Quick Look: Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles

Sold based on the thumbnail alone.

Well I was interested in seeing this because it's supposed to be a laid back game

Never heard of this before, but it looks great.

*goes limp*

Before buying this, just be aware there's not that much content. The main quest is pretty short. Still really enjoying it though, and it looks amazing!

My wife and I started and finished this yesterday. The game's main quest is on the short side.

The farm system has an early tutorial. After you clear the murk, the farmhand that fixes your place walks you through farming basics. It looks like that sequencing was missed a bit when Ben went straight to the placement book.

That said, you can "beat" the game without ever engaging in farming much if at all. I think my wife spent about eight to ten hours on the main quest and farmed for ten minutes of it.

Crafting takes a bit to level up and one of the biggest gating components for craftable items are mats that have to be purchased for recipes, rather than made. You'll come to hate mortar, glue, and the other buyable-only components which come in day-limited supply from vendors when not being able to buy any more mortar keeps you from building a bridge. The devs are aware of this progression bottleneck.

It's a charming, if slight, game and the devs seem committed to more post-main-quest content according to their comments on Steam.

This looks really relaxing.

The way Ben was avoiding some of the quest givers who would have given him the information he wanted... kind of annoyed. But Ben & Brad have a great dynamic and are super chill.

Looks cool but it's a real shame about all the violent fish murder.

Anther awesome aussie dev. This and Paradigm are on my list to play.

This was really frustrating to watch because Ben spent a lot of time avoiding taking quests. It seems fairly obvious to me that the guy who had a quest after building the farm would have the quests for the farm tutorial.

@benpack The term most commonly used in games to describe that dialog sound is bark. Enemy barks, dialog barks, etc.

@lyisa:

That dude has a tutorial for you. He gives you a free set of starter shelters and feeders for animals too.

I have some complaints with the game, but it does a pretty good job of holding your hand through that stuff.

Quote of the game: "This is a platonic thing, I give him my mushroom and it makes him happy."

This is very chill though from the music to the sim'lish language. Lighting and look is a beaut as well!

Not to be hating, but Ben is terrible here. Also, what is up with the constant jumping, are the controller binds double mapped or something? Game looks good.

...Ok, I didn't think it would from the thumbnail and title, but this game totally looks like my jam.

This looks cool. Would have been nice to see the farming.

I'm liking this Brad/Ben combo on recent videos

The whole "collect X amount of crap" over and over is more tedious and dull to me than chill. I'm glad to know the game has all sorts of things in it that weren't shown in the video.

He kept hitting A to talk to people despite the X prompt being there every time...

Hmm.

I think it's because you have to click X to initiate a conversation, but to continue a conversation (i.e to scroll to the next text page or end the conversation) you have to press A.

Sometimes people just like to press A

I used to be annoyed by Ben but lately I've been not minding him as much and last f3w days has been way better. I liked the FridOta and thus quick look. Don't read the youtube comments on this ine, it's particularly bad since ben seemed disinterested in the game.

I bought stardew Valley and all I did was mod it but this makes me want stardew on switch. Shame about no mods, I don't know if I can play a game with no combat and no reason to do these things. Video games and life revolve around combat to make things interesting even if not physical mental or even mortal.

I'm real moony over this game. I love the compass (it's so amazingly easy to see even with my vision and should be a gold standard for devs looking to create more visual accessibility in their games), I love the chill nature, I love the aesthetic, I love exploring.

As others have mentioned, it's a little light on the main quest side of things, but I've put five or so hours into it and I think it's well worth the price. It could definitely do with more fast travel spots, though.

Digging the B&B (Brad and Ben) Chill

@gschmidl: OOOHHHHH!!

beedle always had the best of those.

@sparky_buzzsaw:

Yeah. If anything, I'm glad the fetch-heavy main quest is over quickly. The world is pretty and the atmosphere is why I'm there anyway. My wife and I are farming now and working towards all the guild mastery.

I think the endgame *is* a bit shallow, but the devs seem to be aware and committed to adding to the game. Worst case, we spend a few more days finding the cats and put it down until an update.

@frenden: I have a bunch of quests yet to do and fairies to find, so that's my priority, but finding those cats is pretty addictive too. Forgot to mention that this is the first fishing minigame I've liked since Dark Cloud 2. It's real easy to figure out.

I've beeen playing this all weekend and am really enjoying it. I haven't loved a chill out game since Fantasy Life and this is giving me the same feelings. The side quests aren't that involved but that's kind of the point. They're only there as a vessel to get you moving around the world and taking in the sights. I've put in probably 10 hours and haven't touched the farming so the game is really whatever you make of it.

It's great that you guys are giving this game the time of day. I bought it the day it came out and its pretty fun. Kinda simple but still a good time. Sort of surprised that no one even mentioned in most of the publications I visit. Children of the Zodiarcs came out the same day, its a a decent turn based combat game that easy to get into, mixing deck building for abilities and pictogram dice for chance hit/inflict(%). May want to give it a look.

"Is there a good term for character speech that's just a sound to convey emotion?"

Cooing.

A twerking groffle sounds like something that a Dr Seuss town needs to run.

One of the guys I work with knows some of the developers of this game, bizarre seeing a QL of it on the site a few days after he told me about it.

Man this game pushes all the right buttons for me. The only problem is it's another game I don't have time to play. Definitely wishlisted, I will get it eventually.

well damn I didn't know what this was at all and now I want it.

"I gave a squirrel my wood" -Ben Pack

SOMEONE CALL THE COPS

Pretty much how my gaming-life is right now, too. It's a god 'problem' to have, though, since this game will probably be on sale at least once or twice before I'm ready to take it on.

We always called them bluegill growing up, never heard of brim before.

Giant Bomb: Yonder We March

I also beat this game yesterday, after 7 hours. I wasn't even really aware I was doing the last quest, and the achievement for beating the game seems to acknowledge that the main story is short (It's something like "That was Quick").

I've also engaged in about 10 minutes of Farming. The game doesn't really seem to give you a reason to, other than collecting cute animals, I guess. The farms are basically just storage posts for your limited and non-upgradable inventory space.

I wasn't even aware that things like Mortar are not craftable, I figured I'd just have to find the recipe, or unlock it. I did grind one stone bridge out, but, what's the point? It created a bridge between two areas that I could already access, anyways.

It is a chill game, but the lack of direction overall is very frustrating. Almost everything I'm doing in the game, I'm not sure why I'm doing it, and the payoff is almost never worth it.

Ha yeah, for all the talk about how nothing can die in this game...you totally kill the fish you catch? :/

@ethanielrain:

Yeah. And the pelts and meat that pop out of animal traps you set are a little rough too.

@milpool:

I largely agree. We're digging the farming system and finding of the last two sprites and eight or so cats enough to keep going. For now.

The devs say they're addressing the mortar, rivet, plank bottleneck, so we'll see!

It turns out when you remove the combat from video games you're left with resource gathering, crafting, fetch quests, and collectible finding.

Nothing I would mind, but somehow from the noises Brad made early in the video when Ben picked up the Stone, I suspect he might not take to this game.

This game is beautiful, but even after watching this, I'm still not sure what you do in it...

This is totally something I need to play. Glad it's on PS4.

This should be nominated in a new category for 'Chillest Game of the Year 2017'

Looks fun & a great game to play while listening to various podcasts. Next time Ben, while at the farm you just put together, check back with the ! NPC to get more tutorial on the farm.

While the gameplay will probably not keep me interested, the graphics give Breath of the wild a run for it's money. This is a beautiful fresh world that just makes you happy to look at the screen. Zelda looked drab and foggy in comparison imo.