What it is
For those who wished to have Animal Crossing on PC, this may well be the game for you. Hokko Life has reached its one year Anniversary; it was released June 2 2021. Since then, it has had several major updates with only two left for its Early Access Roadmap. Since its release it has received 887 reviews, with which 73% are positive. Team17 published Hokko Life, whom released Overcooked, Yooka-Laylee, My Time at Portia and Worms.
This is a really cute comfy game. Gives you AC vibes if you need a change of pace
Kawasaki.tay, Posted in Reviews May 25
Character Creation
The Character Creation only has twenty-two hair styles, the ability to make skin, eyes, hair and hair highlights any color. You create them using a RGB slider. There is an option on whether to have freckles or not as well as blush on the cheeks, but there’s only the one option. There are no clothing creations at the start of the game until you invite the Designer to the village. He will open up a shop where you can change your appearance and your clothes. You can design your own clothes and share them with friends using the catalogue.
Storyline
The storyline is very minimal, starting with you falling asleep on the train and waking up at the last stop. Here you are taken to the Inn, introduced to Oma, the owner of the Inn, and Moss, who owns the store across the street. When asked what brought you to Hokko, you have two options: you fell asleep or that you wanted a change. A short time after, you build your first home and then it is odd quests here and there. The main story seems to end about here, but the creativity of the game begins.
Gameplay
The gameplay is very similar to Animal Crossing; Animal Villagers collect resources to craft items. There are what is called Mayor Merit Points. These points gives you money or items to place anywhere in the village or home. They are also the game progression of when you obtain other abilities or access to other areas. These points are only acquired in a certain order. If you completed the requirements for a specific Mayor Merit Point but the ones before are not completed, you will not receive it.
The game is fine, but it’s not a game for me. No real story or characters relationships development which is what I enjoy most in farming sim games. The creative building aspect (which is apparently the strongest feature of the game) didn’t interest me.
Mamushi, Posted in Reviews May 31
A main key for village progression is to visit the inn around noon and dinner time to recruit more villagers. They will say they will move in once you talk to them, with the added bonus that you do not need a house before hand for them to move in. Recruited Villagers go on a list, so once the house is made you can decide who moves in.
Lastly, there is more than just clothing designs, there is homebrew crafting, you can decide how the houses look on the outside as well as inside. Wonderscope has recently added a photo mode to their game allowing players to easily take pictures and post their creations online. Hokko life has bug catching, fishing, mining, and farming, but you have to unlock all of these in order to use them.
Reviews
While many seem to enjoy the game, like Kawasaki.tay and Mamushi, there are some who have left reviews not recommending the game in its current state. Noracat posted in the Reviews on May 13th:
“If animal crossing and Stardew Valley came together this would be a great example of a relaxing, creative simulation game. Since it’s still in early access I believe there should be more improvements coming. The character creation in the beginning is terrible in my opinion. There is not enough hairstyles to choose from, you can’t really change the facial features and I wish I could do that.
Also during every patch update, I have to change my binds back to what I wanted. That is kind of annoying. I wasn’t able to refund the game, but I’ll just wait for better updates to come before I start playing again because, right now, it’s not that great of a game”
Biancabtrix stated on May 3rd: “I was super excited for this game but….it just isn’t interesting.
I love cute animals, I love farming games…and above all this I love AC with all my heart!
Hokko life lacks soul, the animals are unininspired, the chraracter model just isn’t cute, and it seems like there isn’t much to do here…when early access is finished I’ll try playing again but for now it’s a disappointment.”
Hokko Life still has some updates left to release and hopefully those changes can appeal to some of the negative reviews. It appears to be a cute relaxing game where once you leave, the game pauses so you can pick up exactly where you left off. It certainly seems to be like Animal Crossing but some of the best aspects of it.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/824000/Hokko_Life/
Mom of three, enjoy videogames, board games and phone games. I typically am playing Simulation games or FPS games.
