Basha Roots, A Life Simulation Review in the Primordial World

The history of farm simulators is marked by the desire to escape from the daily grind, a characteristic that unites the heroes of video games such as Harvest Moon and Stardew Valley and the avid gamers of the genre. In prehistoric times, however, the rural life of hunter-gatherers was not an escape from everyday life, but also constant commitment and discovery: a small team of soda den;which was formed by ten people and articulated between California and Argentina, decided to put its roots in the Bacha in a fictional place, but with many connections with tribal life which, in the past millennia, determined the course of human history.

Pasha’s roots seem a lot in Stardew Valley, but she’s managed to carve out her own distinct, often original path. This especially happens to mechanics thoughtsis able to create a file A strong sense of progress And to radically change the entire village, and not just the farm of our hero. The adventure turns out to be very choral, as it is based on cooperation with other members of the tribe, on the fulfillment of rituals and on increasing the prosperity of the clan, which is crucial to allow us to discover new skills and areas to explore.

We tell you about this prehistoric life simulator of our life Pasha Roots Review.

Under the shade of the Pasha tree

After a simple editor, which allows you to choose the player character’s body type, hair style and eye color, clothing and decorations – and is able to create really beautiful avatars to look at – we begin to follow the story of a A tribe of primitive men and women, told thanks to the dialogues (the pictures in the boxes of each character are beautiful) and the cinematic sequences. The elders tell the young Tete the story of the group and how they settled in that place: the spirits interrogated by the shaman forced the tribe to move east in search of the pasha tree, near which they settled.

The connection with spirits and deities remains alive throughout the adventure, which traces in long flashback the group’s history and development, in the name of new discoveries – farming, ranching and much more again – for nearly its duration. Forty hours of gameplay. The events being recounted, divided into days (according to tradition in the genre, begin in a wonderful spring) are firmly based on the need to Cooperation and dialogue Among the group members: In general, the story is much less “lonely” than other titles belonging to this genre, such as Stardew Valley, which is full of Events, surprises and rituals able to keep players’ engagement alive, and marry perfectly with the proposed game mechanics.

Reap, sow, and raise

What amazes about Basha’s roots is An abundance of possibilities presented to the player, both in the offline campaign and in the multiplayer mode, along with small tutorials that always make clear the mechanics implemented within the game. As the days go by, you are introduced to New areas to explore and the cinematics that open the days provide a few hints to the player as to what activities they might focus on. And the possibilities are always plenty: if at first it was natural to focus on exploring the forests surrounding the settlement to find seeds of different plants and try their cultivation on our primitive farm, you will be tempted to continue entering mysterious caves, fish, tame animals and build wells.

It all happens gradually, of course, but the days of pasha roots are always full of things to do. Compared to other farm simulators, fSimplify the use of tools: with a simple fracture of the amygdala, the weeds are uprooted and the branches removed, thus enlarging the space in which one can devote oneself to agricultural activities, and one may also catch the fish that live in the nearby waterways. The fishing mini-game is unfortunately rather bland (you have to keep the cursor on the fish icon until the right moment, and move it if the animal notices you) and the same applies todomestication of animals (the flute is played by pressing a key at the right moment), but overall the activities are well thought out – and because there are so many, one never gets bored. All this must be done by paying attention to the bar of stamina, which can be refilled by eating delicacies that can gradually become more sophisticated: after all, part of the progress of humanity has also passed through the improvement of cooking techniques.

As we said, the distinguishing feature of Al Basha Roots is the strong focus on group dynamics and The progress of primitive society As a whole. Indicator Clan prosperity Supported by the contribution of all members, and with time it will only grow, of course also thanks to the contribution of the protagonist: cooperation with the offer of fish, fruits, vegetables and other goods collected thanks to our hard work is essential in order to unlock new upgrades and skills for us and our companions. Observing the surrounding world is also essential to support progress: for example, by watering fields back and forth from a river with a simple animal skin to fill them, we will be able to get an idea to build a well and make it happen. With the help of another farmer. The dynamics created in this way are engaging and fun, non-stop, also thanks to the progressive expansion of the lands that the protagonist can explore. We didn’t appreciate, at least at first, the challenges proposed by the mysterious cave that becomes explorable after a few days, but fortunately continuing the adventure made even these sections more interesting.

a world to explore

The continuation of the adventure will lead us to enter more and more forests, clearings and caves in the prehistoric world designed by Soda Den. Although the team is quite small – only ten people – the developers have managed to create a A cohesive world and beautiful to see, colorful and diverse, with simply excellent artistic direction. The food menus are very reminiscent of Stardew Valley menus, while the rest of the interface is based on the hero’s belt and is divided into a bag dedicated to seeds, one containing the tools of the trade and finally a grid dedicated to items collected while working in the fields or exploring the game world. Even the map is clear and fun to see at the same time; Visually, everything is perfectly in line with the prehistoric setting chosen by the team.

In the version we tested before it was released, there was no Italian localization; We played “Basha Roots” in English. The sound design appropriately accompanies the adventure in all its parts and is well thought out in both effects and music, which convey the joy of life and discovery of every corner of this pristine world; We point out that we sometimes encountered some audio glitches that completely removed the sounds connected to the hero’s actions, but resetting the game was always enough to eliminate the problem. More did not like it Accidental accidentsalso because saving only happens at the end of each day (just like in Stardew Valley) and this has, in some cases, resulted in us losing our progress.