Welcome to Elderfield

it's everything i hoped it'd be and more. in an era of AI slop, this is the most refreshingly human game i've played in awhile. just pure art.

I feel as though "Spooky Stardew Valley" is a vein people have been trying to mine for like ten years, but the games that release under that specific umbrella are unsuccessful at channeling either the spooky or the stardew. I think the pitfall, if there is one that I see these projects totally trip into, is the lack of mechanical depth therein. Stardew Valley's interlocking mechanics are spartan in their simplicity, the gameplay loop is brutally efficient. People forget this when they talk about that game, and they especially forget it when they point to some new project and say "This is stardew valley PLUS X." To my point - Elderfield has some minor issues. Specifically around its combat and how it sets expectations and communicates those expectations to the player. Hey, is it cozy or creepy? Are we playing around in the halloween town section of disney dreamlight valley or are we rocking out with Fear and Hunger? BUT what this game is really excellent at is successfully evoking the mood i'm looking for in a hypothetical "Spooky Stardew" AND as far as I've seen, there's a similar burgeoning mechanical depth here to stardew. Of course, any newish farm sim game isn't gonna touch the current version of stardew because conceredape has been working on that game for like 100 years, but I can see the vision and I think it's worth it for this dev to plumb them even further. Elderfield is worth your time if you like Junji Ito, Over the Garden Wall and -Actual Harvest Moon- (which I find Elderfield is really more similar to than stardew, but i digress). If you're looking for a cozy game, I don't think you're gonna find this game to be that. Likewise, if you're looking for something so scary you can't play it with the lights off, you're not gonna find that either. If you're somewhere in the middle of those two poles, you'll have a fine time. To the dev - Great vibe, very addictive - please update the fishing minigame. A good fishing minigame is like a load-bearing pillar for any farm/life-sim. It's okay as is, but it could be so much better. Also a clearer path of progression on upgrading inventory space and tools. Gating the basic axe tool behind the mall administrator is evil behavior. okay thanks love you bye

You like stardew valley? Play this You like look outside? Play this You like mystery games? Play this You like horror games? Play this You like RPG games that don’t make you choose one storyline? Play this You like random rewards just for exploring and talking to people? Play this You like exploration without limits? Play this You get rewards from reading signs! I learned a super useful skill from talking to a random npc. It’s day 5 and I’ve done so much in this game and I have so much left to do. Just buy it you won’t regret it especially if you like anything listed above. This is my most lengthy review ever and well worth it.

Absolutely immaculate vibes, with decent interlocking progression between farming and quests, however this game lacks SEVERELY in polish, it does not control great neither in keyboard nor in controller, the menu also does not control great, the sorting is decent and there is a way to search by item name, making looking for a specific item in your stash a in the mid/lategame easier. The game lack somewhat in QOLs especially in fishing and in the map. But to me the most damming part of the game that made me lose all interest was the 'levels' tab, a progression from level 0 to 10 that at level 10 grants only 10% extra quality/yield depending on the activity, it is CRIMINALY superficial with no depth and honestly would be better if removed, since as is just makes the game feel incredibly unpolished and cheap edited since i was making a fool of myself by not finding the search function

This game has a lot of potential, but I feel like it’s still missing a few things. If you enjoy games like **Darkest Dungeon, Stardew Valley, or Fear & Hunger**, I’d definitely recommend giving this a try. I don’t really consider this a bad game, and normally I wouldn’t leave a negative review. I’m keeping it negative for now mainly in the hope that the developer sees some of this feedback. If these issues are improved in future updates, I’ll happily change it to positive. **Dislikes** • **The world feels a little too static.** Trees don’t seem to sway in the wind, and even during rain the environment can feel very rigid. When you focus on your character’s movement, it also feels slightly unnatural, almost like the character is supposed to sink into or interact with the ground more than they actually do. More environmental movement and small animations would go a long way toward making the world feel alive. • **The time system feels too fast.** I like the Stardew Valley-style passage of time because it has a nostalgic feeling, but with how many quests and things there are to explore, I think time should either move much slower or possibly pause when you’re talking to NPCs. Another option could be having time pass mainly when travelling between different areas. That’s just my preference though. • **The interface could use some polishing.** I really like the hand-drawn style, especially little touches like the weather channel scenes, but some parts of the UI and presentation still feel unfinished. The art direction itself is great, it just needs a little more refinement. **Likes** • **The atmosphere and creativity are really well done.** The game has a very distinctive personality, and I especially love the vibe of the mall. It feels strange, unsettling and interesting in a way that makes you want to keep exploring. • **The characters are interesting and unique.** I just wish NPCs had a little more dialogue when you interact with them. The side characters are memorable enough that I actually want more opportunities to talk to them and learn about them. • **I love the sleep, luck, blessing and curse systems.** Waking up and not knowing exactly what the new day might bring is a really cool idea. The luck system especially gives me some Fear & Hunger vibes, which I really enjoy. • **The TEXT option you start with is a little rough**, but I’m glad the game gives you different options to choose from rather than forcing one style. I also kind of hope the game eventually evolves enough to support **multiplayer/co-op**, similar to Stardew Valley. There seems to be so much to uncover that exploring this strange world with another player could be really fun. Overall, I think there’s something genuinely special here. The atmosphere, ideas and creativity are already strong. It mainly needs more polish, environmental life and refinement. I’m interested to see where the developers take it.

