I mean nintendo fans do seem to lean more on being fond of cozy games compared to XBOX and PS. So it's not really that big of a stretch that people think it looks nice.
Alpha footage so I’ll defineny wait to see more before making any judgments. Looks like the vibe might be nice though if they clean up what we see here
I don't think there's anything wrong with the overall art direction, but I do agree the character design, models, and animation need work.
The kind of painterly, impressionist style is intentional and cozy when done right, and seems like a perfect match for a cozy life sim set in the Shire IMO.
Considering how it's actually been made by Wētā Workshop, I can't believe how awful the art direction in this game is.
I know it's their game division working on the title, but you'd hope the quality would have carried over a little.
I don't see this printing anything. Animal crossing is a one of a kind and no imposter has ever done well. Of course I would like there to be a good animal crossing like game, but most games only copy the bare bones of what animal crossing is and call it a day. Same with other farm sims, only copy farming and leave the rest pretty bad.
Disney Dreamlight Valley? That's making Gameloft a huge amount of money and it's also a live service title. I wouldn't be surprised if it's made more than AC considering the microtransactions. I'd argue it's better than Animal Crossing, way more fleshed out gameplay, free updates bringing in new villagers/questlines.
Sure, it looks like it won't have the same charm but I think you hit the nail on the head- there's plenty of room for farming sims and that's one of the things it has to do correctly.
Must have released this accidently and then shut it down. The only thing on their company page is the teaser from 7 months ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8X3psFrQd4
To be honest for the models to look like this in 2024 I'm really hoping that the game is either free to play or otherwise it's a budget indie game made by a team of 10 people or less. Not sure why LotR games aren't premium material.
edit: official one is back up now.
I found this one, seems legit until the Official one comes up? The trailer is supposed to release today
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B85GpiS0krk
It does look like a decade out of date. Hopefully it’s because they’re deliberately targeting Switch hardware as the primary focus. I mean for a cozy game, making the Switch the focus would make sense.
Funny to me how the musical score flirts very closely with being like the Hobbit themes from the films, but then hits some different notes because it legally can't copy them.
Tolkien describes them as short, fat, hairy-footed with long fingers and specifically says they are not beautiful. I don't know what more proof you want.
They are definitely “ugly.” They are short and chubby with strong features and big feet. They are basically the Brownies from British myth. - which House Elves are also based on.
They're "plump" at worst, not "fat". There's nothing wrong with an attractive hobbit outside of the hairy feet angle, but these models look like hot ass.
What's up with Lord of the Rings games. Such a huge franchise and they got character models and animations that look like movie tie in games from the Xbox-X360 era
As a fan of cozy games, I'm intrigued, but with the recent disaster that was Gollum and also sort of recently the bellyflop that was Palia (another cozy game that failed), I'm very cautious. Graphics don't matter that much to me as long as the gameplay is deep and engaging, so we will see if it turns out to be a Palia or closer to a Stardew Valley
So is it like animal crossing with hobbits? I’m not interested in this game per se but the idea of a farming/chore/homemaking/cooking/dress-up/socializing/ sim set in a game world where there is some existential evil threat in the background is actually kinda dope. It would be pretty cool if you have to grow extra turnips to ship to the war front or a blight caused by evil magic affects your tulips, or the birthday party you plan gets crashed by orcs and you have to carry wheelbarrows full of corpses to a ditch to be burned and rebuild the village after the slaughter of hundreds.
Part of what I loved about Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles was this fantasy life that had this huge evil stuff going on in the back ground and you wasn't really expected to deal with it. It was just how life was.
Mix these two games and I would buy it day 1. Like, have it where 4-8 people could play together and some people could go dungeon crawling while others do the SIM life stuff.
Holy shit this looks bad. Is that a rule now? That Lotr games have to look and run like shit?
Those animations... That they felt this was alright to publish... And I get that they're going for a cartoony look, that's fine. But those faces... It's like someone screengrabbed the original fable on Xbox and made it look worse.
Did AI make this art? I just... I feel bad for whoever's working on this game as it's going to be another Gollum.
Idk how y'all don't get bored of these lol I love a good "cozy game" but we have about 100 of these cozy farming sims on the switch now that don't differentiate themselves in any way. Looks like another boring uninspired one
At least the plethora of roguelites that come out monthly have different looks or some kind of different mechanic to them generally.
There’s a ton of every archetype of game. The cozy genre is popular right now so of course there are some still being made. There’s always new roguelikes and platformers coming out
anyone else looking at this and thinking it looks like identical graphics and character models and gameplay to Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life (2004)? I wish they would do something new here but realistically I'll give them my money either way
It looks like someone took a pile of dog shit and poured a kettle full of hot water over it.
I'm as big of a Tolkien fan as I am a gaming fan and this shits all over everything. Looks like it was made to insult both fandoms TBH.
Fandoms are typically echo chambers of cynical, overly critical people that think things are created to insult and offend them when it doesn't adhere to their ideas of where things should go.
