Reviews:
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Combining together an upbeat tone, some fun characters, and a mix of puzzles and crafting this keeps things light and fun
I suppose with a name like The Smile Alchemist your expectations walking into the game wouldn’t include nail-biting challenges. At its heart it’s not so dissimilar from farming sims in some regards, as a big piece of the picture will be getting to know people, gathering materials, and crafting in order to help them out in some way. There’s much more emphasis than normal here on the various characters you’ll interact with though, and there are a few big personalities you’ll contend with. None of it is particularly challenging, (though some of the game systems like you trying to frantically press a button to regenerate some energy you to complete a task don’t necessarily stop being odd), but it does consistently try to keep you engaged. I’d say the dividing line for this experience would be the amount of story you’re interested in versus engaging play, the more you’re invested in backstories and learning about people the more you’ll likely have a good time. However, that also means that if you’re looking for a bit more to do and keep your attention it isn’t as good a fit. Regardless, it’s a very cheery RPG adventure that's quite family-friendly and feels pretty unique within the space.
Justin Nation, Score:Good [7.7]