Critter Cove has the charm and personality of the earlier Animal Crossing games with all the QoL lacking in new horizons - all while still feeling wholly and completely its own and not like an AC rip. You start the game with an impressively robust character creator, ranging from human to mythical creature and everything in between. Human, cat, dog, bear, deer, reptile, sea creature, robot- there seem to be near infinite possibilities, with even more customization options for each silhouette such as ears, horns, tails, etc. Don't worry if you can't decide, there is a mirror unlock in game that lets you change your character in the shop or at home. :)

The game then progresses to your arrival on Critter Cove, where you are tasked with helping to restore the post-apocalyptic town and entice tourists to visit and rescue shipwrecked critters to live on the island. Salvaging/breaking down the ruins around the archipelago nets both materials and unlocks crafting trees for things like equipment, machinery, furniture, island decor, and more. Slowly but surely you help restore houses for residents and buildings/businesses on the island. As you travel around the archipelago you encounter shipwrecked Critters- rescue and return them to Critter Cove, and they'll move into your island, eventually asking you to help them restore one of the old homes in the town and can even be hired to run the businesses. Tourists start to visit every so often, earning you gold as they visit the attractions on your island. The tourists and residents alike have SO much personality- they vary in their interests, dialogue, and niceness- so be prepared for some sass!

The gameplay loop in this game is incredibly satisfying, and the mechanics are designed with QoL in mind. Tools don't break, seamless day/night with no forced sleep or punitive mechanics for not going to bed/being tired (I *hate* punitive mechanics like that, so it's a big one for me), reasonable stamina usage with easy ways to replenish, either through abundantly available food or sleeping for different lengths of time (love being able to take a nap and not being forced to end a day just to replenish stamina), shared inventory across storage chests, crafting from your storage chest and not just from your on-hand inventory, and more. This game really removes a lot of the tedium of things like crafting and inventory management so you can focus on the fun parts of the game- exploring, resource gathering, crafting, and interacting with the characters.

Keep in mind, this is an EA! The game is not complete, nor is it perfect. There are still some bugs, mechanics may change, and there is an impressively robust roadmap of what's to come in their subsequent updates. The Gentleman Ran team is incredibly responsive across their channels (I use discord) and really care about letting the community guide provide feedback into game and QoL mechanics. Bugs are identified and being resolved quickly, and I am confident that this is an EA that's worth the money. If you're not sure- the demo is a fantastic example of what you can expect from the game, and you can roll your demo progress into the game if you end up buying.

Needless to say, I HIGHLY recommend- you will not regret trying this game!

Character customization in this game is absolutely amazing, the amount of options you get far exceed any cozy game I've ever played. For an early access game I haven't ran into to many bugs. I've been so excited for this since the first playtest and am absolutely loving it. I'm only a few hours in and there's just so much to do.

The game has some bugs as expected but overall its actually chilling and relaxing. Im having a great time playing it so far!