Everdream Valley Nintendo Switch Review

Here’s a confession you may already know, I’m a huge fan of cozy games. Animal Crossing is right up there as one of my most treasured gaming franchises and I still take delight in farming along with my children in Stardew Valley. So when Everdream Valley popped into my sights, I knew it was a game I just had to try!

In Everdream Valley, you play as a child who has been left at your Grandparents farm which due to a few bad seasons, and their age, has been left a little worst for wear. The game wastes no time in throwing you in the deep end, assigning you all manner of quests as you explore the main island you’re on. While it may sound hectic at first, the games relaxed daily time limit and generous quest markers made most of it a breeze, despite some bugs making me check Google for answers like how to make a hay bale, which was bugged at first due to proximity to other items. Farming starts off basic and watering, harvesting, and planting are all very streamlined for faster play. You can simply run through a field with your watering can out, spraying water to cover a field in seconds, and handy water icons tell you what crops need watering. There are a lot of thoughtful options to make things easier, but also some confusion on how to do things at first.

On top of the crafting and farming aspects of the game, the unique proposition of the game is dreaming, which occurs after you craft a Scarecrow you can talk to. Every night, provided you get home in time and are not attacked by wolves, you go to sleep to dream. These dreams let you become an animal that lives on your farm such as becoming your dog to protect sheep from wolves or a mother duck who has to round up her ducklings… even goat parkour! All of it is fun and quirky, and just the right amount of weird in my opinion.

Once you settle into your farm life routine, things pick up the pace and you can get a dog companion who you can train, and teach to track certain animals to bring to your farm. Building up the training level is fairly straightforward but it does also seem to drop rapidly. The higher the training of your dog, the faster he can track down new animals to join you on the farm. Once you track and find the animal, you just need to lead them to your property for them to become yours. There are some small frustrations with this however as you need to pat the animal in question every 15 seconds otherwise they will wander off, and collecting smaller animals like ducks mean walking back and forth with one duck at a time which can take 5 or so minutes to collect them all. There’s also random murder geese littered around the map which seem to be able to chase you for miles, only to hit you and sap your stamina. I’m not really sure why they are there except to hinder exploration and enjoyment.

While it may sound frustrating, there’s so much colour and charm in the world which is rendered in a wonderful style that makes exploring a delight. While the game looks a little pixelated at times, it’s still nice to see foliage-rich areas and bright greens, blues, and oranges used to paint the canvas of this digital world. Animals have a cute chibi art style, and the mini-games around them like sheep sheering keeps things interesting. You can cook, craft, and build things to improve your farm and earn money, and even automate your fields by using water pumps, hoses, and sprinklers to save you some time.

As much as I love the art style and ideas at play here, Everdream Valley for Nintendo Switch seems to have a somewhat rough implementation with lots of small issues making it a good game instead of a great one. Sometimes you will try to catch bugs and nothing will happen, only for bugs to appear in your inventory 5 minutes later. Other issues include slowing your character to a walking pace is you get too close to a bush, and there are bushes everywhere! I’m not sure why the decision to do that was made, but it is my number one annoyance which I hope they remove in an update.

Such bugs like this sometimes snap you out of the immersion and I did find myself losing enthusiasm after a few hours of play, taking a break before returning to the game because I wanted to see more.

It’s the charm of this colourful world that kept drawing me back in and what makes it a fun game to play despite its flaws. Much lime the frogs laying by the bank of the river that I caught and sold, I do enjoy this game warts and all so to speak. If you’re a fan of the cozy genre, farming games, or even Minecraft, I would recommend trying Everdream Valley on the Switch, just go in with the expectations that it’s almost an early access game, with a lot of charm and potential, but with minor flaws. Its relaxing atmosphere draws you into a colourful sandbox that’s a delight to explore and play in, just stay away from the geese!

So What’s it Like?

Everdream Valley is a cross between My Time at Portia, and Stardew Valley.