It feels like it’s been a long time since there has been a game trailer or some kind of announcement that made me really want to talk about it beyond just “This looks neat” or “I’m looking forward to it”. That isn’t to say that I’m less excited for games I may be a bit more to the point about, but that sometimes a game hits a specific spot, and I just need to yell about it a lot and this very much did right from the trailer.
If you haven’t watched the trailer yet, you can check it out below:
Otherwise, let’s get to the rambling.
Petit Planet is a newly announced game from HoYoverse/MiHoYo (The creators behind the Honkai series (Honkai Impact 3rd, Honkai Star Rail, and the upcoming Honkai: Nexus Anima which I am also pretty excited about as I love the creature designs), Genshin Impact, Tears of Themis, and Zenless Zone Zero). It will be following the usual free to play model which does worry me a bit with this type of game, but I’ll get to my concerns with that later.
Unlike all their other games that use various different battle mechanics (Yes, even Tears of Themis with its card battling lawyer debates), this seems to be their first step into the Cozy Simulation genre. To be blunt, there are so many cozy simulation games I can think of coming out. Many I liked to some extent, others not really as much for me, and all trying to give maybe their own type of spin or just do something better.
An issue I often have with many of them though, which even New Horizons felt guilty of at points, is they felt like a giant collection of “things that could be deemed cozy” rather than really finding a place. Here’s crafting, cooking, farming, and also all those things you like in Animal Crossing which the fun simple nature of it quickly becoming overrun by the grind you’d find more typical in a farming and/or crafting game.
That isn’t to say this game necessarily seems free of that– we very clearly see some kind of farming in the trailer, but we also see a point where the Neighbors are mostly taking care of it instead.
The main thing though is of all the games I have seen that are trying to give off that same kind of charm, this is the first trailer I’ve seen for one of those types of games that actually did give me the same feeling Animal Crossing did.
You essentially have your own planet that you build on and decorate. The Neighbors feel so dynamic. The characters look really cute. There seems to be some tree you build up that also enhances the look of the town. You sail through space in a car to other planets to seemingly find other Neighbors and visit friends. You can give gifts. There are cute minigames to play together. Maybe there is still a bit of farming and crafting, but the actual simulation and decorating part feels like the main focus more so than anything else.
I love the art style and graphics. I love what looks like a museum and cafe… It just genuinely looks adorable.
My favorite Neighbors are probably these two: A pink bunny whose name I’m not quite sure what it is and according to the website, Medowlyn the Sheep who is a Plushie Designer.
Frostia also looks really cute and gives me Celeste-vibes.
One of the things the website mentions is that you can “Decorate the sky, coast & land as you wish” which makes me feel like we may be able to change even the backdrops which is something I hoped Animal Crossing would do in a main game after Pocket Camp, but alas.
Of course, with this being a free to play game, there are concerns on what the monetization system will be. Customization is a HUGE part of these types of games and exactly how much gets monetized can really make or break things. It’s possible they could do a Premium Shop similar to Disney Dreamlight Valley where some items can be bought while others can be earned in-game but considering they usually have some kind of gachapon element, I don’t know if that will happen (though, I think it’d be my preference).
As for gachapon, I think if there had to be something, I’d probably prefer it be certain Neighbors. In most of their games, characters are the gachapon element, but you can also get some characters for free as well through events and the story. I think this would be the main option that doesn’t make you feel like you have to get something, but I wouldn’t be surprised if, unfortunately, certain customization options are what get thrown into the gachapon machine. Regardless, I’ll wait to see how it all works before making any judgements. They just started pre-registration and beta sign-ups and hopefully they will be open to a lot of feedback as these are types of games people are very passionate about and the best way to encourage that fanbase is to let them be able to use their creativity to the fullest.
Finally, there are also these little Puffballs and I have no idea what they do or what their deal is, but this one is my favorite:
Anyway, I’m really excited to see more from the game and I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it will be as enjoyable as it feels.