Do you love all the adventuring, exploring, and side questing of RPGs, but want to relax and not worry about enemies trying to kill you? Sure, that may not be everyone's cup of tea, but for those who like the sound of a combat-less RPG... Yonder: the Cloud Catcher Chronicles is for you!
In this brightly colored open world adventure by Prideful Sloth, explore the island of Gemea after your boat crashes up on it. Most people of the world believe this island to be a myth, but you were born here-- and sent away as a baby. While you wander and learn about the place of your birth, you also discover this land has a sickness; a dark force known as the Murk has popped up all over the land, and it's up to you to push it back and discover its origins. Work to heal the land, and you may just succeed and learn the long-hidden secrets that tie you to this fate.
Character customization is pretty basic at the beginning of the game, although sliders allow for a range of body types not often seen in games. But customizing your character to be how you really want comes later. As you explore Gemea, you'll find chests, shops, and rewards of different clothing, hair styles, and dyes. I love running around the island dressed as a cute witch with rainbow hair!
Gemea is a big island to explore, and that exploration doesn't disappoint. There are 8 distinct provinces, each with their own unique biome, fauna, and flora. Secrets abound – search every nook and cranny for missing sprites, cats, journal pages, and Easter eggs. There's always something to do: as an open world, go-at-your-own-pace game, you can ignore the main story and just focus on side quests for the first 20 hours, as I did. In fact, when I finally did get around to finishing the main story, it was really because I kinda stumbled into it while looking for something else. Oops! I loved doing all the side quests – especially the one to find 55 missing kittens all over the island – and most of my 40 hours of playtime were spent completing all 87 of them. I'll be honest, not many games get 100% completed by me, but I just wanted to spend so much time in this world!
The people of Gemea are delightful, and often more than happy to see you, especially since you're usually there to do them a favor! Each town has its own trade specialty and needs, which results in a mechanic I'd love to see in other games. For example, Bobbintoff, a town of clothiers, has no need to buy clothes from you, so their buy price will be low – but they may need ore from the miners on the other side of the island. Likewise, buying clothing material from them will be much cheaper than anywhere else, because they have a surplus!
In addition to exploring and questing, the game features a few staples of sim games although it isn't one itself. Fishing, crafting, and farming are all things you can do to enhance your time in Gemea. Different fish appear in different locations and seasons, and there are a variety of crafting types like carpentry, tailoring, and tinkering. Although they're optional, your exploration will be greatly enhanced by at least learning carpentry and building. As you trek across each province, you'll uncover a farm that's free to be used, as long as you have enough Sprites to clear the Murk. These farms are fairly basic and low maintenance, nothing like Stardew Valley or even Rune Factory, and you can even hire a farm hand so you can “set it and forget it” to accumulate trade goods while you adventure. Also, if you're not into farming at all, that's okay – you can decorate them too! Your farms are the only areas where you can place furniture, and admittedly the furniture selection in game is very limited, but I've had fun making a few cute displays. The farms are also where you can house adopted animals; there are 16 different species you can encounter on your travels and befriend. And they are just the cutest, I love them! Aside from those points, farms have one key use: they serve as fast travel points between the provinces. So, even if you don't plan on doing anything with the farms, they're worth unlocking! There are two other fast travel options in the game, but you have to go to specific locations to use them and they're not as convenient, so I find myself using the farms mostly.
Yonder features a day and night cycle, but that's more to mark the days than it affects specific gameplay aside from a couple instances. The game doesn't force you to go to sleep at night – in fact, after the introduction quests, there is no sleeping through the night – which I appreciate. The nights in Gemea are GORGEOUS and I love adventuring under the stars and constellations! One major complaint I do have about it, though, is that the day and night cycle is too fast in my opinion and they go by much too quickly. Aside from just enjoying the aesthetics of both day and night, I've missed key features of entire seasons because I've found myself wrapped up in a quest and the days go by faster than I anticipated. And yes, your time in Gemea also goes through all four seasons, with different things accessible in each, like when ponds have frozen over in winter or dried up in the summer. Also, one of my favorite things in the game happens in the fall. I won't spoil the surprise, but I was absolutely delighted when I stumbled into Bobbintoff one night!
Overall, Yonder: the Cloud Catcher Chronicles is a wonderful, calm game set in a vibrant world full of cute animals, unique locales, and plenty to do. It's available on PC, Nintendo Switch, Xbox, and Playstation. I played it on both PC and Switch and both performed well, even in handheld mode on the Switch. The Switch has one bonus feature that I really enjoy: a photo mode to document all your fun adventures. Of course, I used it to take plenty of pictures with all the cute animals of the island! But whichever platform you pick it up for, you'll have a great time on Gemea.
Get the game!
Switch: https://amzn.to/3GfrOua
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