I imagine this game will become less grindy once it has more content added, and there is more quests/things to do. Although honestly, this is a game where I enjoy the grind, so props to Eloise for making it actually fun! lol
@Rattle To be fair, I can only do so much of it for so long before I have to take a break for a while lol. I definitely agree that having more options for training, and even maybe other options for making money so that competitions don't have to be spammed over and over is a good idea.
I'm not a huge horse person. Horses are neat, sure, but I never had that *huge love* of horses that many other people around me did. But listening to you and the community speak so passionately about them and the accuracy of horse games, and showing me a new genre I never knew I needed, is so incredibly infectious. You're doing amazing work
Thank you!!! ♥♥ It's so cool hear that people watch these vids 'blind'! Us horse gamers are a passionate bunch, watch our or we might jsut rope you in, too! XD
I'm glad I'm not the only one. I don't have any plans of playing a horse game ever but the vids are so good I can't help myself watching them either way
A small thing I noticed that I really love is when riding up- or downhill your character will lean forwards and backwards respectively, much like you do irl. It's a small detail that I've seen very few times outside of jumping. The grind is what's stopping me as well rn, and I need to remind myself that it's an early access so I can't be too rough on it, but it gets old real quick. While I don't like handholding, I don't think no info is the way to go either. It took way too long for me to figure out how to breed, I actually had to look it up instead of the game telling me in any way. I wish the NPC's would have a "question" tab or something similar where you could ask about these things.
Maybe that's just the typical SoS/ Stardew Valley player deep inside me, but seeing all these lovely NPC portraits, I immediately wished for some romance options to spice up the game a little 🤣😍
Now that you mention it, it would be great if Lupine Meadow had a small chance of letting you witness a wolf or wolf pack roaming around, but not approaching you. A few wildlife encounters would really help the game feel grounded in my opinion!
Yay! Been waiting for this. The game is pretty grindy, but I surprisingly don't mind. It's quickly become a part of my wind down/cozy/de-stressing routine ❤
Fellow South African here! I was so shocked to find out you're Afrikaans as well, Rattle! Very excited to see how the game does develop and the things that will be added.
When you reach end game and have foals that are born with every stats at 90 or even 80 you can take your time with training. Also I was only careful about what I was training with wild and common horses, after that you stop caring, especially since jump and endurance train way faster than speed. But yeah I agree that training legendary horses takes too long. Éloïse said that she will probably try to add something so that River helps us train our horses.
I've been hoping that we'll eventually be able to hire people to help care for and/or train the horses. I don't mind the grind when I just want to turn my brain off a little and wind down for the day, but it doesn’t make me want to come back and play everyday. Faster training I also agree would be great, especially at those later "levels," I'd honestly rather grind statues than actually train the horses after a certain rank (though there's no statue for flexibility yet). I'm also looking forward to when we can train foals in the round pen, since that will put a little less pressure on training them up as yearlings.
I think we need to start making categories for horsegames just like we do with others. While there are adventure based games or sport games (which most horsegames are definitely focused on), there is without a doubt a place for casual, slice-of-life horsegames in which your horse is not a sport event partner, but a life and working partner. And I WOULD really love having a game that is NOT demanding you only interact with your horse to make them run, jump and whatnot to win you a ribbon and money. Having a 'training button' that you can turn on and off would be super nice, together with making traning a bit more refined. Having a calm, casual and relaxing game with horses in a close focus is VERY overdue. And this game could be it if it's done right. And I would honestly not mind just playing this to plant a few things, ride around alot, play the storyline and look for interesting things on the map (animal encounters or things you can only see from afar and observe would be amazing for me personally, I love that stuff). Not everything needs to be a thrilling experience (for people who want it, the dev could add an event-based map part those people can go bonkers on). And not everyone has to like a casual and calm game of course (I know plenty of people who find games like Stardew Valley boring and just aren't interested in such things), but I think the calm and realistic feeling to it is just perfect. You can play this game to relax and have fun instead of having your heart race and get annoyed by not winning 1st place in the last 15 competitions. I fully support a more relaxing game that focuses on enjoying each task by itself and tells a story you can follow at your own pace. Not everything needs to be action packed, I think we have enough variety in that corneer, all while the calm corner is terribly empty and filled mainly with Barbie games....we could really use some new kids in that corner >_>
the characters are so cute and diverse in design and aesthetic. also from reading the dialogue boxes in your videos they seem to have unique and likable personalities too. i already have a huge crush on river and i personally have aisha vibes, obsessed w this game already and i havent even played it yet
I've been OBSESSED with this game since the demo- and I've already put almost 80 hours into it... I've built and unlocked everything available and can't wait for more content. While some things are cliche or a little grindy, there's soooooo many details and the overall feeling of this game makes it my new favorite. Once the other planned features get released, I'm going to love it even more!
