Have you ever been playing a farming sim and thought, boy, I wish it was like real life where I could just order everything and anything off Amazon and have it delivered to my front door? Dogs, cows, crops, and tools, all available with the click of a button? Well, with Sunrise's Order now you can!
Sunrise's order is an upcoming farming sim where you're the only one stuck on this little island and it's up to you to use the power of the internet to receive deliveries, finish contracts, and grow your reputation. The idea of this game is hilarious to me, and although it needs a bit of polishing, I did enjoy our time with it. We played through the demo, which allows you to experience 15 in-game days, and it's time to talk about what it did well and where it struggled just a bit.
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Amazon Shopping Meets Farming Sim
Despite the fact that we're the only ones on this island, we’re quickly informed that we have a computer at our disposal and with it the endless possibilities of the internet, from contracts to accept that range from mailing a few seashells, all the way to animal products and crops, there's plenty to do and different ways of making money.
I will say that you shouldn't do what I did and spend all of your money online all at once. In fact, you don't even technically need to buy any of the seemingly fancy tools as you can make stone ones that will get you through your first few weeks just fine. Instead, focus on buying a fishing pole and a scythe, then focus on buying the seeds you'll need to grow crops to fulfill contracts or invest in an animal house and some animals for products. That being said, I did not get far enough in to get to the animals, so that's a feature left to be seen, but just know that it's there.
Your day-to-day life in Sunrise's Order is similar to that of other farming sims. You'll wake up, check your crops, explore the beach for some seashells, maybe go fishing or pick up sticks and stones all over the island, or just kick back around your farm and watch your saw slice up boards to your heart's content. There's plenty to do in a day given you have the energy to do it.
The energy system in Sunrise's order is similar to other games in the genre in the fact that it will run out. Though, it's different in the sense that you don't necessarily wake up with full energy every day. Factors such as when you go to sleep, how much energy you went to sleep with, and if you happen to be sick the day before will all affect it. Yes. In this game, if you spend too much time wandering around in the rain chopping down trees, you'll get sick and need a full night's sleep or to take some medicine to keep yourself healthy.
Now, if you don't happen to wake up with full energy, you can always eat food to recharge it, but the food isn't exactly plentiful on this island. You'll either need to spend your hard-earned money to buy some or spend your energy to fish it up, then throw it on the fire. Fishing was definitely the easiest way to fight off low energy, but fishing also takes a ton of energy, so it felt like a win-lose.
No bugs to find but a bit clunky...
Thankfully, I didn't really experience any bugs... per se... in the game. However, I did experience a ton of control clunkiness. This game was obviously designed with a controller in mind, so much so that it doesn't even have in-game tips or hints as to what the mouse and keyboard controls actually are. It makes the experience on a PC lackluster and as I tend to choose a mouse and keyboard over my controller, I do hope they invest some time into improving the controls and compatibility for us mouse and keyboard players.
Also, despite the game having lovely audio, I did notice that the sound balance was quite off in a few parts. Specifically, the beach, which I'd walk down to from my farm to go catch some fish, and suddenly I'd be drowned in the sound of waves in my headset. I couldn't even hear myself think during these points and it was my honest biggest issue with the game. Normally I'd just go turn the ambiance down, but when I did that I couldn't hear anything else and I couldn't leave it at max because any time I did go to the beach, my eardrums would be rocked. So... I was left with a sort of awkward level in between that wasn't good, but at least it wasn't as bad as blown eardrums. I made it work.
Despite the small issues, I will say that the foundation of this game is there. There are a lot of features that we still haven't gotten a deep look at, such as land expansions, the other islands we couldn’t get to due to broken bridges, skill trees, and higher levels, as well as a multitude of buildings and upgrades that we couldn't see or experience due to the length of the demo, but you know me and I love when a demo leaves us wanting more, and while Sunrise's Order did have a few fundamental issues to polish, I do have that desire to play and experience more of it.
I adore the idea of Amazon shopping in a farming sim and especially love that all of our deliveries came randomly throughout the day for us to pick up and find on the island. It's such a cute and unique take on the farming sim genre that I'm excited to see where it goes. Great job to the Sunrise's Order team, I'm positive the game will only improve from here!
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Disclaimer:
Please note that we have not been paid or promoted for this review, and are not affiliated with Sunrise's Order or its developers officially in any way. All thoughts are based on our own genuine experience of the game. All footage is based on the Game's Demo in its current state as of 06/12/2023 and is subject to change or be completely omitted in the full release at the developer's discretion.
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