Veil of Dust: A Homesteading Game

I essentially played this for 8hrs straight. This is a project that is very obviously created by a small team, so expectations must be tempered. However, this is not a critique, just a reality. And undeniably, Veil of Dust oozes with love. You can see it in the writing. Each line, each relationship, each dynamic is explored with a level of care and devotion, to make the characters feel human, rather than just spamming gifts to your chosen spouse to make them love you. In all honesty, the true pull of the game isn't the potential sweethearts, but the love between a sister and a brother who have been profoundly shaped by trauma. Don't get me wrong, I loved getting the wives together, but you cannot beat a hug mechanic between family members who truly love each other. As for gameplay, I am legitimately impressed by how much content there is. Of course, some of it is repetitive, but no other farming game has made me actually take care of my crops or my animals quite as much as Veil of Dust has. They know thie genre, they know you're gonna be gunning to get married, but you need money to do so. And the stamina debuffs from not eating, while not unfair, will end up punishing you. Not by making you lose progress, but by making you lose time. Which is effective. I'm an impatient person. If I lost my items, I would have gotten frustrated. Forcing me to slow down however? Worked much better. My biggest critique is that Veil of Dust will leave you wanting more. There's plot points I would like to see expanded upon, relationships and dialogues I'd want to see deepened. This is not because the game is shallow, it is just VERY obvious that these devs are passionate and had an awful lot ot ambition for the game. Killing your darlings has to be done during a project on a limited budget. My hope is that this game gets the attention it deserves, so the devs can expand more on their vision. Writing that can make you feel very emotional and then in the next line of dialogue make you laugh is something special. TL;DR This is worth your time if you want a narrative based game that's full of love, but also forces you to obey mechanics in a fair way.

Overall, an interesting story to follow with good cutscene dialogues, but not good enough to overcome its shortcomings. However it has too many gripes to recommend: - the game encourages you to talk often to characters, yet almost all day to day dialogues are repeated since game start with no regard to story events. This ensures that any new interesting dialogues you get every 20 days (rough count) gets buried under repeated dialogues. This is my main gripe. - Movement controls is very clunky. You will get stuck on things. You will need to restart the day at multiple points in the game if you choose the wrong spot to talk to characters. - Combat controls is also clunky. The peak of my frustration is hunting elks with Shane. Shane's main attack is shotgun, which only "fires" if you click on the elk. However, there's a 1-second delay between your click and the shotgun's "firing", which is really bad when the bullet isn't guaranteed to hit. To kill an elk you need to corner it in repeated encounters until you get lucky and the elk AI gets stuck on sth long enough for enough bullets to hit. - Some placeable furnitures (end tables in my case) aren't placed in the correct "image layer", if that makes sense. End tables that're supposed to be physically in front of a shelf is in the image layer under the shelf. Same issue when placing end tables near the kitchen wall. In conclusion, it's a narrative-heavy game that buries its interesting dialogues under boring grind, with resource management aspects that's bogged down by clunky controls.

Well this was fun. It's a slightly different "farming game" -> Here you don't manage a bunch of crops, but rather focus on stats and survival and hunting too. You can either play as Aine (sister) or Shane (brother) character and each of them has their own thing. But let's face it... If you want to do magic/speed up plant growth and want Laan? You gotta go with Aine. XD So for now I can only tell you stuff from the perspective of the Sister character. If you aren't good at these games... There is "Casual Mode". Especially for fighting: since it wont refill the monster's HP if your characters happen to fall. There is also lots of walking and gathering. If you like desert areas with minimal growth? You'll like this. The game explains stuff and gives you a "Hints" box in game on how to push the Main Story line, so I wont spend time on it. Love Interests: Arthur (the one who talks a lot of boring science stuff...), The Blue Girl (she is adorable, but...!)... When Laan appears on the screen? He steals the show. And not because he is a supernatural being... (Who is also male... With horns...) He is damn charming and majority of the time I tried to do duties in the FASTEST way possible... Just so my MC can spend time with him. I honestly didn't expect a fluffy story, but damn..! Talking about two particular events (and not just with Laan). Kudos on all of that. Getting to the part where you are together was wild and worth it. Heck, I even build all I could! Just so they could be together. >I had a little issue with a "zombie brother" (no stats went up for him whilst he slept or rather... Didn't) bug in the end... Which the Developers helped me fix rather quickly. So I went and finished the game and... It certainly wasn't what I expected!< However despite the already intriguing story... The best part of it all? Was the relationship between the brother and the sister, as well as the lessons. The lessons should be read/heard and taken to heart... And for those... I dearly thank you... :') Thank ya and super good work! I look forward to more of your projects in the future!! :> :D :3

