Last week a gaming friends who’s opinion I highly value when it comes to video games that we may both enjoy pointed me toward a newly released Switch game. WorldNeverland Elnea Kingdom has been available on the Switch since the middle of March, as a download-only game.
The game supports both English and Japanese languages, and is available in North America, Europe, Australia, and Japan. It’s a sandbox-based life simulation game where you migrate to a fantastical land and enjoy a life to do as you wish. Literally. The world you move to is so huge, and there is so much to do. You can play the game which ever way you want.
No raving review just yet
Still, instead of giving you a raving review, I must admit that after spending a couple of hours in the game, I’m not sure. On the one hand, the game leaves a lot to be desired. The graphics aren’t what I expect these days, and you can clearly see where the game is translated from Japanese to English. Syntax errors, and addressing people in your game by their family name is weird.
On the other hand, the game world is so huge, that it doesn’t get boring at all. There’s questing, there’s fighting, there’s cooking and even marriage and children. So many areas to explore, so many jobs you can take on. You really feel as if you take a peek into a kingdom that is going about its business from day to day. Heck, even your new day starts by naming new visitors into town and the commemorate the citizens that have passed away.
The game has a huge history
Added to that: the game has such huge history in real life! You might argue that that doesn’t influence the gaming fun at all, but I love it when you can see that the game has come about with so much love. Althi, Inc., the developer, has released this Switch version taking place in Elnea Kingdom just in time for the 20th anniversary of the series.
It started in Japan with World Neverland: The Olerud Kingdom Stories. in 1997, released for the PlayStation 1. It was followed by the Waktic Republic of Pluto (also PS1) in 1999 and Waneba Island in 2000. The Nalulu Kingdom Stories was released in 2010 on the PSP. The Qukria Kingdom Stories was also released on the PSP in 2013. All of these games were in the Japanese language only.
And then, in 2016, Elnea Kingdom came to Android and in the iOS store in English as a freemium game. Which is now followed by a Switch version, the first time it makes the jump to Nintendo.
The mobile version of the game has a loyal following of people and gets good reviews. And I must say, Althi has revamped the mobile game for a more home console friendly experience with a brand-new interface. It has also been modified for a complete offline experience, allowing you to download the entire game once and just play. It all sounds good, right?
My main beef with the game
And still I’m not sure if I can recommend this game to you. Sure I’ve had a nice time playing the lengthy tutorial. Lengthy, just because there’s so much to take in. I like the fast travel aspect, otherwise I would be lost from the start. I like the questing, I think the fighting is a bit too simple. The camera can’t be turned, the way my character walks feels woody. The phrases people use to talk together are a bit generic. I’m pretty sure I will keep on playing and have fun in my virtual life.
My main beef with the Switch version is the price though: $29,99 is too much! Sure, I will potentially have many hours of gameplay, but for that price the game feels a bit unpolished.
First: give the mobile version a try
For now, if you want to get a good look at the game, I strongly suggest that you give the mobile version a try. And if you like that, you might want to shell out after all for a full version without micro transactions and hours of gameplay ahead.
Switch needs work like on the mobile game needs work more romance needed and do more stuff with your child after you have a kid more festivals need to be added with new games comming out needs work for switch
Voice acting would be nice so work on switch please