Remember Animal Crossing: New Horizons? Back in the bad old days when everyone was in lockdown for the pandemic, a lot of us relied on Animal Crossing to get by. I was one of those people, sitting in a blanket fort with my Nintendo Switch and building my little village.
While I enjoyed myself with Animal Crossing, it was clear how streamlined the Switch version was, and it was unfortunately lacking in depth. It is a game to play in small, daily bursts, but I found the characters one dimensional in comparison to the older games, and despite some good updates, I lost interest in it after a while. I haven’t even returned to the game in over two years, but that game formula is something I never forgot.
We have a couple of games on PC that seek to elevate Animal Crossing’s game design. Dinkum was one of my favorites back then: Australian themed Animal Crossing that sits on Steam with Overwhelmingly Positive reviews. A new game launched recently that hopes to provide the premium Animal Crossing experience in Critter Cove. Big thanks to the folks at Gentleman Rat Studios for providing me with access! I was a little skeptical at first due to the immense ambition on display, but I am delighted to be proven wrong. Even from an early impressions perspective, the amount of love put into this game shows. Despite its Early Access tag, Critter Cove boasts a ton of content and polish already.
Starting Critter Cove for the first time, it is easy to see the inspiration of Animal Crossing. Set in a beautiful archipelago with all sorts of talking animals who talk in what I call ‘Sims babble’, it reminds me of Nook without being in constant debt to that raccoon bastard. This is quite the gorgeous game with some great water effects, and the size of the open world is considerable. It is a title crafted with heart from Gentlemen Rat Studios (that studio name might win a prize for the best name for a gamedev ever), with a world brimming with detail.
It does require quite the powerful machine to play. My poor old man laptop is on its last kidney now, and I ran into many frame drops. It plays rather nicely on the Steam Deck at least, and there are plenty of graphical options to tweak. Even on low settings the game looks rather pleasant. Critter Cove starts slowly, and upon arriving at the main island, you are tasked with bringing people back to the shattered village. Through meeting residents, gathering resources and filling out missions, Critter Cove plays how you might expect. The character creator is pretty impressive too, and you can make a distinctive avatar however you want. Gathering resources and dismantling old pieces of rubbish left by the storm unlocks research goals, providing an organic way of unlocking more things to build.
What surprised me was how solidly the characters are written. These aren’t cardboard cutouts with three lines of dialogue like in other games, but they have their own distinct personalities and needs. Some characters are happy to befriend you straight away, while others are more evasive. One cheerful chap called Pokee asks my opinion on which house to live in, but refuses to take my advice and decides to look elsewhere on the island.
The more I play Critter Cove, the more I am impressed with Gentleman Rat Studios. They clearly know their audience, and for those who like Animal Crossing but were put off by the frustrations in that franchise, Critter Cove is built with accessibility in mind. Equipment never degrades with use, you can nap to restore energy without it ending the day, the day/night cycle is enough to get things done without feeling too long, and the stamina system does not feel like I’m an asthmatic running the London Marathon. There are the usual grinding mechanics when it comes to resource gathering and research, but Critter Cove cuts down on a lot of the chaff that plagues this genre.
Despite being Early Access, there is a lot to like already. The camera can get wonky especially when navigating the winding passageways of the village, and I wish I had an easier way of putting down map markers. There’s a lot stuffed into Critter Cove after all, and I occasionally have trouble remembering where my house is. These are minor issues, and with a chunky demo to see if you like the game before buying, there aren’t any excuses. Give Critter Cove’s demo a shot! If you like the look of it, this is a great deal for the price tag, and I am excited to play more.
