The Moave Avenger

You're actually a grape, but hey! 'Hey Arnold!' references are always welcome.

Garden Story was free on the Epic Games Store last week. I understood it to be an action RPG where you build communities, which piqued my interest. I had just finished Soul Blazer and was having a tough time sinking my teeth into what I was actively playing, so I wanted it! I want to be a part of a local community, but I hate people, so I'll play as a sentient grape and save the world instead! It just makes sense.

In Garden Story, you play as Concord, the newest member of the Glade, a world inhabited by other plants and frogs. Concord, a grape, was the last fella to sprout off the Kindergarten vine, the source of all new friends. Ever since his "birth," the vine has not grown. The local hero, Plum, a plum, believes the Rot has infected it. Plum, the last guardian in the Glade, tells his young ally it's time to move closer to town. Everyone's afraid of him being far away. Plum and the village leader, Elderberry, a clump of elderberries, show Concord his new house and give him a new job. He, too, shall become a guardian. Something tells Plum his grape pal will do great things. Everything thinks it's weird, though, so Concord will have to prove himself. Plum leaves to visit another village, and we get to work on the gameplay loop.

Concord can now begin rebuilding the world. To do this, he'll have to perform the tasks given to him by the villagers. These come in three types, but they're only kinda important. You're gonna want to do all of them anyway! These rajas range from rebuilding fences, foraging for items, killing mobs, and various miscellaneous stuff like reactivating bridges or delivering stuff. There are also side quests where you personally aid citizens with a favor and restock a library.

Most of those are self explanatory, so let's get to the killing! Combat involves swinging your garden tool at purple blobs. Every town has one or two new weapons, all functioning differently, which is cool. I was prone to the umbrella and hook. You mash the attack button to harm mobs but watch your stamina meter. It depletes when running, dodging, guarding, or attacking. The hit detection feels sketchy, but I used the parasol most of the game, and it's a long, straight, and fast attack, so maybe I should blame myself? Eventually, the town needs you to beat up a boss in a dungeon to really kick off the repairs.

Each village expands something. Spring Hamlet teaches you the basics, Summer Bar lets "you" repair buildings and bridges, Autumn Town has farming, and Winter Glade is a plot dump. It helps to expand the basic loop, but they're not giant, game changing things. It's still just foraging and item collecting. Along the way, you can upgrade weapons and jars (healing items), with the ultimate task of finding out why the Rot exists and how to stop it. There's also a lot of mysterious backstory here, which is almost fun.

The whole game feels like it's about to burst open into a fantastical adventure, but it never does. It remains a basic game, but there's nothing wrong with that. The music and unique look, in addition to the simple but fun gameplay, are all I need. As much as I'd like to have rebuilding the four villages be a deeper mechanic, I have no reason to expect that from an indie game. The devs set out for a cute adventure (that gets a little indie deep at the end), and there's a place for that in my heart. Garden Story checked all the important boxes I wanted, and I'm glad I played it. 38/50.