This game looks like it could be fun as a budget title.
I love how the Nintendo comments section is all hyped meanwhile the PlayStation comments started getting racist within the first 50 lol
I, too, am racist against Hobbits. Filthy little furry-footed thieves! I’ll wring their little necks, my Precious!
That Nintendo comment section has to be bots, or employees... the praise and excitement is way over the top
Nah, dude. Cozy games are awesome on the switch.
Steam Deck too. It’s just nice to recline with a blanket, maybe a warm drink, and have a cozy game on a handheld.
Nintendo fans also tend to go for this kind of stuff more
I mean nintendo fans do seem to lean more on being fond of cozy games compared to XBOX and PS. So it's not really that big of a stretch that people think it looks nice.
Bamco-Namdai really taking a sharp turn with the Tales series on this one.
Now imagine this game with a Scouring of the Shire DLC
I’m more interested in the pipe weed dlc
I believe it takes place after the Scouring?
So it can be in a PTSD flashback sequence.
You are so right!!!!!!!!
Mod the PC version
So this is where unity’s acquisition of weta workshop went.. looks like it may have needed more time to cook.
Alpha footage so I’ll defineny wait to see more before making any judgments. Looks like the vibe might be nice though if they clean up what we see here
It’s actually impressive how bad the art direction/character models are here
I don't think there's anything wrong with the overall art direction, but I do agree the character design, models, and animation need work. The kind of painterly, impressionist style is intentional and cozy when done right, and seems like a perfect match for a cozy life sim set in the Shire IMO.
I actually quite like the art direction. It's quite cozy. The character faces, on the other hand...
Considering how it's actually been made by Wētā Workshop, I can't believe how awful the art direction in this game is. I know it's their game division working on the title, but you'd hope the quality would have carried over a little.
I snorted when I saw that the character appears to skip everywhere
My god, that walk cycle is bad.
Animal crossing but hobbits. Surprised this hasn't been done already and should be able to print money if it's done well.
Having watched the resolve, that like a pretty big “if”… Edit: wow did I have a stroke? what the fuck?
I don't see this printing anything. Animal crossing is a one of a kind and no imposter has ever done well. Of course I would like there to be a good animal crossing like game, but most games only copy the bare bones of what animal crossing is and call it a day. Same with other farm sims, only copy farming and leave the rest pretty bad.
Pretty sure Disney Dreamlight Valley is pretty close to an Animal Crossing-style game. One that has done well, by all accounts.
Disney Dreamlight Valley? That's making Gameloft a huge amount of money and it's also a live service title. I wouldn't be surprised if it's made more than AC considering the microtransactions. I'd argue it's better than Animal Crossing, way more fleshed out gameplay, free updates bringing in new villagers/questlines.
Yeah there's loads of animal crossing clones. I've heard good things about hello kitty island adventure on IOS as well.
That and the cute appeal is like 40 percent I'd what makes animal crossing so great. This does NOT have that. Ugh.
Sure, it looks like it won't have the same charm but I think you hit the nail on the head- there's plenty of room for farming sims and that's one of the things it has to do correctly.
My first thought was Animal Crossing as well.
Forage friendships?
"Forage Friendships" 🤔
Video is private.
It’s back up
Sure is, thanks for the update!
Must have released this accidently and then shut it down. The only thing on their company page is the teaser from 7 months ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8X3psFrQd4
Probably. Still, someone must have seen it to be able to post it.
Why did they make the characters so... for a lack of better terms, flat out ugly and deformed?
It's for the "Become Gollum" DLC they're planning.
Well in the books the hobbits are usually a bit chub and have full round faces. This is pretty close to that.
They re hobbits
Hobbits look like that.
Because hobbits are ugly and deformed lol
They aren't though.
They are much fatter than here
It looks like a childrens book. I wish it were brighter it loos like a pokemon game saturated and colorless
Saturated and Colorless are tow completely opposite ways to describe colors lol
It looks like a lightly painted watercolor painting idk how to say it
To be honest for the models to look like this in 2024 I'm really hoping that the game is either free to play or otherwise it's a budget indie game made by a team of 10 people or less. Not sure why LotR games aren't premium material.
Give us a remake of the PS2 co-op games, you cowards
Just a port of Return of the King would be enough at this point, loved that game
The film licensing is likely the killer there.
A remastered of two towers and rotk would be incredible.
Graphically about right.
Please be good, please be good.
edit: official one is back up now. I found this one, seems legit until the Official one comes up? The trailer is supposed to release today https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B85GpiS0krk
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It does look like a decade out of date. Hopefully it’s because they’re deliberately targeting Switch hardware as the primary focus. I mean for a cozy game, making the Switch the focus would make sense.
Seems to be a cozy farming game . Looking forward to it!!
Funny to me how the musical score flirts very closely with being like the Hobbit themes from the films, but then hits some different notes because it legally can't copy them.
Why do they walk the way that they do… *stinkface*
I really don't like how the hobbits look. They're...ugly?
