Doraemon Story Of Seasons: Friends of the Great Kingdom Review

 I really enjoyed the first Doraemon Story of Seasons game so I was delighted to see there was a sequel with Friends of the Great Kingdom. The story starts with Noby, Doraemon, and friends on their Summer vacation. Noby has an argument with his parents over the fact that he hasn't finished his homework so he decides it's a perfect time for him and all his friends to take a trip in a rocket ship to another planet to play which is a very Noby thing to do. 

Noby admires the stars.

Everyone thinks the planet is uninhabited and they can have fun exploring until they find an injured boy. They patch him up and the boy introduces himself as Lumis and offers to show them around the planet. 

Everyone meets Lumis.

As Lumis shows them around, eventually they come to a farm and Lumis offers for them to stay and work on the farm during the Summer. This gives a good introduction to the farming tutorial and how the game menu works. This also shows where Friends of the Great Kingdom improved some things such as Noby being able to choose a friend to help with the farm work. The AI is pretty good as the friend helps with watering plants, taking care of animals, and foraging. It eases a lot of the time crunch too in the game and allows an easier time of managing your daily activities. 

Noby and friends learn about farming.

There are the usual fun things to do from the first game like fishing, catching bugs, and chatting with the townspeople. The artwork like the first game is in the same beautiful style looking like watercolor paintings. There are different cutscenes with the people Noby meets as well as requests for different items from them that you can fulfill for rewards. There is mining and woodcutting too so that you can expand the farmhouse and the animal buildings. The game also added an extra room in the farmhouse that you can decorate however you wish which adds another fun layer to the game. 

The artwork is lovely. 

Farming and exploring aren't the only things to do. There are festival events during each season like a Summer watermelon smashing contest. These are a great time and there are trophies you get if you win that can be displayed in your house. It also gives you plenty of time to talk with the townspeople and increase friendship with them. 

Watermelon smashing contest! 

That's not to say the game is not without its flaws. The full thirty day calendar can make things feel like they drag a little. Sometimes, it's very easy to get lost on the map and I found myself getting turned around. Once you get Doraemon's fast travel door it makes things a lot easier. The energy bar drains really quickly which can be frustrating because in the beginning the only way to work around this is to have Noby take a nap for a couple of hours. Later, when you unlock cooking you can make some meals that replenish his energy, but that adds another bit of frustration because you have to buy cooking utensils and you have to experiment with cooking because you don't have recipes. You can buy some from one of the shops, but you have to have made the dish at least once in order to make it. There were times when I got so irritated by it that I just bought dishes from the local diner. 

Other than that, the game is wonderful with its whimsical charm with a relaxing musical soundtrack that lets you just chill and vibe at your own pace. It's a nice addition to the Doraemon Story of Seasons crossover and a lovely farming sim. 

Enjoying the beautiful view. 

*Doraemon Story of Seasons: Friends of the Great Kingdom is available on the following platforms: Nintendo Switch, PS5, and steam

*Join our community on Twitch as we play games and discuss mental health: https://www.twitch.tv/mothergamer

Mothergamer Plays Fault STP Lightkravte

 *Note: I received a free Nintendo Switch game code for my honest review of the game. 

I have never played any of the games in the Fault series. Lightkravte is my first one and is described as a prequel to the series set five year before the first game which is a good introduction to the series and the Fault universe. The story introduces us to Khaji who is the son of a fruit farmer. Khaji explains all about the hierarchy and society of the kingdom of Rughzenahide. It's interesting, but it's also a bit dry. The game itself has a lore dictionary and I found myself looking up a lot of the terms used because otherwise it could be very confusing. 

Meeting Khaji for the first time. 

Khaji does not want to be a fruit farmer. All he wants is to be a portrait painter. The problem with that is Khaji doesn't have raw talent. He's been trying to learn and paint for two years and he has not improved at all. The way the kingdom is run is that at a certain point young people like Khaji have to take a vocational aptitude test that decrees what job they'll be doing for the rest of their life and Khaji's has basically told him he should stick to fruit farming. Khaji refuses to believe this and tries to find a way to improve his painting and become a painter like he wants. 

Khaji dreams of being a painter. 

The artwork for Lightkravte is beautiful and the facial expressions for each character is well animated. The fact that you can shift the camera angles so you can see different viewpoints of the art in each scene is a very cool effect. Forest areas and the cityscape are well done and really make this visual novel stand out. 

A beautiful forest area. 

I'll be honest. The first two hours of Lightkravte are rather boring. While I understand that it's to introduce the lore, world building, and explain how things work in Khaji's home country, most of it could have been pared down by a lot so we could get to the story faster. The story itself is interesting and I liked Khaji. I felt he could be very stubborn, but I also understood his frustration at everyone telling him that he couldn't be a painter and being rather rude and dismissive of him telling him he should give up. Not everyone felt that way however as shown with Khaji's relationship with his dad. His dad is matter of fact, but kind and supportive of him. I liked the conversations with Khaji's dad the best because it showed how caring their relationship was and that his dad gave him space when he needed it. 

Khaji's dad gives him life advice. 

Khaji also has some great friends that encourage and support him. One of them could be described as more of a frenemy, but they also support Khaji in their own way telling him the full truth even if he may not want to hear it. It's interesting to see how each friend is different in their support of Khaji, but it's not one sided. Khaji matures as the story progresses and realizes that he wants to be supportive of his friends. As he tries to find a solution to his painting skills, Khaji starts to grow as a person and understands that he wants to not only bring joy to his friends, but comfort with his art. It's a lovely emotional moment that really shows how far Khaji has come from the beginning of the story. 

Khaji supports a friend. 

There's a wonderful emotional moment at the end of the story as Khaji shows his answer and solution to his desire to paint portraits. It's a great ending to the story showing how far Khaji has come. I definitely liked the second half of the game better because once the story got going, it was pretty good. As visual novels go, I enjoyed the artwork, the characters, and the themes of friendship and determination. Lightkravte does a great job of introducing the Fault universe and once you get through the first two hours of dry reading, it tells an interesting story. 

A beautiful shot of the kingdom. 

*Fault STP Lightkravte is available to play on the following platforms: PC, Nintendo Switch

*Join our community on Twitch as we play game and discuss mental health: https://www.twitch.tv/mothergamer