I have played the game (and the demo) many hours. I loved just riding around and thinking about nothing, enjoying the scenery while training ahorse. And I liked your video and your opinion about it. There is much to love and still much to do for Cozy Games. I feel like when you are talking about how you hate the grind for training and the pressure to have a productive ingame day before saving that this is something you put upon yourself. I see how there is not much gameplay and training horses and racing is the only productive thing to to in an ingame day at the moment, you feel obligated to do it. I have played Lemon Cake from Cozy Games and I thing that Lemon Cake as a similar issue. There are so many customers that you can't serve all of them; but it does not matter if you don't serve them; there is no pentalty but I still felt bad when they left without a bread in their hands. Enjoyed that game far more when I tried to take it easy (the endgame is still pain because of so much grind). There is no punishment for not being productive in the ingame day in Ranch of Rivershine either and you can just go to bed and save after you got a nice horse from the auctions (when you have fed your horses or have them in pasture that is) and no real punishment when you decide not to train a horse that day or at all. Like in Stardew Valley for example, missing a harvest day or the birthday of a villager really hurts. Missing one percent of potential with a horse in Ranch of Rivershine feels really not the same as knowing that you will have to put so much more effort in to get the hearts up for a villager in stardew valley. I like that Ranch of Rivershine let you take things easy eventhough it could be more challenging. And I really hope the game will offer more to do in the future. Something that fills the gap between quests and grind. Some stuff that makes the gameplay more diverse and interesting. That beeing said, wild horse and capturing them are in for the next update. I am looking forward to that. ^^
If my horses didn't lose potential, I wouldn't feel so pressured to actually train them. I do understand that you love the game, and I do love the game too! But the issue is that the time it takes to train the horses is too much, and the fact that potential drops away makes it feel like I HAVE to train them. It's fine to have an 'easy going game' Star Dew Valley is like that, and I have dumped HOURS into that game without ever feeling any sort of grind. That cannot be said for this game. I love it, but it has a lot of things to get ironed out. Good thing it is in Early Access, so hopefully soon! ♥
@@YTRattle Thats true, I could water plants for hours in Stardew without feeling bored out :'D Can not say the same for training horses in Ranch of Rivershine. And in Stardew there is just so much more to do than watering - plus the option automate watering. The more I think about it, some automatisation for the horse traning would be nice.
after putting a few hours into this game myself, i'm working on a more thought out feedback post for the dev but my general tldr thoughts: common horses could probably stand to be unlocked a little earlier, racing payout could stand to be increased due to the grind for buildings and to lessen burnout, early game (like, first 10-12 days) have very little to do... but then once you get your 2nd and 3rd horse you'll be burning daylight and it feels stressful, flexibility needs a better way to train thats not just me flicking my ergonomic mouse ball in a circle. i'd like more music variety and meatier sfx as well but those are qol things.
the "like cocaine" absolutely sent me. great video as always rattle! i personally adore this game, super cute style and simple yet complicated enough. i do agree that it's a bit repetitive in the racing/training and money grind, but i'm hoping that's all expanded upon in the future. cozy bee games did a great job and i'm happy to support the development!
I love this game and yeah it's pretty grindy and not being able to save if you're not ending the day is pretty annoying but I found a solution to my money problems in the game quiet fast it probably is not for everyone but what i basically did is buy one main stallion and alot of mares breed them and then i sell the foals yes it takes some time for them to be born but its free to breed them and maybe you get a foal you really like also love you're vids they are super relaxing and most of the time very relatable
Yes! What's a lot faster is just "flipping" horses from the auction house. So buying them (don't have to be super great either), training them a bit or even just racing them through the ones they can do. Just once for every race raises the price quite a bit and you can just sell the "project pony" after a short while with quite some profit.
@@lauraprivat8070 yes exactly thats also a very good way to make money i just prefer breeding them because im endgame like im done with the whole story for now and i just want to get some foals to max the stats of (and because the foals are so cute)
@@patrischanice6899 Oh, totally! I love to breed them and I'm SO running out of space atm! ^^ But at that point I don't sell for money anymore, because I have more than I could ever spend. So flipping is great for that initial money gain where you still need to worry about it.
I watched this video recently and I'm happy to say it convinced me to give Ranch of Rivershine a try! I'd been looking at the game on steam for a while, and even when it was on sale, I just wasn't sure I was comfortable paying $20+ on an early access game. I figured since it's been a year since you reviewed it here that some of the issues you brought up would be improved upon, and I think they have been! There's still a grind, but it doesn't feel quite as bad as what you described. I also just adore the level of detail and real-life accuracy they gave to the coat color genetics system. It makes breeding the horses really fun for me, as I get to use my real-world knowledge of horse coat colors to try for the coats I want! Anyway, thank you for making this video. It helped me find my new favorite horse game!
