My Time at Portia (Now on Switch) It's Fantasy life/Animal crossing/Stardew mix!

[Blue Cup]

I live in the US eastern time zone and the game did NOT unlock at midnight for me. I was able to play for a short while this morning, tho. I'll play more this afternoon after I'm done with grocery shopping etc (UGH)

Yeah, same. It was as I expected, it was 3am for the east coast and midnight for the west coast.

I've put two hours into it already, and while there are some lengthy load times initially upon a cold start, they don't stick around after the initial loading of the world the first time, so if you never actually close the game app to play something else, you're going to be looking at 4 to 10 second load times, which is a-okay in my book.

There's some jank here and there, and some missing sound effects, but the game is fun. I can definitely see myself sinking many hours into this. It just needs some environmental sounds like birds and stuff, as well as the missing footsteps SFX.

 

[Justin]

Yeah, same. It was as I expected, it was 3am for the east coast and midnight for the west coast.

I've put two hours into it already, and while there are some lengthy load times initially upon a cold start, they don't stick around after the initial loading of the world the first time, so if you never actually close the game app to play something else, you're going to be looking at 4 to 10 second load times, which is a-okay in my book.

There's some jank here and there, and some missing sound effects, but the game is fun. I can definitely see myself sinking many hours into this. It just needs some environmental sounds like birds and stuff, as well as the missing footsteps SFX.

I didn't mention this in my post specifically but the main two issues bothering me are the frame stutters when chopping down a tree or hitting an enemy with my sword and the long pause loading storage items, the crafting handbook, or store menus. Have you noticed those and have they bothered you? They were visible in my video I posted earlier but nobody seemed bothered by them, just the long loading screens. They haven't fixed either of these issues in the update as far as I can tell.

 

[Nickerous]

Out today. I see mixed reviews though. I really enjoyed Fantasy Life, but can?t get into Stardew Valley. This looks like a pass for me.

 

[Justin]

Moderation Note: We had three ongoing threads split between Gamer's Lounge and Nintendo Treehouse boards so I've merged them all together into the Nintendo board since the game just released on Switch today and is likely to be the main reason for people posting about the game now. If you're playing it on another platform, feel free to post in here too -- it's just probably better to have it all in one place and the Nintendo board will allow it to be noticed better.

 

[Blue Cup]

I didn't mention this in my post specifically but the main two issues bothering me are the frame stutters when chopping down a tree or hitting an enemy with my sword and the long pause loading storage items, the crafting handbook, or store menus. Have you noticed those and have they bothered you? They were visible in my video I posted earlier but nobody seemed bothered by them, just the long loading screens. They haven't fixed either of these issues in the update as far as I can tell.

Yeah the stuttering is the jank I mentioned. The pause when chopping down trees seemed to stop after a while, which I found weird. It could still use some optimization here and there but nothing I have experienced thus far is immersion breaking.

 

[Justin]

Yeah the stuttering is the jank I mentioned. The pause when chopping down trees seemed to stop after a while, which I found weird. It could still use some optimization here and there but nothing I have experienced thus far is immersion breaking.

I wouldn't call it breaking at all but when you're fighting four monsters at once in later game content it gets pretty annoying.

Still liking the game though regardless!

 

[mogyay]

i'm currently downloading it, i've managed to escape seeing any reviews of the game, i'm hoping i enjoy it : )

 

[Holla]

Here?s to hoping they fix the known issues in the coming updates. I?m just glad people on here aren?t as whiny about them like other sites. One can be still be civil and not bash the game to oblivion while talking about its issues. Oh well. Hoping everyone on here who got the game is having fun regardless.

 

[acornavenue]

Is this game just like stardew valley? Or is their a lot more/better reasons to play? Id hate playing the same game

 

[Blue Cup]

It's more focused on crafting than farming. It's pretty different from Stardew in the gameplay loop department, but at the same time features some similar aspects.

 

[Mothership]

I am having fun, but i'm also feeling overwhelmed at the same time. There's so much to do! I'm in late Spring of year one but I haven't accomplished any where near as much as I should have by now. I haven't even fought anything other than the llamas. I'm level 14 atm but too scared to go into any place where I have to fight anything.

 

[Justin]

I am having fun, but i'm also feeling overwhelmed at the same time. There's so much to do! I'm in late Spring of year one but I haven't accomplished any where near as much as I should have by now. I haven't even fought anything other than the llamas. I'm level 14 atm but too scared to go into any place where I have to fight anything.

I definitely agree with that, the opening of the game is really overwhelming when you're still just trying to wrap your head around all the different materials and worktables to craft them.

 

[Blue Cup]

I wasn't paying attention earlier while trying to farm sea urchins and one that was slightly more powerful than the rest got caught up in the fray. Needless to say, he destroyed me and I had to repeat the whole day over.

Getting KO'd in this game sucks. You don't just get sent to the next day or back to your house, you flat out get a game over screen, which really odd surprised me. Especially because it came at the end of a busy day.

 

[Holla]

I wasn't paying attention earlier while trying to farm sea urchins and one that was slightly more powerful than the rest got caught up in the fray. Needless to say, he destroyed me and I had to repeat the whole day over.

Getting KO'd in this game sucks. You don't just get sent to the next day or back to your house, you flat out get a game over screen, which really odd surprised me. Especially because it came at the end of a busy day.

I guess when it came to Harvest Moon games you would just “faint” hence waking up the next day (usually with some money loss). I guess in Portia you full out die. I can see it being annoying but at the same time adds to the challenge I suppose? To help make the player a bit more cautious?

 

[Justin]

I wasn't paying attention earlier while trying to farm sea urchins and one that was slightly more powerful than the rest got caught up in the fray. Needless to say, he destroyed me and I had to repeat the whole day over.

Getting KO'd in this game sucks. You don't just get sent to the next day or back to your house, you flat out get a game over screen, which really odd surprised me. Especially because it came at the end of a busy day.

That is exactly what happened to me! Watch out for the same with the balloon enemies near the waterfall. Happened to me there too.

Also, not to mention the loading screen after dying. On the upside, in the later game 'dungeons' there is a multiple chances/lives mechanic at least.

 

[Mothership]

That happened to me with the sea urchins. too. Having to restart the whole day just because I got Ko'd was too harsh a punishment imo. I hope the devs change that. I'll never get anywhere in this game if I have to restart the whole day whenever I get killed.

UGH. It happened again. This time, I was kicking a tree after killing all the urchins and the "boss" urchin appeared right next to me and knocked me out in one hit. That was NOT fair, game!

 

[Blue Cup]

That is exactly what happened to me! Watch out for the same with the balloon enemies near the waterfall. Happened to me there too.

Also, not to mention the loading screen after dying. On the upside, in the later game 'dungeons' there is a multiple chances/lives mechanic at least.

I almost got bamboozled by a stronger alpaca as well. I look forward to the day I'm strong enough to take one down.

I guess when it came to Harvest Moon games you would just “faint” hence waking up the next day (usually with some money loss). I guess in Portia you full out die. I can see it being annoying but at the same time adds to the challenge I suppose? To help make the player a bit more cautious?

Well, even games like Rune Factory and Stardew Valley would just send you back home with half the stamina/health and maybe some missing funds and items (and a head cold in Rune Factorys case).

 

[Cou]

just got this game, really excited to play!! i actually opened this game for a little bit but kinda bummed cause it's very laggy for me anyone else experiencing this?

 

[acornavenue]

Is their a demo?

 

[Justin]

Is their a demo?

There's a demo on Steam but I don't think so on Switch.