[Game Review] Palia

Rating: 🍎🍎🍎🍎🍎🍎🍎🍏🍏🍏

✅ Interactive gameplay — The core farming mechanics feel fresh and distinctive compared to other life-sim games:

• Fishing requires left-right aiming, mimicking the feel of real fishing

• Farming involves a “drawing” mechanic, where players can explore efficient tilling patterns

• Watering allows for multi-crop spraying, which feels realistic and satisfying(Other systems not fully tested yet!)

✅ Character designs are adorable — some NPCs are seriously good-looking. Special shoutout to the chef — what a handsome guy. Also notable: the devs seem intentional about subverting gender stereotypes — for example, making the architect a woman to challenge the usual “guys build, girls cook” assumptions.

✅ Cohesive art direction — while the style looks odd at first glance, it grows on you quickly once in-game

✅ Player-owned land is huge — genuinely sparks the desire to build a cozy home, and furniture models are beautifully designed

❌ Network issues — server queues and loading delays are common, and I got hit with a bug the first time I logged in

❌ Map data sync lags — sometimes characters vanish or teleport, making it hard to find them

❌ Dialogue UI and font are quite small — not aligned with the overall “cute” aesthetic; sometimes the dialogue options bug out when clicked