A game I couldn’t put down!! I enjoyed just about every part of it, from the storyline to the farming mechanics, to the cooking, and most of all, the dialogue and romances. I had such a blast getting to enjoy such great dialogue. Dialogue is usually a make or break for me and this was definitely a make. Please play this game! You won’t regret it!

讲诉的是魔法妹妹和她的麻瓜哥哥在奇幻风格的美国旧西部种田安家[strike] 挨饿 [/strike]的故事。 强烈建议先通关一次妹妹的线，然后再尝试哥哥的视角，因为哥哥看不见超自然现象，第一次玩很容易对主线剧情一头雾水[spoiler] 比如整天看着妹妹跟空气谈笑风生 [/spoiler]。当然，如果你喜欢那种事后恍然大悟的体验也不是不行。 对于生命、饥饿与体力的管理是我很喜欢的部分，这套机制很好地让人体会到农场生活的艰辛，毕竟当一个人不用吃饭或者不会累的时候，很难感受到劳动所得的回报。[spoiler] 以及你的老哥进城打工一整天，累得要死要活只能赚4美分。 [/spoiler] 诡异的碰撞体积让战斗和行走非常蛋疼，但是剧本好到足以弥补这些缺陷，很高兴看到一个种田游戏愿意讨论一些深刻的剧情，而人物说话不像大部分同类型游戏那样故意降智以显得“幽默”。 to developers: 1. hope the game settings can be maintained. I like to play game of window, but every time restar the game, it always turns to full screen, which is a bit troublesome. 2. It is recommended to adjust the BGM volume separately from the sound effect volume, as bees always make too loudly. anyway, this is a very excellent story. In addition, the meeting of Chinese businessmen is very interesting. I really have a headache about English name like him, lol

