SunnySide REVIEW
SunnySide is a modern interpretation of farming simulation games. Gone are the days when you watered individual plants with an outdated watering can. Welcome to the year 2024, where people can order seeds online and send messages to friends to meet up. Between storytelling, farming/raising livestock and building relationships, SunnySide has earned a place in the genre by moving a little further than anyone else due to the many small details that elevate it above other projects.
As a new resident of SunnySide, the player buys an almost empty piece of land to start a farm. The only thing available is a shed with several tools, a water pump and hose, and a tent from a neighbor. Friendly townspeople are ready to help the player prepare for success by teaching him everything from cooking to woodworking and farming.
The small town seems alive – people are constantly walking everywhere, they change clothes depending on the season, they have their own lives, and they do not depend on the player in any way. The characters are unique enough to stand out, both in design and character. There are all kinds of shops that can be found in a small town, and a person who grew up in a small town can feel at home here.
There are also fairly regular events such as festival days or farmers markets where the player can interact with everyone as they come and go. In addition, the farmer’s market is a place where players can sell whatever they get their hands on, and it will still be quite realistic. If someone were trying to make a living from land today, renting a kiosk and selling things would be a good start.
As the game continues, players can make deals with the townspeople to get various things for them. The natural development of both casual and business relationships is unparalleled in other games of this genre.
It’s nice to start literally from the bottom, which is very rarely shown by other farming simulators. In other games, you may have a dilapidated house, but at least it’s a house that can be put in order. In SunnySide, the player is given a blueprint as a pathetic gift, and has to get everything from screws to glass to assemble it.
Farming and cattle breeding themselves resemble Farming Simulator. There is a lot of deep planning and thinking about how and what you will plant.
SunnySide has absolutely accurately conveyed the details of the genre. Players can immerse themselves in many things and explore many aspects such as slot machine games, a new phone case and more.
The story fits naturally into the gameplay, and it doesn’t feel like any particular gameplay is being imposed. Instead, players have to solve many different tasks to get into SunnySide, which is the goal from the beginning anyway.
Unfortunately, it is necessary to tell about the unpleasant. There are bugs in the game. It’s easy to fall through the world when loading into locations or get stuck somewhere. This happened quite often. However, SunnySide has several mechanics for resetting things. For example, players can respawn where they last slept at any given time. They can also call their vehicle if it gets stuck, no matter where they are.
These solutions for quickly resuming the game after a failure are great, but it’s hard to ignore the fact that the problems are conspicuous and numerous. For example, visual errors such as characters looking the wrong way during a conversation or suddenly appearing/disappearing.
Despite the major bug issues, SunnySide is a game that shines in its genre. There is nothing like it, and its extremely well-made parts are worth forgiving mistakes (especially when they are so easy to get around).
The remarkable character development, seamless and natural storytelling and gameplay, as well as perfectly polished details are much better than mistakes would suggest. Future updates may make this game shine even brighter. However, even with mistakes, SunnySide is such a leap for the genre that it’s worth investing time in. This is a game that I will be coming back to again and again for some time.
