A return to the rural, retreat from the city setting is a proven formula for successful narrative in a plurality of mediums and, as shown by the success of Stardew Valley, video games are no exception. But does small town farm life translate well into the visual novel (VN) genre? Let’s see with an examination of Flower Shop: Summer In Fairbrook
Title: Flower Shop: Summer In Fairbrook
Publisher: Ratalaika Games
Developer: Winter Wolves Games
Platform: Nintendo Switch (Reviewed)
Release Date: April 15, 2022 (Switch)
Players: 1
MSRP: $9.99
You are Steve – an underachieving college student living in Los Angeles with an overbearing father and a soon to be ex-girlfriend that also tires of your lack of responsibility and propensity for a wandering eye. Believing a readjustment is needed, dear old dad volunteers you to assist your elderly uncle in running his farm for the summer in a fictional California rural town called Fairbrook.
The Gameplay is simple. First, at the start of every week a Monday to Saturday calendar is brought up. With it, you pick a single action (work, running, flower shop, library, stay home, relax) for each day that determines with whom you interact, if you work more, or simply get extra rest. These actions occur after a daily farming minigame. The choices made effect one of five “Steve’s Stats” that correlate directly romancing of specific characters. After brief dialogue with each character, it is quite obvious to whom each stat pertains.
Frustrations with the minigame aside, all other command selection in the game is fine. During the narrative portions of the game with text prompts, it clearly displays actions such as back, skip and auto play. The game’s preferences menu allows great control for aspects like text speed whether to halt skipping after choices making it far less burdensome when attempting to get all endings with multiple playthroughs.
The visuals of the game are pleasing to the eye. The colors are warm in compliment to the title of the story establishing to setting that is calm and welcoming. The character art by M. Beatriz Garcia is drawn effectively to convey proper character emotion in specific circumstances, however, the actual girls being romanced seem a bit homogenous. While romantic interests do possess different personalities, they almost seem interchangeable.
In conclusion, Flower Shop: Summer In Fairbrook seems very much a title that those already in the VN genre can enjoy. It checks the box of interaction satisfaction when you improve a relationship as is required of dating simulators. The story isn’t particularly inventive, but player interest is maintained while wooing the four candidates. Ultimately though, the game is crippled by the repetitive farming minigame and could have benefitted greatly on the whole with a reduction in its presence.
Flower Shop: Summer In Fairbrook was reviewed on Nintendo Switch using a digital copy provided by Ratalaika Games. You can find additional information about Niche Gamer’s review/ethics policy here. Ghostwire: Tokyo is now available for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S.
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