{"id":135046,"date":"2023-10-01T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-10-01T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/#article-155416"},"modified":"2023-10-01T13:00:00","modified_gmt":"2023-10-01T13:00:00","slug":"review-minekos-night-market-cosy-fun-with-a-few-knots-in-the-fur","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/2023\/10\/01\/review-minekos-night-market-cosy-fun-with-a-few-knots-in-the-fur\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Mineko’s Night Market \u2013 Cosy Fun With A Few Knots In The Fur"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"Mineko's<\/a>
Captured on Nintendo Switch (Handheld\/Undocked)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Editor’s Note: As described in the text below, a glitch towards the end of Mineko’s Night Market<\/em> prevented us from 100% completing the Switch review build.<\/em> W<\/em>e’re told that the development team is working on fixes, and patches applied pre-launch resolved other issues we initially encountered.<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n

W<\/em>hile irritating, the bug didn’t affect our enjoyment up to that point, so we’re publishing this review based on our time with it prior to that late-game issue (approximately 16 hours). We’ll update the review should this problem not be resolved.<\/em><\/p>\n

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If you suffer from cat allergies (like this writer), the cats of Mineko\u2019s Night Market<\/strong> might be the closest you can get to the real thing. And these cats won\u2019t knock things off your desk. Announced back in 2018, this kitty-centric life sim from fittingly named Meowza Games has been delayed and delayed. But now the cat\u2019s out of the bag, was it worth the wait?<\/p>\n

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

The game intertwines a secretive (sometimes comedic) story with night market stall management. It\u2019s easy to dip in and out of, and turns tedious tasks into purr-worthy play. Plus: cute cats! The cuteness came to a crashing halt with a bug that made the end unplayable for us, although we had a lot of fun up until then, so this review will focus on the stuff that happened before things went hairy<\/del> furry.<\/p>\n

You, the \u2018Mineko\u2019 of \u2018Mineko\u2019s Night Market\u2019, follow your dad to a faraway town that\u2019s lost its sprightliness, no thanks to the agents prowling the surrounds. Your job is ostensibly to run a market stall to support your dad. But you soon become embroiled in a plot to free cats trapped by the agents, and find the mythical Sun Cat Nikko \u2013 if he even exists. Along the way you\u2019ll make friends, restore the town, craft items, and pat cats \u2013 a functionality that makes us want to update our \u2018Best Cat Games<\/a>\u2019 article. When you pat them, they make a-dor-a-ble<\/em> purring sounds, and they follow you. We challenge you not to squeal with delight when it happens.<\/p>\n

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But, once you compose yourself, you\u2019ll see this game has much more on offer. You\u2019ll want to sink your claws (and teeth) into the core story. It\u2019s not wholly unique, but its mystery is one you\u2019ll want to unravel like a ball of yarn. You do this by heading to different locations. Each day, you can bus to two areas and you\u2019ll come back to find everything closed \u2013 whether you spend three or 30 minutes away. In new areas, bumbling agents have captured cats and you need to sneak around their flashlights to free the felines. There are some light puzzles here which are a (hair)ball of fun, but never agonising: you might have to distract agents or navigate one-way paths. Once you free the cats you get one step closer to uncovering the mystery of Nikko, plus full access to that area\u2019s goods. Those goods can be crafted into new items, by way of minigames testing your speed and dexterity.<\/p>\n

The \u2018night market\u2019 of Mineko\u2019s Night Market is on Saturdays. Its mechanic is Moonlighter<\/a>-lite; you set the prices yourself, and customers pay if they can afford it. There\u2019s less mental mathematics than Moonlighter, though, and customer reactions aren\u2019t as defined. As you increase profits, the market gains new stalls.
The game has other tidbits, too. There are post-market \u2018Main Events\u2019 \u2013 including races (on cats!), cheesily bad plays, or parades. In between markets, you can sell at the General Store for a fixed lower price. Or you can donate your collectibles to museums, like in Animal Crossing: New Horizons<\/a>. Villagers also request items in exchange for craft recipes.<\/p>\n

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

Early game, you grind away like a cat at a scratching post. Your health is a single heart, replenishable by food which you can only eat three times. Your energy expires quickly, forcing you to prioritise profitable items and ration meals. But as you progress, you gain more hearts, unlock new areas, and even get a companion to help. We\u2019re avoiding spoilers here, but believe us when we say things get better.<\/p>\n

That is, up until we encountered a progress-stopping bug. It was right at the tail end, so we don\u2019t know how the tale ends. The screen was all one colour, apart from the always-on menus and a single flashlight. At first we thought it was part of the puzzle but as we moved the screen was unreactive. At the time of writing, Meowza hasn’t fixed this particular bug, but we’re crossing our claws they do soon, so you can play to the end smoothly.<\/p>\n

There are also some smaller knots to detangle. The game suffered from a fair bit of stuttering and slow load screens \u2013 up to 50 seconds. It froze after crafting certain items. Characters appeared where they shouldn\u2019t, and, once, Mineko disappeared off-screen. The menus are a little finicky, with poor sorting and clunky navigation. We suspect it wasn\u2019t made with Switch at front of mind, as some UI is inorganic to Switch controls. \u2018B\u2019 doesn\u2019t exit menus, and \u2018ZR\u2019 is the sprint button. However, some glitches have already been fixed, and it\u2019s encouraging to see this small team\u2019s commitment to the game.<\/p>\n

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

Pencil textures, warm colour palette, and nature setting place the aesthetic at home in cosy-ville. Not to mention the small bodies and big heads, adorably animated with trots and waddles. The soundtrack ranges from jaunty to thrilling, always befitting the mood. And in terms of accessibility, the big text gets a big tick from us. It\u2019s also been translated into eight languages!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Conclusion<\/h2>\n

For the most part, Mineko\u2019s Night Market will be enjoyed by people who like to curl up with a compelling narrative and relaxing tasks. It\u2019s fun gathering materials and discovering secrets. And did we mention you can PAT THE CATS?!<\/em> Without sneezing!<\/em> What a joyous, allergy-free delight. As for whether it was worth the long wait, well, we recommend holding off a little longer for another of its nine lives \u2013 one with some patchwork to address the snags on Switch.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Captured on Nintendo Switch (Handheld\/Undocked) Editor’s Note: As described in the text below, a glitch towards the end of Mineko’s Night Market prevented us from 100% completing the Switch review build. We’re told that the development team is working on fixes, and patches applied pre-launch resolved other issues we initially encountered. While irritating, the bug […]<\/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-135046","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nintendo-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135046","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=135046"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135046\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=135046"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=135046"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=135046"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}