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Do you enjoy calendars and time limits in cozy games? (I don’t) (piefed.social)
submitted 3 days ago by cloudless@piefed.social to c/letstalkaboutgames@feddit.uk
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I don’t understand why the majority of cozy games have a calendar system and or time limits. I already have a limited time on earth and I don’t want game devs to artificially restrict how I spend time in game.

I have to drop games like Stardew Valley because of the calendar system. I know there is no strict time limits and I can just wait for the following year if I miss an event. But that just makes the game stressful. Also the day/night cycle is extremely quick. Every action I take I have to look at the time and consider the duration.

Similarly in Persona series, why do they have the calendar system and restrict how much you can do with social interactions? When I play an RPG I like to take my time to explore as I want.

I am writing this because I finally found a game that feels cozy, which is Fantasy Life i. No calendar, no time limits, live as many different lives as I want. I prefer games to be games.

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[–] Zoko_Argen@feddit.uk 2 points 1 day ago (2 children)

In respect to the Persona series, it's simply because that's the game. They want you to plan your social interactions.

I haven't played 5, but what I played of 4 you get bonuses from maxing out your relationships, so having a limit on actions means you have to choose and plan what you are gonna do, otherwise the game would just be a case of maxing relationships day 1 and then dungeon crawling for 5 hours until the next cutscene.

For comfy games, there is a balance, a time limit means you aren't doing everything in 1 day, but I have always felt Stardew's is a little too short, especially for the stamina and movement speed.

But you can't do everything in one day irl, you are a new farmer setting everything up, and getting back on your feet, it takes time, and the days passing make the world feel more alive than if time didn't pass.

As for seasons, it is annoying when you miss events or stuff, but it is a nice aesthetic, again makes you feel like time is advancing and bringing change, prevents it becoming too boring, Stardew would probably be a lot more boring without the season to change the fish that spawn and the crops you can grow

[–] cloudless@piefed.social 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

otherwise the game would just be a case of maxing relationships day 1 and then dungeon crawling for 5 hours until the next cutscene.

Sounds perfectly fine to me. That has been the way I play since my first JRPG (Dragon Quest 1). I guess it is another kind of resource management, but I don’t really see the need for that.

I keep hearing good things about the Persona series, but for this particular reason, I haven’t tried playing any Persona games.

[–] Zoko_Argen@feddit.uk 2 points 1 day ago

That's a completely valid and respectable opinion, tbh for me it's the other problem of finding the dungeon crawling too long in persona 4 🤣.

But yeah, not every game is for everyone, and they wanted to fill this niche, and you have other games like Dragon Quest which are more to your liking.

Persona from what I've heard is great, but I am not the type of person who can sink in 160 hours into a game 🤣.