Alright, I’m only a little over an hour in, so my review now is based on that experience and is still subject to change over time. I assume I’ll jump back in eventually.
So, to start with the good:
I love the mindset of the developer(s) behind it. A cute little virtual panda that becomes a daily little helper or, perhaps for some, a way to heal their soul and positive energy, make them feel less lonely, reduce stress and pressure, etc.
It's also a convenient tool for setting reminders for yourself, like hydrating more and resting your eyes, and even custom reminders, such as taking your medication, getting out your laundry that’s done, etc. All in all, it’s adorable; yes, some of the animation is still a little wonky, but it's still cute as hell. On top of that, there are fun little collectables you can achieve by spinning the Gacha machine, and in my opinion, those are always fun, as are the little mini-games since they're simple and pretty straightforward. Sometimes, I like brainless stuff, heh.
Due to the lack of Steam, which still does not have a neutral button for reviews, I had to choose, and in the end, I decided to thumb it down, at least for now. Again, as I stated above, it is subject to change over time depending on updates, time spent, improvements, etc.
What bothers me is that apparently, people who knew about this game got a special gift; I find this a little discriminating since I only learned of this game's existence yesterday. And to be honest, if it weren’t in the curator, I probably wouldn’t have known about it yet for a x amount of unknown time. Nowhere does it say or state whether it can be picked up with luck in the Gacha.
Lord knows I hate FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) stuff, and I believe it doesn’t belong in gaming; it’s just lame.
In this hour, I’ve eaten 60 meals, completed 18 habits—the task reminder thingies—and given 307 pokes.
Completing habits (or tasks) and poking your panda will give you a basket of bamboo, which equals one meal. Every three meals equals one Gacha spin, only to find two legend tokens, a little side quest thing I don’t fully understand just yet. And one random token, a Christmas tree, that I can seem to use as decoration if I wish. So, unless you have a lot of tasks or click a lot, and I do mean a lot, a lot, it’s a very slow progress since this is the only way to earn bamboo and thus Gacha spins.
So, knowing I had 20 Gacha spins, only three different items, and maybe some extra food, give or take, I had 10-15 consolation prizes. And every time, it’s a little repetitive animation thing that you cannot skip in any way. It’s cute the first time and annoying the tenth time.
I also have no clue what I can find in the Gacha; there isn’t really a proper list in the game, which I think is a bit of a shame. It would’ve been handy, even if it was just a shadow of the item.
The store page also mentions Panda dance training, which sounds cute and fun, but in my hour of playing, I didn’t see it come by even once. I had the bathing, poop scooping, tidying toys, but no dancing.
Yes, you can play offline; it doesn’t require internet access, but there is also zero offline progress. If the game is closed, then that’s it. As I said above, depending on if you want to click obsessively, it can be a very long—and probably will get tiresome to collect everything—dragged-out ‘’game’’. Even left open, there is zero progress to get Gacha tokens, nada, zip, nothing. You’ll always have to click; it needs your full attention unless you're beyond patient.
Regardless, like I said, there is a chance I’ll jump back in and perhaps obsessively click to get that Gacha fix. But I do hope that over time and with updates, this game will improve on some points as I see the potential in it, and that has been made with good intentions.
Normally, I would've added some screenshots, but sadly, that doesn't seem to be enabled; it wouldn't let me take any.
Ah well.
I would be super grateful if you could consider giving a follow-over at the following places for more first looks, reviews, recommendations, etc:
Thank you!
