Kynseed
Released: December 6, 2022
Game Length: N/A
Grade: B-
History
Development Nightmare: A long time ago, there was a Kickstarter project that started up on May 5, 2017. To give you a sort of comparison of when that was, Stardew Valley was released February 26, 2016. Since it was being made by a few developers from the Fable series, the concept of the game was very similar: Live your life, grow old, and continue on with the next generation. The art style evolved overtime and the game released a somewhat more recognizable Early Access trailer. That was 4 years ago. The next thing I remember hearing about the game is how the "band broke up" because of some turmoil within its members. There was the Reddit post from a year ago with the details which caused enough friction for other members to leave the team. Despite the complication, the game made an official release last month. Now poses the question: Are they done with the game? Well, according to their roadmap, they still want to keep adding things.
Humor: While there are a bunch of helpful books to help you out with this fantasy land, many are written in only the way developers can express themselves. You'll find a few books written with lots of censored swearing, people writing in hypothetical, crazy men referencing real life things that don't technically exist in the game, those addressing the player specifically by breaking the 4th-wall, and a few with a bunch of potty jokes. This can extend somewhat to the people you talk to as well. You can ride pigs and sheep. You can blow up chickens. There is a list of tasks that will suggest you to play pranks by putting poop in other people's houses. There are also a few vulgar jokes in the proverbs you pick up. While some of these things were mildly entertaining, there were quite a bit that made me cringe when I encountered them.
Technical Issues
Lots of Bugs: I should have known that even though the game was "officially" released there would be hundreds of bugs still present in the game. No wonder my business was failing! I don't even know where to begin. I stumbled across this little guide before finding out that it was impossible to increase the rating of Dank Moss for the master. I thought about adding all the Steam Discussion articles but thought it was more convenient just to link to the latest patch notes. December 9th 1.0.0.9159 decreased the cost of employees and increased the speed of worker blacksmithing since so many were going broke at the bare minimum cost, added signs to the Fae markets since simply having a token to open the door wasn't enough of a requirement, and fixed the exploit of selling dandelions at lemonade stands. December 14th 1.0.0.9230 increased the damage of swords for rating since not every player has the reactions to parry and dodge through each of the forests, shop worker speeds doubled and minimum wage decreased, and fixed the problem where countering enemies dealt 0 damage. December 16th 1.0.0.9257 reduced specialization cost, fixed worker level and experience shown, and adjusted worker mood icon. Same day... 1.0.0.9258 fixed worker experience not going up and assigning crafting worker who is no longer alive. December 21st 1.0.0.9308 fixed the problem where babies ended up looking completely different with worst stats, made it so riding speed would actually increase with animal speed stat, added an actual fishing tutorial, expanded shop storage, and added a quick workaround where items would go into your inventory and wouldn't simply disappear if your storage was full. January 11th 1.0.1.9419 offers rotation in what animal you can buy from the stores, prevent people from getting hurt while the counter animation plays, fixed a bunch of crashes, and fixed some errors between what was displayed and the actual amount. He also added the option to use a campfire to save the game, which isn't too much of a problem since you save at 6am, when you exit a forest, and wake up regardless of how long you slept.
More Problems: All you have to do is look through Steam's discussion board to find a bunch of weird reports. I've heard population issues among their villagers. I've heard that the developer is going to add a monster encyclopedia because no one knows what sort of monsters the equipment are referring to in your inventory. He added a small reminder in case you gifted someone an item already. Some of the traits do things differently than what you expect in the game. I've seen posts of people who were able to exploit the final boss by using tools that weren't supposed to be possible. Like a select few, I had to look up what to do with the wooden flute. I've seen exploits where you can leave your lemonade stand without paying a fee to use it and selling a bunch of specific items that weren't adjusted accordingly. While I may not have touched every system and technically "beat" the game, it does upset me how some of these things can still happen.
Gameplay
Core System: Now comes the hard question: Is the game as advertised? Sort of. The entire premise of Kynseed revolves around you contracting your life so you can continue on in your heir. You are forced to sign the contract that costs 5 years of your life (thereby exiting out of the tutorial). Time progresses normally with 4 seasonal months all lasting a total of 2 weeks each unless you pay years of life to prevent imminent death within the story, after being defeated several times in the combat zone, or buying "convenience" from the mysterious figure. Some of these items - like the mechanical clock - can be essential. So, how do you beat the game? Here in-lies the problem. If you wish to become a legend, you need to gain reputation. You can complete every character's story in the game (which comes to around 80 people) while doing tasks along the way and not even make it to Rank 3 out of 10 within two years. Fighting in the enclosed areas will help, but it still won't be enough. This means that ultimately you will want to start a business.