I adore this game, I’ve loved it since demo! You also can farm oats and alfalfa hay and make LOADS of money! Get the farming upgrades, and buy a lot of seeds, growth fertilizer, and the one that doubles the amount and sell it all for thousands of dollars! Truly saving my bank account besides racing :)
Personally I like the grind part. It makes it realistic since it takes a lot of work and training in real life to achieve your goals. Though it’s not for everyone, I love the hard work part. The real horse life is very repetitive, but still horses is my life and it gives me and many other people an idea how hard real life in the horse community is. Personally that is what makes this game so good.
heyhey, I played the game for a while too and here is how to get the energy to 100% even when they are outside at night: i just put straw in the box while they are in, but keep them on the pasture over night. this way the straw stays in the box, it doesnt get removed. my horses havent seen fresh straw for weeks, but thats fine, its easy for me c:
Have to admit the grind in this does worry me a bit after having become burnt out playing Cozy Bee's earlier "Lemon Cake". Past 12 hours in that one and while you've still got stuff for the bakery's kitchen and other areas to unlock the grind becomes a little too real. I've been binging LC on and off since release in hopes I can 100% the achievements but I'm starting to doubt it.
I don't know if anyone's mentioned this, but the reason the map interface grays out sometimes is because it thinks you're trying to look at a location under the interface, lol. So just move your mouse to the side again and try again
definitely going to keep watching Rivershine but this talk about Harvestella, im intrigued. I've heard both good and bad but tbh the cons were enough to make me stay away. Maybe it's something I should try a bit now that summer break is here?
From what I've heard (about Harvestella), I think they've worked on some of the problems people had with the game, but I've never touched it myself so take that with a grain of salt.
This is not a comment about this game specifically. But i really wish someone would make a horse game that is not the same thing over and over again. Save farm/town, competition, care for horse, rinse and repeat. I am dying for an epic fantasy like game with horses as the main plot driver. Give me skyrim, but horses. Or legend of zleda, but horses. That sort of thing. If i could make a game i would love to do that and all props to the creator of this game for doing it alone, I can't even work a computer correctly lol I just feel the horse game community has a huge untapped potential.
I know this video is almost a year old but horses do not lose potential if you keep them in the stable over the night. Yes you'll have to take care and feed them the next day, but at least they won't lose potential. Also, when you breed horses, when the foal ages up to yearling and until they reach adulthood, they don't lose potential when they are left in the pasture overnight. The creator also added new stuff for training. Depending on the map, there are exclusive space where you can train speed, endurance, jumping and flexibility. You just have to upgrade the training zone. For example, in Lupine, there's a speed ring where all you need to do, is get to the ring and just my cantering, you get 1 point per yellow ring and lose a chunk of stamina. So it became less grindy in a sense (sorry if I explained myself poorly) but they actually started making the game feel a lot less grindy. There's also a setting where you can adjust the speed time of the day. So if you have like 6 horses to train, you won't feel as rushed or as bad if you haven't trained a horse. They also added collectibles and you can now buy tacks at the general store :D
this is the very first video i watched from you and let me say, i absolutely LOVE your humor! thank you for this nice video about this very cute game :)
I feel like the game is a great start, fixing the grindy bits is a must though. A personal thing for me is that I feel we get a wat too "easy" start. I'd like to start with basically a shed or rented stable spot. To work yourself up with your horses. (Huge rags to riches fan ^^; )
tbh i love large, empty lands where nature is just being itself. i think they could add stuff to collect in there, maybe a couple easter eggs for bothering to explore, but otherwise i don't mind there not being an objective. i REALLY like that the instant you mount your horse, you're training it. because that's just true to real life; every single interaction you have with a horse changes it. that's neat. it needs work, absolutely, but it's a cool idea also, lupine might be referring to the flowers (lupinus), not wolves. sorry to disappoint 😔but it'd be cool if they added wolves if you venture away from human settlements, but they will not approach you so you don't have to worry about getting hunted 💀 they could also add more ways to earn money, like doing favors for npc's, some quests could give a small amount of money, maybe it could have "daily quests" that are like mini jobs? idk it looks really cute tho i want to get it JUST to run around like an idiot
i have mixed feelings on how grindy it is, on one hand id hate to finish the game in just an hour and wouldnt feel accomplished, but on the otherhand i find myself struggling to do the daily races... its just kinda boring to ONLY ever race and train with my horse. maybe i just like games that let you explore more than grind tho
Can you make a video of astride? The team was rushed to get the game out before it was ready to keep getting founding and that made alot of drama in the server the first day. They have been open about it and have listen to both the negative and the positive feedback tho
What also reaaally bugs me personally about the game is the fact that competitions drain energy, with the pressure on having to train your horse, you have a few horses that can earn you money while you have to focus purely on training with the rest. At the start where you have only 2-3 horses it can really impact how much money you earn and things in this game aint cheap.
