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My Extensive Review of 'Hono Gurashi no Niwa'

An in-depth review of 'Hono Gurashi no Niwa,' a unique blend of relaxing farm simulation and chilling folk horror. This experienced player shares insights on its captivating BGM, mild horror, and Japanese art style. Learn about the 'Peaceful Life Mode,' movement challenges, and why it's recommended.

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Hello, I'm a professional engineer.
This summer vacation, I was mainly building tools to streamline blog operations and playing this game.
Since my playtime has increased quite a bit, I thought I'd write down my thoughts.

Initial Overall Impression

It's incredibly fun, and genuinely scary. As someone who enjoys playing games like Story of Seasons, Rune Factory, Stardew Valley, and Harvestella, this game really resonated with me. By the way, among those I just listed, Harvestella is my top recommendation. Harvestella is great.

Overall, I'd give it about 4.5/5 stars!
The slight deduction is because I would have liked an after-story or post-ending content, and also for the points I'll discuss later. I feel like there's potential, so I'm looking forward to future updates!

Potential Spoilers Ahead

I'm currently writing this, so while it's still a draft, it may contain spoilers. If you don't want to see them, please close your eyes.

What I Liked

The BGM is Excellent

Jumping right in, and a bit off the main topic of the game itself, the BGM is absolutely fantastic. Different tracks are provided for various variables like seasons, weather, time, and location, and each one perfectly matches the atmosphere.

Furthermore, the sound design is great. This game has horror elements and can be quite frightening, and the BGM and sound effects really enhance that. They truly make you jump.

A Story Befitting a Folk Horror Village

In my generation, a representative work would be Higurashi When They Cry, or personally, Seishi Yokomizo's The Village of Eight Gravestones... In manga, Gannibal is also famous, right? This work similarly features a folk horror village as its theme.

Typically, when a folk horror village is involved, gruesome incidents tend to occur, and this game certainly follows that pattern. Yet, it felt like there were clever designs implemented to appeal to a wide range of players.

There are two main design features.

First, the inclusion of a 'Peaceful Life Mode.' This game is structured such that you grow crops and care for animals during the day, while the night village exploration part is horror. In this mode, the night part is removed. So, even those who only want to enjoy farm simulation and communication with residents can play without worry.

Second, in normal mode, 'no one disappears.' Taking Higurashi When They Cry as an example, when a folk horror village is the theme, someone usually disappears during the story. And the story then develops from that disappearance, often leading to gruesome incidents.

However, Hono Gurashi no Niwa handles this aspect gently. How is it made gentle? By 'shifting the timeline.' By minimizing gruesome depictions in real-time and emphasizing the folk horror elements as past incidents, it felt like the unique characters were preserved. Creating a spooky folk horror atmosphere without 'anyone disappearing' is a clever aspect of this game's design.

Great Art Style

The art style is very soft and Japanese, creating a good contrast with the horror elements. I'm a fan of a work called Mushishi, and I somehow feel a connection between the two.

On the map, characters constantly move according to their own schedules for daily interactions, and even with their stylized designs, their expressions are drawn with remarkable detail, which also left a positive impression.

If they've put this much effort into making them so charming, it's no wonder you can't 'erase' them! Well, that's what it comes down to.

Winter nights have a great atmosphere, don't they?

What I Disliked

Tedious Movement

While this game offers fast travel from anywhere on the map directly to your home (the protagonist's house), there's no fast travel from your home to other locations.

Since the concept of time is quite crucial in this game, travel time can be pretty strict. If you don't move efficiently, you might not be able to accomplish what you want. And as you progress further, the distances you need to travel also increase.

I don't think it's necessary to be able to warp to every tiny location, but it would be nice if we could, for example, warp to the center of the village. I just want to quickly get to the library and the general store...

Not Enough Money!!

Perhaps it's a perfectly balanced system, but I constantly found myself running out of money. Upgrading farming tools, upgrading buildings, crop seeds, animals... everything costs money. There's so much to do and so much I want to do, but I'm always short on cash! It became a persistent state lol.

I had no financial leeway whatsoever until I cleared the story... It was a dilemma where the wonderful amount of content led to a continuous struggle.

If only shopping were a bit cheaper...

Recommended For

Personally, I love this game so much that I want to recommend it to everyone, but if I had to narrow it down, I'd recommend it to:

Fans of farm simulation games
Those who enjoy the 'folk horror village' setting

I've only listed aspects that are obvious from the game's premise, but the quality in these areas is exceptionally high, so just conveying this should be enough!

Finally

Sazanka is probably the most energetic and best character.
Also, check out the official website; it's quite playful and interesting!

Official Website for 'Hono Gurashi no Niwa'

This article was translated from the original Japanese version (ほの暮しの庭いっぱいやったので感想をば) using Gemini API.