happened was probably one of you decided to flex and hired some positive review bots so that then you could be like... oooohh look they're bad, its literally a ONE PUNCH MAN episode... regardless, lets say there are fake reviews and AI... I. Dont. Care. Game. Is. Fun. I hate AI but I also think in this specific instance most people are overblowing by a lot. 2) Kickstarter Shenanigans... ROFL are you kidding me? That's just Kickstarter being Kickstarter. What you thought someone trying to sell you an IDEA for your DONATION is gonna give you the 100% raw unfiltered truth with no hidden agendas or double speak? ROFL, MY SWEET SUMMER CHILD, YOU KNOW NOTHING. I'm a former superbacker, this is like a normal Tuesday night. 3) Investors... Really? Do we need a lesson in business? Investors invest, developers develop, publishers publish, and most people have shocking low IQs... hard facts I guess... Sure, sure, sure, sometimes there's some crossover, but that doesn't mean there always is, or that its something the gamers should care about. If you really wanna boycott EVERYTHING Tencent owns or even invests in... good luck with that. The complaint here I guess is that they can't be indie if someone big owns them... but having a parent company doesn't necessarily mean anything... Still mad? Fine forget all of that... you're angry/surprised that a Chinese company is behaving exactly like a Chinese company. I just can't help you. I really can't. Be worried about flock cameras and stuff like that... this isn't the hill to die on. Yes it irks me a little bit that they played the indie card so well and you all backed well before knowing the truth... I bought the game knowing 100% what I was going into... and I'm glad I did. 4) DLC/Microtrans... Okay this one I do feel a little bit, but not anywhere near the level of MOST other games. I mean its not loot boxes or card packs, and last time I checked there's very little of it, and its totally unnecessary to enjoy the game so... why not let the devs hook a whale or two for a little extra coin? It's not being advertised (anywhere that I can see) so it literally could not affect me less. Lets say I'm completely wrong about everything, okay fine, I agree with you, I'm wrong, you're right, you win... I'm on your side now... buuuuut even still I think its a solid game that is super fun to play... honestly I think its one of the best cozy games I've ever played. Maybe I'm just being a contrarian but... I could see myself 100%-ing the game and then still continuing to play. To me that means the game is actually quite frickin' good! P.S. Its 2 am and I'm hungry, I see some edits I should make already but... I'm gonna go eat first, is that okay with you? Thanks. P.P.S. I wasn't really looking for your approval, I'm an adult. This is just a joke, please don't get too angry, its bad for you. P.P.P.S. Hey if you're still reading this lets be friends, send me an invite and if you don't have a level 0 private account, I'll actually consider adding you.