This game is an interesting take on many popular farm sims with a fresh art style. It's a good game with some rough edges, but it's a complete game which is great - considering how many games don't feel done. For me, I heeded the intro warning and took the casual option, I'm grateful I did because the game never felt "easy". I still struggled a bit and it certainly took me awhile to forage, etc. The weight of every decision is present, nothing ever becomes easier for the characters, you just improve their sleeping quarters and meals so they restore quicker. I've nearly finished my first play through - as Aine and decided to pick Laan as her love interest. The plot and desire to upgrade their property kept me engaged for many hours and I never found it boring. All the character relationships are intriguing and well-developed. I appreciate that even though Aine, and likely Shane, has a variety of love interests they fit well with her character. She's outgoing and friendly, all of her love interests have different mannerisms and intrigues, but tend towards shy and awkward. Also, I love the romance/plot tracker as it helped me pace myself without fearing I'd make a decision that irrevocably tied me to one character. The story is amazing as well, something unique and different. I did have some issues with the game, mainly things I feel like if the developers wanted to take extra time to smooth out they could. However, I can't say if I'd want them to update this so much as invest their time creating another game I could love. But some things I noticed include: I wish there was somewhere I could put excess items, like the random ashes and flowers I accumulate, such as a chest because my inventory is loaded. Some of the cut scenes don't transition smooth, I noticed like a brief flickering in scenes with the romantic interests and even though it's done well the walking animation seems a bit alien to me. It could be the hands, I'm not sure. Also, I had issues with the mixed dye in game - I mixed it to the color I wanted, but could not apply it to anything, struggled and now the walls of my farmhouse are purple. And it says it can be removed, but I don't know how. In terms of decor - I couldn't take things off the side tables without completely picking up the table. Also - it's not too bad, but after playing so intensely the first few days cause I loved it - I'm getting a bit tired of the foraging/walking between areas bit. To be honest, I wish I could make the farmhouse a bit prettier and the characters could interact with the farmhouse but I also am aware this was made by two people and it does feel complete to me so far. Overall, it's wonderful and delightful. Again, despite my minor issues the game feels like a complete and well-rounded piece, not something early access or "not early access with many updates coming" you'll be left wondering about years later. I do feel like there will probably be another update at some point but you could finish the game without it. You cannot personalize a lot of their living space I want to note, that's big in some farm sims for people (like Animal Crossing) and this game really fits the feel of people struggling to survive on their farmstead. I mean mine spent weeks in a shack, so a proper wall was nice. This game is definitely worth its full price value, but I did purchase it on sale for about $9. I rarely do replays, unless I truly love a game, but once I finish I might play again some time. I also might replay just to see Shane's side. Oh, I almost forgot - I do love the variety in the love interests. Each of them has three, only Aine has a same sex option for one, but one thing I don't know if I've actually seen before is Shane has a love interest who is a single parent. I could be wrong, but I don't know if I've seen that in a farming sim game before so I love that. Kudos for that. I have a feeling it doesn't go like this, but it'd be nice to play one sibling and continue with the file save like New Game plus and then simply pursue the other sibling's plot line - but that seems quite an endeavor to program. And you'd probably have to balance it with more property updates that just aren't there (at the moment at least).

A fun story-driven game. There is no timeline to follow so you can focus on farming/homesteading or in the very engaging story. So far, i've only played with one of the main chars, but the fact that you can re-play it from another perspective it's an awsome concept. Totally recomendable!

