Immortal Life

Game Title: Immortal Life
Released: January 17, 2024
Game Length: N/A
Grade: C

 Culture Shock

Game Decision: Every now and then, my game list tends to pick up a few unorthodox games out of the country. Their style, controls, and gameplay all tend to be different than what you might have grown accustomed to. One game that caught my eye was River Town Factory. The game takes the standard isekai trope and pulls a designer from the modern world back in time. On the surface, there are a lot of the standard systems like a museum to turn in equipment, stores to buy things, and people to build relationships with for benefits. However, everything quickly turns into an efficiency game like any other ordinary factory game you might have played before.

Prelude: That's when I came across Immortal Life and thought there was enough substance to give it a try. There is a school high in the mountains that teaches an elite group of "cultivators" that live as "Immortals" to protect the balance of the world. If I have to be honest, it sort of reminded me of Kung Fu Panda. That lasts through the initial cutscene until fire from the sky destroys everything. The only survivors are the ones at the entrance who were training for the exam. This is where you come in to restore the school with new buildings, lecturers, and a feeling of peace for those who live there. 

Audio: Don't be surprised when the voices coming out aren't English. Be prepared to have your own playlist handy as the same song playing every time you enter that region regardless of the season can get incredibly repetitive. Thunder seems to be on an unusual quick loop too.

Environment

Campaign: The number of things you need to do at the start is momentous. After you talk to someone, you will be able to see where they are on the map. You don't actually see them moving around like in other games but their name and face are on the side. You have to learn how to make paper cranes to establish a communication line between your friends as a form of magical mail system. You need to complete quests to unlock new visitors and options. Build a warehouse and all your inventory problems will disappear with the nearly endless supply of material. Upgrade your equipment and you'll be able to obtain superior resources in areas beyond your home environment.

Home: There are several save points you can build around the area but there will always be one by your house. Resting will automatically save your game as well. You don't have to rest, but the amount you recover depends on how long it takes to reach 7am. Rest at 11pm and you will receive 8 times the total value of the decorations in your house for health, mana, and stamina. The day always transitions at midnight and your crops will need more water at 7am if you rest or not. Other than inside your house, you can only place things in the field. The game establishes a tile system to place things. Blue glowing spheres or running the clock at the meditation stone will allow you to gain additional mana. Once you obtain an upgrade, you can use mana to drop seeds across multiple tiles, summon clouds that water your tiles, or eventually gain a scythe that gathers anything you touch. Rain, or snow, will automatically water everything. A forecast sphere will be given to you eventually. Wells can also be built like an old-fashion sprinkler.

Resources: There are many ways to accumulate basic resources: (1) gather bamboo, wood, and herbs in the forest, (2) gather stone, crystals, and monster parts in dungeons, or (3) gather fish from any number of fishing spots. You do have friends you can "send" to various parts of the world but you do need to visit them to claim your rewards. Also, something specific can spawn periodically every few days in different seasons. Winter and spring will spawn different types of bamboo sprouts. Summer will spawn cicadas on the trees.

Gameplay

Controls: The game begs to have a gamepad controller at the ready but the game isn't really setup to support one. Your tools will occupy the first six slots and you must manually equip the tool you want to use by clicking on it and pressing the 'e' button. You can open your bags using the 'b' button or character using the 'i' button. Certain items allow you to check how long it will be before you can harvest them using the 'e' button and then pressing the 'f' button to receive the item.

Character: Inside your main menu, there is a full database of everything you have available from crops to meals. Only quests you have personally accepted are listed and those from the task board that refreshes each season will last about just as long. You can equip a weapon for damage, some form of hair or hat style, a cosmetic outfit, and then an accessory that is either something you wear or a type of pet that follows you. You gain "cultivation" and can take a "breakthrough" where you are placed in an arena to fight some enemies to increase your maximum. You are able to bring along three of many available skills from performing various activities. In order to actually increase your character's attributes, you need to pay for lecturers to teach a class for a season and then pay to listen to them. You will need to actually attend their class at the appointed times too. 

Combat: Other than the initial cave where you mine for stone, there will eventually be opportunities to visit other realms for harder enemies and better resources. You can advance the floors or walk back through the staircase to return home. Your character's attack consists of a single blade that gets thrown across the screen at no cost. Skills can be learned from scrolls that allow you to do things like throw multiple blades or shoot leaves in all directions for the cost of some mana. You can still move in any direction while fighting but you can't counter while gathering resources. 

Options

Decorations: You can rotate and place items down on the number of tiles they require for their size but you need to manually pick them up from an adjacent tile. You cannot place them on the tile you occupy. The biggest detriment to the game is how the carpenter needs to learn the recipe, then only barter the recipe to you for some goods, and then you need to craft the item using stamina. You can make things in bulk and leave the project half-finished at the workshop if you want. Every single type of item has to be done this way. This includes the wall, corner, four-directional connector, and gate. You need it for the floor, wallpaper, and staircase. This wouldn't be so bad if the cost of the items wasn't so high. One item can require 20 resources and mining stone will only provide you 1 per node. Other decorations can be made for purchase through the trade routes.

Ingredients: Crops can be initially bought from the food vendor and unlocked permanently from the general store. You will need to buy new trade routes and barter different type of resources to unlock new decorations available to purchase at the vendor. This includes bartering superior (blue) or legendary (gold) type items that will drop after harvesting nodes. Any crop you harvest outside their season will drop a less amount. Some crops might be able to be harvested multiple days. Almost everything can be manipulated in some way whether you are drying them out on a rack, using it to feed worms, grinding it up in a stone pedestal, or cooking a meal. What is important is constantly cycling income by selling what you know you won't need.

Meals: You are unable to cook the meals at your house. You must pay 200 (the price of one meal) to use the kitchen for a day or continue to use it when you help the staff about once per season. Like the carpenter, you must first have the cook learn the recipes, barter for the recipe at the cost of the meal, and then cook them in the kitchen. Once inside, you choose the recipe you have the ingredients and utensils for. The ingredients will populate the crates once the timer starts. Follow the instruments by placing them where you need to operate and then serve them when they are done. After you do it once with a meal, you can choose to "quick cook" any additional meals. You still need the stamina and time to make them. Bonuses can range from adding stamina, providing an attack boost, or increasing your run speed. The quality of the meal determines how long the perks last.

Summary

Review: I have to be honest that I stopped playing the game after one year passed. There are a lot of things made available to you at the start of the game that will drive you to continue playing to unlock everything. The game has hundreds of recipes to cook, create, and barter. However, there isn't much substance to the campaign beyond bartering things for more things. Everything requires additional steps. Instead of gaining a level and instantly becoming more powerful, you must complete a challenge that becomes more difficult every tier, bribe a teacher with some resources, pay their salary, and then attend their lecture. There isn't a stove in your home that automatically turns crops into food. You need to barter the ingredients for the recipe once, rent the kitchen, then carry the ingredients to each of the stations. As you can see, the cost of progress is too high. I do not recommend this game.