Items: When you first start a business, much of the work relies on you. You can choose to become a blacksmith, run an apothecary, or try selling random things in a general goods store. You can also try selling some things from a lemonade stand that you have to rent at various events. The first hurdle you will immediately discover is the rating system. The question that everyone asks: How do I get more stars on my items? Unfortunately, that is the whole reason of playing the game. You must converse with people to hear about the various rumors, pick up proverbs that provide clues for items, increase your stats through activities, and make offerings for specific blessings. Things get really, really messy as you try to figure out what makes a certain item better when you collect it. As a real literal example, Thyme improves (once for each case) if you harvest it at dawn at the exact hour while riding a pig during the first week of summer. I only discovered two of those things in the game. A lazy person will look them up on the wiki. Here comes the second problem: what does each item do? Unfortunately, the game doesn't exactly provide you with an easy solution of writing in your notes what each item does when you eat them. You must discover what they do the same way you find out how to get better items.
Location: The third and perhaps biggest problem everyone will eventually run into is trying to figure out where to find items in the game. If that wasn't bad enough, you will also have to figure out when to find items. Do you need help trying to figure out where to get Barbels for the fishing master? You can only get them after fishing enough to level up to Journeyman, going to the Mellowfield areas, at night between 22 & 23 hours. I found vague answers when trying to figure out where Checkered Chubs spawn. Some herbs, like roses and parsley, can only be gathered from very specific locations on the map. Nightberries is the very worst as they only become visible and gathered on a handful of bushes around the map between 21 & 24 hours of the night. How can I focus on how to increase their rating if they are so difficult to find in the first place?
Mini-games: What's interesting is how every system has a full-fledged mini-game associated in completing the task. Cooking is divided up in cutting materials on a board, grinding reagents, and making sure things bake evenly. Each type of product will have a different mini-game like how making pies will ask you to use a rolling pin. Apothecary gets a bit technical with how you have to make pastes without letting them get too thick or runny. Certain items will need to be ground into powder and counter-balanced with the appropriately colored spice. Blacksmithing will require you to forge items with molds, hammer out the edges, and sharpen items that require a blade. The rating of the materials you use and how well you perform will determine what the final result will be. Of course, eventually you can get into a position where the work gets done by employees or your significant other while you go out exploring.
Combat: What can be extremely difficult or easy depending on your skill is how well you perform in the three combat areas filled with monsters. This is not turn-based. You will be required to react accordingly by changing positions, fighting enemies in multiple directions, timing your parries to strike back, wearing the right kind of equipment, and using your items. Your core stats will have a big impact on your speed of recovery, attack power, and how long you can last. To keep things interesting, your weapon's attack power is determined by its rating; each type of ore will determine a specific counter for each type of enemy. You can carry two weapons that can easily switch out in combat, shoot arrows to stun enemies, a range of items that can be used during a match, and a pet (or two) that will occasionally assist you when met with certain circumstances. Setting plays a major role as fog can obscure your vision or enemies become more aggressive during the night. There is no way to purely modify your stats from your equipment. While there are items that will increase your speed, light up your path, and defend against certain tactics, there is no way to build yourself up for every monster.
Accessibility: Though, not everything is difficult in this game. There are a lot of conveniences that don't actually make sense if you think about it too long. For example, your water can never has to be filled up since it has an infinite supply. No need to worry about ever sleeping as some things require you to be out in the middle of the night. Saving will always occur at 6am. Your animals won't die if you don't feed them, but they will provide fertilizer when you do. There is no plowing, building, or moving objects. You can grow plants practically anywhere in the world there is a plot. Food will only rot when you are under a curse. Because of how the general populace is randomized over time, most people will have generic responses. Most won't react when you "go missing" for a few years. The type of shovel you use determines what type of things you dig up from the ground. Beyond that, there is a giant encyclopedia you can access to remind you of every single proverb, rumor, tip, book, and person.
Summary
Review: Kynseed was in production for a long time and establishes a unique world that is great to explore. However, no matter how intriguing it is to play the game, you'll always find flaws in the system when making items, fighting monsters, starting a business, or creating a family. There are tons of technical issues, intricate problems with how to go about your life, and voids of content that developers plan to add in later to the game. You can go about the whole game without even touching the core aspect of seeing people grow old or passing along your knowledge over many generations. While I did enjoy my time playing the game, there came a point where I wondered why things were going so poorly in my playthrough. Despite it being fairly priced, I would suggest to wait a little longer for them to iron out the problems.
1-19-2023