完全没必要挂着个农场的噱头，老实说这种田功能纯纯是附带的系统，甚至删了说不定还能让游戏更休闲点 本质上是个回合战斗RPG

This game has the sauce. The only problem I have with it is the inventory. Tools in a separate inventory would make a huge difference, and you could just have a separate item that upgrades available tool slots. WHYYYY? So when I dump all items into my chest I'm not dumping all of my tools every time and then having to go back through the menus to re-grab them. Brother the inventory is a nightmare, it is the most eldritch part of this game. It's cute putting items into your fridge to cook, but because some items share cooking and crafting sorting AND there is no difference between cooked meals and ingredients you can't just dump all into your fridge for the purpose of cooking. Icons could be more legible at a glance. Copper ore just looks like a pile of whatever, it doesn't match the color of ore, how it is found in game. So many items are like this. I find my self having to go one by one looking at item names just to find what I'm looking for because so many icons look like crushed bones. Navigating the inventory and its adjacent mechanics (ie. THE ENTIRE GAME) is like having someone with tweezers picking at your brain to control your eyes while they cut every connecting synapse with a scalpel. Anyway, great game. The vibe is perfect.

The most common comparison you'll hear about Welcome to Elderfield is that it's like if Stardew Valley was a horror game. While this is an apt comparison, for people like me who enjoy some creepy with their comfy, WTE is even better than SDV. Some of the things I feel make WTE stand out from other games in the same genre: [list] [*]The vibes. Junji Ito and Welcome to Nightvale are known direct influences, as well as World of Horror. Add the dark lofi soundtrack and it's chef's kiss. [*]The turn-based combat is much more fun and strategic than most games with this same type of combat. The solo dev has created so many mechanics that affect your stats, such as equipment, blessings, curses, etc. that the combat stays fresh and deeply strategic [*]So many QOL features. While there is a day/night cycle and seasons, as well as so much to do each day, you don't have to worry about passing out at 2am. While there are consequences for not sleeping, just like in real life, it's only after an extended amount of time that the consequences show up. Crafting is so easy as it mostly pulls from your storage and inventory, no need to manage resources just to have all the items on had to craft something. And other than if you try to pick up something directly from the ground via foraging, if your inventory is full when you open a loot box or get loot after defeating an enemy, the items are sent to your storage. Your storage box is shared between your house and the farm, and while you use a bed to save, you don't need to end the day by sleeping in order to save. [/list] I could write so much more, but to be honest, I'd rather go back to playing the game. In fact, why are you still reading this review instead of adding Welcome to Elderfield to your shopping cart? If you like games like Stardew but wish it had more edge and creepy Lovecraftian themes, this is the game for you. If you enjoyed Fear and Hunger but felt it was too unforgiving, this is the game for you. P.S. As someone who was a Patreon member and played the pre-alpha build for 100+ hours, this review may be a bit biased. I love this game. But the cool thing is that I didn't buy the full release just to support the dev and a game I loved playing. There's still an incredible amount of content and places to explore that I'm experiencing in the full game. And the exploration in WTE is very rewarding, which I forgot to mention.

I wish I liked this. I tried to like this. The combat is just so excessive. It seemed fun in the demo, but it just takes so much time to go places that you don't even know if you want to go, and each encounter can feel like a coin flip as to whether you survive. If the game didn't have other things I was wanting to do, maybe the combat wouldn't feel like it was so in the way, but sheesh. I'd like to be able to explore around without a guide but it's pretty hard to know if an area shouldn't be explored because the enemies are too high level until too late, and then it's not even obvious because it's easy to lose a combat due to bad luck. I've tried the lower difficulty settings, but it just doesn't save the time suck of combat, and there are still enemies that are supposed to be too hard to fight at low levels anyways. Also, the charm of the game started to wear off when I realized the townsfolk don't have too much personality besides just being creepy. They don't seem to do much on their own, or have any sort of schedule during the day, it just feels a little shallow. Maybe I missed something there, but for the first bit at least they feel pretty one-dimensional. So yeah, there's a real cool look this game, and the demo made me think I'd like it, but it just feels too bogged down in obtuse combat to be actually enjoyable for a long period of time.