I don’t understand why the majority of cozy games have a calendar system and or time limits. I already have a limited time on earth and I don’t want game devs to artificially restrict how I spend time in game.
I have to drop games like Stardew Valley because of the calendar system. I know there is no strict time limits and I can just wait for the following year if I miss an event. But that just makes the game stressful. Also the day/night cycle is extremely quick. Every action I take I have to look at the time and consider the duration.
Similarly in Persona series, why do they have the calendar system and restrict how much you can do with social interactions? When I play an RPG I like to take my time to explore as I want.
I am writing this because I finally found a game that feels cozy, which is Fantasy Life i. No calendar, no time limits, live as many different lives as I want. I prefer games to be games.
In respect to the Persona series, it’s simply because that’s the game. They want you to plan your social interactions.
I haven’t played 5, but what I played of 4 you get bonuses from maxing out your relationships, so having a limit on actions means you have to choose and plan what you are gonna do, otherwise the game would just be a case of maxing relationships day 1 and then dungeon crawling for 5 hours until the next cutscene.
For comfy games, there is a balance, a time limit means you aren’t doing everything in 1 day, but I have always felt Stardew’s is a little too short, especially for the stamina and movement speed.
But you can’t do everything in one day irl, you are a new farmer setting everything up, and getting back on your feet, it takes time, and the days passing make the world feel more alive than if time didn’t pass.
As for seasons, it is annoying when you miss events or stuff, but it is a nice aesthetic, again makes you feel like time is advancing and bringing change, prevents it becoming too boring, Stardew would probably be a lot more boring without the season to change the fish that spawn and the crops you can grow
otherwise the game would just be a case of maxing relationships day 1 and then dungeon crawling for 5 hours until the next cutscene.
Sounds perfectly fine to me. That has been the way I play since my first JRPG (Dragon Quest 1). I guess it is another kind of resource management, but I don’t really see the need for that.
I keep hearing good things about the Persona series, but for this particular reason, I haven’t tried playing any Persona games.
That’s a completely valid and respectable opinion, tbh for me it’s the other problem of finding the dungeon crawling too long in persona 4 🤣.
But yeah, not every game is for everyone, and they wanted to fill this niche, and you have other games like Dragon Quest which are more to your liking.
Persona from what I’ve heard is great, but I am not the type of person who can sink in 160 hours into a game 🤣.
I like how Stardew Valley has a calendar and seasons, but I don’t like how it keeps track of the year. It makes my inner min-maxer go like, “I need to complete the CC before year 1 ends!!!”, and I grind instead of enjoying the game. It also feels off to see the kids never growing up.
There is a mod that let’s you control when the clock moves forward. It makes the game both better and worse. Better because you now have time to do everything and worse because you now have time do everything.
TimeSpeed? I use it. Unless I limit myself, it makes the issue worse - then I’m trying to get a clean farm day 1*, and rich in the first Wednesday (rain day, spent mostly fishing catfish).
*I do the same with the SNES version of Harvest Moon, since time doesn’t pass at night. I wonder why I always marry Karen in that game /s
I’m ambivalent about day clocks, unless they’re too short. Stardew’s day is about twenty minutes, so is Minecraft’s, and about on par with old Harvest Moon games. When I played My Time at Portia, though, I had to go straight for the setting that doubles the length of the day. Now there’s a game with time pressure.
Calendars, though, I think are very important to a certain style of game. With Stardew, it reinforces the feeling of rhythm, ritual, and repetition that is what makes the game so cozy to begin with. A farming game needs a calendar. A cozy village life sim needs a calendar. Even The Sims is better with seasons.
Time limits are my least favorite feature in pretty much any games
Yes, but I like the pace to be somewhat slower than the usual default. I mod time in Stardew Valley to pass half as fast outdoors, and half that fast indoors or in dungeons. I like the rhythm of the day-night cycle and the changing of the seasons, but I like the pace to be leisurely.
I also mod SDV so I can muck with the time. And make the fishing easier.
Time limits IRL help me stay on task and complete gosls. Time limits in video games just give me anxiety and make me panic.
What’s up with that?
Because you make sure to give yourself enough time to complete a given task or tasks. A time limit in a video game is based on developer whims and play tester feedback. Neither of which you get a say in. Hence the panic.
It may also be the tasks, now that I think about it…
“You have 3 days to write this report on George Washington.”
Vs
“You have 3 days to save the world from the moon crashing into earth and destroying all life as we know it.”
I hate to have to point this out to you, but time limits in real life are also based on developer whims, and nobody here had a say in that. Giving yourself time to complete a task doesn’t change the end limit, it just changes when you start… which is also equally applicable in games. Your logic doesn’t really pan out when you think it through.
Could be worse: it could be the opposite.
If you ever are inclined, Stardew has a very strong modding community. I don’t play it without using one of the handful of mods for extending the time.
Fuck no, any form of FOMO sucks no matter the scope.
I don’t like them in pretty much any game. It’s too stressful for me. That said, I still happen to enjoy a lot of games in spite of the feature (like Persona).
I love stardew but I hate the daily time limit. I now use a mod that doesn’t end the day. I just keep going based on energy. I think an energy bar and a time limit is just too restricting. I don’t mind the daytime events so understand why a clock was necessary but I don’t like the end of day pressure or the pressure in the mines.
Maybe it makes it too easy but I still massively enjoy the game.
The calendar I mind less as I think it’s not as important to as each day.
I got ‘Teardown’ the other day. The third mission had a countdown. Fuck that. Refund.
Thanks. I was interested in the game at first. You saved my money.