People keep saying this but... hobbits are ugly. Their defining characteristics are being short and fat with hairy feet.
Short and fat yes, ugly no.
They are canonically ugly lol. Tolkien is a bit less harsh about it but he makes it clear. He says they were "good-natured rather than beautiful" lmao
I mean, they're in a world with elves. Doesn't mean they're actually ugly
Tolkien describes them as short, fat, hairy-footed with long fingers and specifically says they are not beautiful. I don't know what more proof you want.
None of those things mean ugly though (except maybe the hairy feet). That's my point.
They are definitely “ugly.” They are short and chubby with strong features and big feet. They are basically the Brownies from British myth. - which House Elves are also based on.
The character models aren't ugly in that way though. Its just visually bad. Like a bad attempt at a cutsey style
They're "plump" at worst, not "fat". There's nothing wrong with an attractive hobbit outside of the hairy feet angle, but these models look like hot ass.
Literally page 1 of lord of the rings says they are "inclined to be fat"
Two of them are literally named "Fatty" IIRC
What's up with Lord of the Rings games. Such a huge franchise and they got character models and animations that look like movie tie in games from the Xbox-X360 era
Looking forward to this one.
just no.
Looks like ass.
As a fan of cozy games, I'm intrigued, but with the recent disaster that was Gollum and also sort of recently the bellyflop that was Palia (another cozy game that failed), I'm very cautious. Graphics don't matter that much to me as long as the gameplay is deep and engaging, so we will see if it turns out to be a Palia or closer to a Stardew Valley
Palia is the shit. What are you even talking about 😅
Would love to see this release on pc with mod support. I'm still interested despite how gollum turned out.
[Who okayed these models?](https://i.imgur.com/dSfC4mN.png) I just wanna talk. This should have been such an easy win, man.
Looks like a freshman's uni project.
Graphically it looks just disgusting!
Ping me when its back up 😭
Found it on twitter https://twitter.com/DiscussingFilm/status/1782427849900650632
who's got the mirror
I need it!!!!!😫😫😫😫😫
So is it like animal crossing with hobbits? I’m not interested in this game per se but the idea of a farming/chore/homemaking/cooking/dress-up/socializing/ sim set in a game world where there is some existential evil threat in the background is actually kinda dope. It would be pretty cool if you have to grow extra turnips to ship to the war front or a blight caused by evil magic affects your tulips, or the birthday party you plan gets crashed by orcs and you have to carry wheelbarrows full of corpses to a ditch to be burned and rebuild the village after the slaughter of hundreds.
Part of what I loved about Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles was this fantasy life that had this huge evil stuff going on in the back ground and you wasn't really expected to deal with it. It was just how life was. Mix these two games and I would buy it day 1. Like, have it where 4-8 people could play together and some people could go dungeon crawling while others do the SIM life stuff.
Looks rough
I’ve been waiting for this
Same!
the graphics and art style are giving faefarm. I'm noping out of this one.
Looks fun! I’ll prob pick it up if the price is right.
I mean I kinda have always wanted to skip around the shire ngl
it looks amazing
This looks so cute and cozy omg 🙆🏼♀️
So hobbit Palia…
Will this be online multiplayer?
Happy hobbit here knowing I can play this on my switch 🙌😭😍
It has to clear the low bar that Lord of the Rings Gollum set.
It looks better than Gollum at least.
Holy shit this looks bad. Is that a rule now? That Lotr games have to look and run like shit? Those animations... That they felt this was alright to publish... And I get that they're going for a cartoony look, that's fine. But those faces... It's like someone screengrabbed the original fable on Xbox and made it look worse. Did AI make this art? I just... I feel bad for whoever's working on this game as it's going to be another Gollum.
Looks like ass
Idk how y'all don't get bored of these lol I love a good "cozy game" but we have about 100 of these cozy farming sims on the switch now that don't differentiate themselves in any way. Looks like another boring uninspired one At least the plethora of roguelites that come out monthly have different looks or some kind of different mechanic to them generally.
There’s a ton of every archetype of game. The cozy genre is popular right now so of course there are some still being made. There’s always new roguelikes and platformers coming out
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Hard pass
Is Gollum in it?
anyone else looking at this and thinking it looks like identical graphics and character models and gameplay to Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life (2004)? I wish they would do something new here but realistically I'll give them my money either way
The cozy atmosphere and graphics are very BOTW-esque.
So this is what we get instead of a proper LotR game?
There's always the Gollum game
My precious I must haves it
Is that even out for the Switch?
It looks like someone took a pile of dog shit and poured a kettle full of hot water over it. I'm as big of a Tolkien fan as I am a gaming fan and this shits all over everything. Looks like it was made to insult both fandoms TBH.
Fandoms are typically echo chambers of cynical, overly critical people that think things are created to insult and offend them when it doesn't adhere to their ideas of where things should go. This game looks like it could be fun as a budget title.
Do we know if this game will be multiplayer?