written 7/16/23, updated 7/22/23
Developed by Wonderscope Games and published by Team 17, Hokko Life is an adventure simulation released fully on September 27, 2022 for Steam, Switch, PS4, and Xbox One. It centers around the player who comes off the train into a dusty, slow town inhabited by bipedal, articulate animals, and then works to make it more habitable.
Rating: 2.5 out of 5
ESRB Rating/PEGI: E (Everyone)/3
Price: Paid $9.99 out of MSRP $19.99
Recommended: Only if you are desperate for more games like Animal Crossing
One Word Description: Copycat
Time Rewind Buy Again? No
- Pros: Cute, simple, easy, design flexibility, pleasant graphics, lulling music
- Cons: Very long title loading, unrefined, unclear, unalluring, small, game progression
Review
To be fair, I have not finished the game. In fact, I have only been playing “for a little while” according to my Switch. Also, apparently, the game plays horribly on the Switch as compared to other platforms. Admittedly, if there was a story of any sort for the character, then I’ve already forgotten. I think it might have been that your character overslept on the train and the small animal town you arrive in is the last stop. You arrive at night and come across a cafe (that looks eerily similar to Brewster’s The Roost) where some walking, talking animals are conversing. The elephant (effectively Brewster) offers you a room. Then the next morning, they say more words and send you out to run around the very small village, except you were supposed to talk to the Tom Nook character, a giraffe name Moss. Predictably, they offer you a house, you have to talk to all the villagers, and then they give you some tools.
Similar to other social simulation games, you restore the village back to vigor by renovating, crafting, decorating, finishing small quests for villagers, landscaping, completing larger quests for the town, etc. Interestingly enough, you are able to redecorate neighbors’ homes as you please, by moving stuff around.
Although I haven’t spent much time in the game, I feel like I already have beaten it and don’t need to finish it, because all of it is extremely predictable… And why is that? Because unfortunately, I simply cannot get over the fact that this game is blatantly an Animal Crossing knockoff. A mediocre knockoff. If you’re going to knock off a game, it needs to either be on par, better, or offer something vastly unique compared to the original game. This (so far) does NONE of that. I think I was about one hour in before my brain shut down so hard that it was a challenge to keep my eyes open.
After the initial play, I tried again with gusto, determined to give it a chance. Some elements don’t make sense, like: the town’s mayor Rosa, a pink, suit-wearing pig, tells you that she (he?) doesn’t have a building in town and you can’t talk to her until the building is finished being made. So…she just became mayor? Or just was never there? Was the village created a few days prior? After waiting a day or two, you can visit her, and effectively the mayor just allows you to either alter houses or build new ones for new inhabitants, except you talk to the elephant in the cafe for new residents? Playing on, the slow pace of the game eventually takes you to the resident entomologist who likes bugs and gives you a net. Cool. I love collecting things. Every time you catch a new butterfly, it takes an eternity to automatically load the encyclopedia listing for it, only to see a terrible graphic of a generic butterfly with different colors. I soon quit again after realizing that the game wants you to plant your own forest in order to collect enough wood to make planks to progress further in the game. I’d already been skipping days by sleeping so often, that it took any sort of fun away from the game. It has bad flow.
Delving into the past of the game, Robert Tatnell (according to Wikipedia), the game’s developer, originally intended the game to be much more like old-school Sim City type of games before morphing it into something akin to Animal Crossing. Development started in 2017, an early access released June of 2021 for Steam, and then the full version released September 2022.
Bottom Line: So, no, even only 2 hours into the game (I tried to pick it up again today a month after I bought it), I cannot recommend it unless you’re simply dying for another game just like Animal Crossing or have never played Animal Crossing before, or perhaps you have extra time and money to spare. If I could go back, I would not have bought it.
Game Goods
Cute, Relaxing: There’s no denying the mind numbing soothing quality of the game. It’s simple, there are animals, the graphics are pleasing, there is no killing, maiming, guns, or destruction (unless you count felling trees or plucking flowers). Similarly, the music is lulling and not grating. After a long, nasty day at work, this is a great way to just let the mind flow away, content with grooming a small town however you like.
Detailed: The interiors are detailed. You can tell the hardwood from the wood panel walls. There are butterflies, flowers to be picked, earthworms to gather. Time and effort certainly went into the game.
Familiar Gameplay: Crafting, building, planning, planting, chopping, digging, fishing, buying, collecting, talking, side quests… This game has everything a social simulation game fan wants.
Improvements: So far there are some improvements to Animal Crossing itself, such as smaller grids during house decorating allowing for finer furniture placement
Game Gripes
Loading: I don’t know about other game platforms, but the Switch’s game loading screen is painful. I actually timed it. The main loading screen takes an abysmal 1 minute and 13 seconds to finish, and then another 8 seconds to finally make it to the menu screen. I probably could floss my whole mouth in that same time. Then, the automatic loading screen for newly captured bugs is also interruptingly long.
Character Design: The graphics as a whole are pleasant. The animal inhabitants are cute (there’s an inexplicable disdain that I have for them, though… Maybe it’s the copycat thing). The character you play, however, is, well, ugly, imo. Something about the eyes, maybe? The color? There isn’t much customization available at all. And I have to look at them the whole time. Ugh.
Small Things: You can’t run, there’s only 1 speed. There’s no quick way to put away the tools. The game isn’t clear about whether or when it autosaves, and there’s no set Save button. It’s hard to tell which house is whose… Especially mine which is the only one with a mailbox. The cursor speed for redecorating or placing features/furniture is too fast, making it harder than necessary to accurately position items. Lack of refinement in areas. For example: I was chasing a butterfly and couldn’t catch it because it flew through a building.
Unalluring: As I mentioned in the review section above, I found it extremely dull. I would not have bought the game if I thought I’d be wasting my time. It had already looked like an Animal Crossing knockoff, and I still bought it with high hopes. Despite the decent graphics, something about the game is simply unappealing. My brain shuts off completely. Like, go-to-sleep shutoff. It extends beyond boring to an irrational loathing for a reason I can’t seem to comprehend. I don’t care what the characters are saying (and I totally understand how long it took someone to come up with and write the dialogue!) and I don’t care about them or the main character, at all.
Game Progression: The flow of the game is not smooth. Some parts work fine, but others are simply too slow and mundane. Others feel forced. Mostly, it was slow. Each piece of equipment takes too long to be unlocked. I see fish that beg to be caught, but I don’t even have a shovel yet, kind of deal. It takes days before the next piece of equipment or new crafting recipe becomes available.
Conclusion
Not gonna beat a dead horse here: I don’t like this game, and I don’t recommend it. I will, however, because I paid for it, and also for the sake of the person(s) who likely poured their heart and soul into it, TRY to progress further. I will update if my thoughts change.