[b][h2]TLDR:[/h2][/b][b][h2]Veil of Dust: A Homesteading Game is a historical adventure that challenges you to imagine the difficulties, love, and mysteries of the Old West.[/h2][/b] This game is a strange, but wonderful, mix of a farming simulator, romance, and light combat. [b][h2]Brief Summary: [/h2][/b] You have the choice to play as either Aine, (sorry, I am missing the accent here) the sister, or Shane, the brother, two new arrivals to Oregon into 1860. The siblings arrive after a series of tragedies to find themselves in charge of a patch of land and the duty to figure out how to use it. However, things on the homestead are more than what they seem. The first important choice of the game is to choose your player character. In another game, this is just the choice between which gender you want to play as, but in Veil of Dust the question is much more important. The narratives of both siblings follow the same throughline, but we experience the plot through two incredibly different lenses. As Shane you play the world through the eyes of a man, viscerally aware of your place in society, the racism against Irish Americans (among many others) faced in 1860s Oregon, and the burden of leading a family with secrets when you’re just becoming a man yourself. - OR - You can play as Aine, a young woman distinctly outside of even the realm her brother can interact with. She sees the magic of the world, and for her safety, she must find her place in nature, rather than with other people. Both siblings are treating their homestead as a new beginning, but it becomes obvious that the world around them, and the past they’ve left behind, are more than just the background to their new lives. [b][h2]What It’s Like to Play:[/h2][/b] Balance is key. Each character in your household has mood bars that need to be maintained: [b]Health[/b], [b]Morale[/b], [b]Hunger[/b] and [b]Stamina[/b]. [b]Health[/b] is affected by potential attacks. Health will recover a little bit per night, but if it reaches zero things become more drastic. [b]Morale[/b] is the true *mood* bar. Life on the ranch can be harrowing. Your characters will naturally wonder if their desperate bid to make a better life for themselves through farming will work out. Characters can get depressed (especially if you feed them certain food), which can affect your stamina. Pleasant conversations and good food improve morale. [b]Cooking[/b], not just what you plant, but what products you get from animals and nature, means that [i]what you cook and eat matters just as much as how often you eat[/i]. Your meals might improve your hunger or stamina, but they could bring down your morale or health. As the player, you have to find the right balance between what you can afford to eat instead of selling, what the benefits are of the meals you can make, and when you feed your household (the player character is responsible for giving food to their siblings). Hunger will always drain over time. [b]Stamina[/b] is your energy to *do* things. Whether that’s hunting, climbing, watering crops, planting crops, swinging a weapon, or any number of physical activities. Stamina improves while you sleep, so it’s worth it to try and get a full night of rest. However, that might mean getting less work done. While actively juggling your mood bar, your character is also playing the main story. The theme of the main plot surrounds family, outsiders, society, and personal growth. I found the main story compelling and fulfilling for both characters, and I was more than a little sad when I reached the end of the game. Luckily, ending the main plot doesn’t end the game, it just gives the player more time to devote to the other aspects of it. One of those aspects is romance. Your player can pursue romances with one of three characters (each sibling has three potential romantic interests), which will progress at certain intersections with the main plot. I only played through three of the six total (because of the save system, more on that later), and found each to be impressive. All the romanceable characters reveal another area of this society, what problems the characters might be facing, and what they want out of life. It was great to see these characters grow as individuals and flourish into a healthy and loving partnership. Another key aspect of the game is the farming simulator. You need to take care of the ranch, both by farming and by making your ranch an actual home (which will increase your statistics and unlock other streams of income). Building and improving the ranch requires certain materials, which you will either need to find or buy. Money is hard to come by, but you can sell your goods at the local store, or work at the store for some additional income. Veil of Dust unfurls based on your timeline and wishes, but it requires a careful balancing act that highlights the difficulty of what life back then must have actually been like. [b][h2] So What?[/h2][/b] [b]Oh, I loved this game[/b]. I didn’t think I would. I bought it on sale many months ago while it was still in early access, but I do get a general sense of nerves when a game tells me I’m going to play as a set character. I start to wonder how strong the writing is, and if it’s necessary to be set in a specific identity. In this case, yes, I completely understood why Shane and Aine were the main characters, and the way they were written not only made me love them as characters but as a family. I found it particularly fulfilling to play the game from one perspective, and then to play the game from the other sibling’s perspective. It made both characters make more sense, and their teamwork felt more amazing than ever. I wish I had a brother to hug after the game was over. The farming was FRUSTRATING, and I actually LOVED THIS. I was always struggling between how much food I could sell, how many crops I needed to make new seeds, and what I could keep to feed both siblings. Is it better to have my sibling go out hunting, knowing that they might return with nothing, or spend a full day working at the shop, knowing that they’ll have wasted a day and brought back barely any money? Even at my most successful, there was only ever just enough money, (although ultimately my house improved massively). The farming made me really think about the history of homesteading, what was constantly at risk, and how hard it must have been to depend on so many factors that might not ever pan out. However, love and persistence make you want to try your hardest not to fail. The game is excellently done. Although I do have a short list of gripes! Three save slots were not enough!!!! Why would you do us this way? I want to play all six routes, but I’m unwilling to fight that big bad again or lose my save slots. [spoiler] Why do the monsters still attack after the end game? Shouldn’t that be over? [/spoiler] Lastly, I wish that you could play the main game from one sibling’s perspective and then, once they’re married and happy, play the other sibling’s perspective. As it is now, the epilogue leaves me a bit befuddled. I’m not sure if there’s more after the characters get married, or if this is just the opportunity to get that fancy couch I could never afford before. I think it might’ve been a good idea to let us have the option to switch and play as the other sibling for the epilogue so there was more to do and more to pursue! Just a thought. [b][h2] Rec or No? [/h2][/b] I enthusiastically recommend this game! One more thing! Thanks to the devs for their help when I was stuck! [h1] Visit [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/41411199/] A Variable Review [/url] for more reviews [/h1]

Really clunky. Didn't realize how mouse-heavy the game is. Not good for trackpad players. Constantly sleeping on accident instead of talking to sibling. The idea is cool but the execution is super messy.