I have this on my wishlist for a long time but I think I will still way spending money on it while it's so grindy. I usually don't mind the grind but I need variation or something to unlock to make the grind a bit easier
Lovely review! Very similair to how i felt about the game. I got tired of the grind faster then you did lol I'll admit the jump courses are well done in the game and help with the grind but still, just grinding for money alone bored me lol Im looking forward to your astride review as well
Edited 1yr later: tried the game again many updates later and just binged it for 7hrs so it's safe to say the content has improved lol. It does still have some grind but it's not as bad and more varied now
I personally actually don't mind when there's a minigame to the caring as long as its OPTIONAL. PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD MAKE IT OPTIONAL FOR WHEN IM NOT IN THE MOOD FOR THE MINIGAME BUT STILL WANT MY HORSE TO BE OKAY.
1:30 I think you meant "preh-miss" not "pre-mize". Understandable though, it's one o them english moments where two words are spelt the same but have different meanings and pronunciations for some reason xD
I absolutely LOVE this game and have already put so much hours into it. However… I REALLY hope there’s an update soon (last one was June) as I’ve now basically ran out of things to do except race, breed and train… Overall fun and amazing game, but it’s become quite boring unfortunately😢
when there's no more quests.. and you do the same.. thing.. over.. and over... and over.. even thought there might be some differences.. Daily quests have me burnt out on World of warcraft. the lack of quests in SSO keeps me from loggin in because races.. are just to help with leveling the horse.. eh. But this looks amusing.
i quit this game because how grindy it is. i was already pretty fed up w it efter unlocking the second place and desidet to build my self a breedding paddock to get something else to do. well i started to regret it very fast because now i had to buy new horse to be stallion at the breeding but first i had to make my stable bigger. after i had done all of this and was ready to kinda get back in to the story, i realized i have to do same race 20+ times to go forward... thats when i decided that im done. if they change the grindines, i might come back but currently not interested in just repeating same race so many times that i rather just delete the game than go forward in the story
The one weird thing I have with my game is that when I went into settings for the first time I noticed it wasn't set to any resolution or screen mode? (fullscreen, windowed etc) so I selected windowed, went back and selected full screen and ever since my mouse has to be above any of the buttoms in the game for the click to select and register. So everything is off by about five cm or so. Nothing changes this issue. Possibly reinstalling could. Also when getting a fourth horse the fourth stable won't take any horse and the third horse will instead be kicked out of their stable and replaced by the new horse with the other horse being stuck in the paddock but still assigned or not assigned so a stable. I also find the running animation of the character to be too slow but these are just nitpicks. I'm hoping in the future to be able to actually train foals as yearlings and to be able to have more grooming options as right now you basically wait for a foal to grow up, do some grindy training and then play the same five or so races over and over. No show jumping or other things to do, I have no reason to go trail riding so it gets boring. Two more things to add: the races would be less tedious if you actually got training points during them but you don't leaving you with less energy and time to train your horses whilst grinding for money. But on a positive note I like how when riding up a hill the rider subtly leans forwards- I haven't checked if they do the same for downhill with leaning backwards but it's a nice attention to detail. One last thing I love is that when you walk into the stable and your horses are in the stables they all whinny at you! one of my favourite parts of having a horse is those moments of happy greeting. Love to see it in a game.
I played the demo awhile back, unfortunately this game is a solid pass for me but I respect it for what the game is. It needs more progression, all that grinding you have to do in this game for very little in return. Let me build out a farm and upgrade stuff!
It's VERY grindy, but the developer is working to alleviate that a bit. The game is still in Early Access, so a lot could still change. She made a roadmap for the game you can check out on the steam page, to give you an idea if the game might be for you. But I'd say ig you're in the mood for a cozy, chill, horse game, then it's certainly worth a buy!
Edit : I am now on possession of a foal and a black pony ❤ Thanks so much@@YTRattle , I'll consider it for a treat for myself, sounds like something fun! :)
wait you speak afrikaans? I was listening to this in the background and was so confused when someone was speaking it that I thought my mom had walked in
This game looks fun but the biggest turn off is the clock. I wish there was an option to turn it off or make days longer. These sorts of clocks like Stardew valley are plain abysmal and ruin the game for me with my adhd. It’s stress inducing and gives me a huge turn off to many games with the same problem. The ONLY game to make it work is Palia and even then it’s a pain to not get distracted and have to wait 30 minutes to get back to the time I needed
i’m a bit late, (just a bit x)) but I loooove this game 🥹 just imagine after the game being fully realesed : take the base of the game to create an open world rpg with a story quest 🥰 just a dream of fine
Yay! I loved the demo, it's a bit of a shame some of the same issues still exist, but they have every opportunity to fix those and tweak some stuff. Ranch of Rivershine is 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘧𝘶𝘭, and I can't wait to see its continued development!
