{"id":129645,"date":"2022-11-10T21:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-11-10T21:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/#article-140153"},"modified":"2022-11-10T21:00:00","modified_gmt":"2022-11-10T21:00:00","slug":"review-lonesome-village-spot-the-zelda-references-in-this-cute-life-sim-x-puzzle-adventure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/2022\/11\/10\/review-lonesome-village-spot-the-zelda-references-in-this-cute-life-sim-x-puzzle-adventure\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Lonesome Village \u2013 Spot The Zelda References In This Cute Life Sim X Puzzle Adventure"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/a><\/div>\n
\n
\"Lonesome<\/a>
Captured on Nintendo Switch (Docked)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Since the first announcement of this puzzle adventure-slash-social sim, we\u2019ve been keeping our eyes peeled for Lonesome Village<\/a>. Now that we\u2019ve played it, we can confirm that it requires you to strap on both your exploring boots and your thinking cap, but it\u2019s also a relaxing game that, for the most part, doesn\u2019t demand much from you, apart from your enjoyment.<\/p>\n

This charming release from indie developer Ogre Pixel brings puzzles and life simulation together, and makes them best friends. Lonesome Village is a cute, wholesome game with many of the features common to our favourite cute wholesome games<\/a>: bright colours, natural setting, adorable animal friends, and, of course, a fishing minigame.<\/p>\n

It pays homage to some legendary games that came before it \u2013 you could even add your own game of \u2018Spot The Zelda Reference\u2019 while you play. But anyone expecting this to mirror a Zelda<\/a><\/strong> game might be disappointed. It eschews combat in favour of delightfully calming challenges and repetitive mechanics, \u00e0 la<\/em> Animal Crossing<\/a> and Stardew Valley<\/a>. All these references are exciting to see, though they form a very long yardstick. Lonesome Village may not completely measure up to those illustrious predecessors, but it definitely doesn\u2019t fall massively short.<\/p>\n

\"Lonesome<\/a>
Captured on Nintendo Switch (Handheld\/Undocked)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

You take the role of Wes the coyote when he\u2019s just arrived at a now-deserted village. Once known as Ubhora, Lonesome Village was a quaint happy town before it was annexed by a cult of animals in maroon robes. They invaded the town and trapped its residents in statues in a tower. As Wes, you\u2019re tasked with freeing the villagers. In your pocket is a mystical magnifying glass to search for clues and speak to Coronya, your spirit guide who pops up to give you helpful \u2013 and sometimes not-so-helpful \u2013 direction.<\/p>\n

In the tower, you encounter a puzzle on each floor, which, once solved, frees a villager and their family. These brain-ticklers start easy but graduate in difficulty, and are always satisfying to complete. There\u2019s a unique variety too, from mazes to sliding puzzles to memory challenges and more. They might make you scratch your head, but they\u2019ll hardly make you bash it against a wall. Every few levels, you\u2019ll go back to the village to collect hearts or offerings: hearts are earned from neighbourhood quests, while offering items are either found or crafted with a villager\u2019s help. Isn\u2019t that so wholesome? Defeating the enemy with friendship<\/em>!<\/p>\n

The village\u2019s calming atmosphere is a reprieve from the mild darkness of the tower. Its lilting flute soundtrack contrasts well with the creepy piano and strings that overshadow your puzzle-solving. Take your time here and you might even discover some Easter eggs from other games too. The play can feel like two games \u2013 a puzzle game in the tower, and a life sim in the village \u2013 but the team at Ogre Pixel has tried to give you time in both, with one leading to the other.<\/p>\n

\"Lonesome<\/a>
Captured on Nintendo Switch (Docked)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The art style is all bright block colours and bold outlines that gave us a hit of nostalgia for after-school cartoons. Textural details like water bubbles or dappled light add to the otherwise simple design, and everything comes to life with bouncy 2D animation. It\u2019s a shame, then, that the story is two-dimensional too. The surplus of well-designed characters only has slight variations in dialogue. The plot is interesting enough to keep you playing, but it isn\u2019t something you haven\u2019t seen before.<\/p>\n

Right now, the game is not the most intuitive experience. Instead of using the d-pad to scroll through certain menus, for example, you often use it to select arrow buttons on screen. Switching between tools is cumbersome, and in the inventory menu, we found it hard to tell which items were selected. Some other issues in the game were patched on day one \u2013 a sign the developers aren\u2019t finished yet. We hope they\u2019ll continue to work on these things in future.<\/p>\n

But as far as core gameplay goes, it\u2019s clear Lonesome Village wants to be as stress-free as possible. You never need to sleep or eat, you don\u2019t have a health bar, the shops are open 24\/7, and the fishing game requires you to press one button, at your own pace. And if you die \u2013 which is rare \u2013 you reappear at the start of the challenge with a pretty puff of smoke. No dramatic screaming! No lost items! No GAME OVER<\/em>!<\/p>\n

\"Lonesome<\/a>
Captured on Nintendo Switch (Docked)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This fun, cosy adventure is a worthwhile consideration for those who loved chopping wood in Animal Crossing and solving puzzles in Zelda (yet panicked in combat). It might not quite match the splendour of its influences, and the menus still need some work, but it\u2019s certainly pleasant to play.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Conclusion<\/h2>\n

Lonesome Village takes elements of life-sim legends and a large handful of Zelda references and wraps them together in very<\/em> cute packaging. It may not have the richest narrative, but it will absorb and soothe you \u2013 even in its short playtime. Barring a few drawbacks with player experience, specifically around menu navigation, this game offers up some good wholesome fun without the sweaty button-mashing of combat. If you\u2019re puzzling over a new cosy game to play, Lonesome Village just might be your solution.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Captured on Nintendo Switch (Docked) Since the first announcement of this puzzle adventure-slash-social sim, we\u2019ve been keeping our eyes peeled for Lonesome Village. Now that we\u2019ve played it, we can confirm that it requires you to strap on both your exploring boots and your thinking cap, but it\u2019s also a relaxing game that, for the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-129645","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nintendo-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129645","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=129645"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129645\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=129645"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=129645"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=129645"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}