Garden Story

 Switch
Metascore
73

Mixed or average reviews - based on 17 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9 out of 17
  2. Mixed: 8 out of 17
  3. Negative: 0 out of 17
  1. CGMagazine
    Aug 28, 2021
    90
    Garden Story is a wonderful and unique take on the sim-adventure genre, and it’s definitely worth a look.
  2. App Trigger
    Aug 15, 2021
    85
    If you’ve been looking for a game with the charm and slow world-building of Stardew Valley or My Time in Portia without the strict always time mechanic or a heavy focus on crafting, this is the game you’ve been waiting for. The combat and inventory could be improved upon, but overall this game is pretty grape… I mean great!
  3. Vooks
    Sep 21, 2021
    80
    Garden Story is a cute little adventure. When you get over the initial hurdle of the first boss, it becomes a more enjoyable time. Saving the world doesn't always have to be super over the top action. Garden Story shows you can do it by helping people and helping to rebuild a community in a more relaxed setting. While there are a few frustrations, if they're ones you can overlook, there is a charming game waiting for you.
  5. Digital Chumps
    Sep 21, 2021
    80
    The gameplay loop can be repetitive but is able to be consumed in such small morsels that one may enjoy picking up Garden Story every day just to get a small fix. There’s a lot of promise here in terms of a sequel but in the next go round, I think a bit of editing might be beneficial. As much of an embarrassment of riches Garden Story may seem, it can be a lot to take in for such a compact adventure.
  6. RPG Fan
    Sep 2, 2021
    80
    As an inexpensive and relatively short title by a one-person team, it is hard for me to lend much weight to the game’s misses. Garden Story’s characters and world have a magnetism; it’s hard to stop spending time with them once you’ve begun, and once you’ve finished the game, it’s effortless to stop back in. If you are happy to delve into an experience where everything but the gameplay shines, then Garden Story is definitely worth checking out.
  7. Switch Player
    Sep 1, 2021
    80
    Garden Story is such a wholesome game and the more time you put into it, the more you will get out. Its adorable cast of characters and varied gameplay makes for a great ‘relaxation’ game, if that’s what you’re looking for.
  8. Siliconera
    Aug 22, 2021
    80
    Garden Story feels like the game you get when you’re aiming for a relaxing action-RPG. People need your help, and they’d like to assist you too if they can. There’s a colorful, arboreal world that needs restoring. It will take time to recover and set things right. But as long as you go at your own pace and make time for people, you can help people in this game.
  9. WellPlayed
    Sep 3, 2021
    75
    Garden Story is the kind of chill adventure that’s great in short bursts but long play sessions may leave you bored. The combination of genres is unique, but I feel like each aspect could have been explored more for a deeper experience. I definitely enjoyed what I played and was charmed by the characters, environment and music, but at the end of it all I was left wanting more. But how much can you expect of one humble grape?
  10. Player 2
    Aug 31, 2021
    75
    Despite the decades-old formula Garden Story pulls from, it still manages to feel novel. Can’t ask much more than that.

Awards & Rankings

79
#79 Most Discussed Switch Game of 2021

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
7.7

Generally favorable reviews- based on 20 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 14 out of 20
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 20
  3. Negative: 3 out of 20
  1. Monkeyslunch
    Dec 26, 2021
    7
    Adorable little game with a lot of pull to keep playing for longer chunks of time. Some quests can get repetitive (if I have to repair oneAdorable little game with a lot of pull to keep playing for longer chunks of time. Some quests can get repetitive (if I have to repair one more damn bridge...), but overall it's great.… Full Review »
  2. QilBoy
    Dec 5, 2021
    2
    Garden Story starts with the most promising of beginnings: the world is endearing and full of tender whimsy, yet alluding to a deeper, moreGarden Story starts with the most promising of beginnings: the world is endearing and full of tender whimsy, yet alluding to a deeper, more mature epic hiding beneath. As you are introduced to the numerous charming characters full of life and personality (the dialogue writing is really good), you start to learn the basics of gameplay. You see how many different types of weapons there are, each with their different attack types and stats, all the different stat buffs you can obtain through character customization or potions, all of the numerous materials and seeds you can gather. Seeing all of this promising stuff, how many variables and mechanics are present, you can't wait to see what the game truly has to offer, after this simple tutorial is over. And so you wait. And you wait. And you wait. And then the credits roll. And you realize that this "simple tutorial" was really long, and actually was the whole game. Garden Story is so simple and barebones that it feels like the alpha version of a game that is still in development.
    You fight three types of enemy in the starting area and can't wait to see what other types of enemies await you in the other areas, only to find out that it's the exact same enemies you already faced, only with a different color or... a hat that you need to remove from their head. Not joking. The game takes the same enemy you fought to exhaustion, gives them a minuscule cosmetic change and an extra step to defeat them and thinks it can get away with it.
    It doesn't make sense for the game to have so many weapon types with different stats when you have basically just a couple of enemy types, and the starting weapon does the job just fine.
    The worst part is that this could be somewhat acceptable if this one enemy type was really fun to fight, but they aren't. They're boring and after you've dealt enough damage they get smaller, so small that their hitbox becomes frustratingly hard to reach. All of this is aggravated by how slow the player character is, both in their movement speed and the time they take to switch weapons. The whole thing feels clunky, the Combat just doesn't cut it.
    There are some small good ideas here and there like the Shield, to defend yourself from projectile attacks, but only two enemies in the entire game use projectile attacks and they are so slow a simple roll is sufficient to evade, so why does the shield even exists? Just like all the different potions: why do they exist when the game is so easy that you can get by without ever needing anything other than the starting potion? Why giving the player the possibility to use the fishing rod to fish items out of the ocean, which at first seems so cool, when in actuality you mostly find items you can easily find on land? The game is full of mechanics that showcase how it wanted to be complex and rich when in reality the content it offers is so so scarce.
    Even the possibility to customize towns, although really cute, is super limited both in terms of how small the areas you can customize are and the underwhelming amount of utilities you can craft. The Dungeons are also underwhelming.
    The Dungeon Bosses are the best part of the entire game but when compared to other games they are just decent. The Dungeon puzzles you'll need to solve to proceed are so easy that they just feel like a waste of time.
    It certainly isn't enough to save the whole experience but the game suddenly picks itself up in quality in the last couple of hours, with a Final Dungeon that has actually challenging puzzles and a Final Boss that may not be very hard but requires the player to solve an enigma and fight in a pleasantly unexpected way that ties with the story.
    Speaking of the narrative, it's the only thing about Garden Story that luckily doesn't try to appear fancier or bigger than it actually is. It's the simple tale of a small hero saving a dying community from a grim future. A humble story of hope, kindness and perseverance, told with love and warmth. This wholesome atmosphere is greatly strengthened by the soft upbeat musical score of Grahm Nesbitt, which perfectly encapsulates the hopeful but delicate mood of the journey.
    Or, in other words: Garden Story is a simple story that warms your heart with endearing characters that try their best to help the community around them even when all hope seems lost. Let's just hope that that will be enough to help you go through this tedious chore of a game before the lack of any meaningful content makes you fall asleep to the game's beautiful tunes.    … Full Review »
  3. Zenodo
    Oct 28, 2021
    10
    It's nothing like stardew valley. But it doesn't have to be for me. With it's rpg elements and combat this game was a must pick for me.It's nothing like stardew valley. But it doesn't have to be for me. With it's rpg elements and combat this game was a must pick for me. Definitely my game of the year.… Full Review »
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