Sometimes it can be nice to simply relax with a peaceful, calming game, that doesn't demand great skill or dedication. That is exactly what Plantera delivers. It is centred around growing a garden and selling produce in return for money, with which more plants and animals can be bought, and so on. The gameplay isn't complicated and might become repetitive, but it is ideal for sitting down for twenty minutes in the evening to check on your garden - it'll grow from a single carrot patch to a beautiful wilderness of fruit trees, bushes and vegetable patches, populated by animals that wander around looking very pleased with themselves. To top this off, there's a great soundtrack to help with the ambience.
Plantera immediately throws you into the garden, with no instructions or tutorial, which can make the first ten minutes more of a learning curve than it should be. Although the game has a electronic manual, the help menu's writing is so small on the GamePad screen that it is illegible - with the 3DS version being much easier to read - and the lack of a basic tutorial seems slightly lazy on the developers' part. From this point your garden will grow rapidly, as one day you could earn 1000 coins in ten minutes, and the next day you could be making 1000 in a matter of seconds!
Overall progress is measured by your level, which increases at a steady rate as you earn money. This unlocks new items or increases their value, so you can earn more money to level up again - there is an excellent balance between how much you can earn and how much is required to level up, so it takes approximately the same amount of time to advance between levels. Once you have unlocked everything each item will receive a yellow "star shard", making it worth more when sold. Once five yellow star shards are gained for an item the shards create one green shard. This continues for each item until it has gained five green shards, and then finally the "ultimate star". This gives some objectives to a game which may otherwise suffer from a lack of longevity.
There isn't a lot to the gameplay, which generally consists of tapping relentlessly at the GamePad or 3DS screen to pick up your produce and scare off the occasional pests - which attack from the air, both sides of the garden and even underground - punctuated by the occasional purchase of a new plant or animal.
There are five types of items to buy: vegetable patches, bushes, trees, animals and specials, the former three being used to grow crops, while animals will supply other commodities such as eggs, milk, wool and… socks? The specials are items which can be used to improve the efficiency of the garden. For example, a dog can be used to scare away the odd antagonistic bunny, and alarm clocks can be bought to keep helpers awake. With enough money, the garden can be expanded to increase the number of helpers and space for items up to 36 times. The cycle continues, creating an ever-growing garden.
At the same time, there will be the continuous music playing, which adds to the calming effect of the game in general. Although the original soundtrack consists of just three pieces, the music is so well written that this doesn't matter: the same piece might play for twenty minutes straight, but it never seems to become repetitive - in fact, it is probably a reason to keep playing for longer.
There are a few differences between the 3DS and Wii U version of the game. Firstly, there is the setup of the screens: the Wii U version can be played entirely on the GamePad, since the TV screen only shows the garden, but cannot be used to interact with the game - touch controls are required. On the GamePad, the garden is shown, and at the press of a button the shop shows, where you can select from a variety of items to buy. The 3DS version can swap the view of the garden and shop/stats screen between the top and bottom, allowing access to each on the latter.
Each version has an advantage, the Wii U's being that more of the garden is shown due to the bigger screen on the GamePad, meaning that management is easier, while the 3DS version is portable. However, you won't need to decide between the two, as they make use of a cross-buy feature. While the price might seem slightly steep for such a basic game, you have the benefit of being able to take it on the go with the 3DS and play it more easily on the Wii U.
Conclusion
While Plantera doesn't boast an impressive physics engine or an exhilarating, fast-paced experience, it has a certain charm that makes it worth playing, even if only for a few minutes each evening. However, it doesn't offer much else that similar games will, and if you only intend on playing it on one platform it is a fairly high price for a title that is free on mobile devices, albeit with ads and microtransactions, and costs more than twice its PC counterpart. To sum up, if you are into relaxing farming games and want a peaceful experience, you should look into buying Plantera, but for some it may a little too simplistic and shallow to hold attention.
Comments 15
Seems a little unfair to me honestly even though I haven't played it yet. The negative that is obvious to me is the content. However for this type of game I think its fine as its a simple garden grower and not much more, but that also means a more direct focus.
As for the price the fact that you said five bucks is steep is a bit of an over exaggeration. Sure its free on phones and cheaper on the PC but I'm sure the developers thought of that and decided cross-buy would be a possible incentive over the other versions (compared to other mobile ports its still an improvement). Even if its not enough an incentive to singular device owners maybe they just prefer playing it on the 3ds/WiiU.
Other than that the three tracks running for twenty minutes is fine (cat goes fishing is a good example of that) and receptivity is a element that's hard to avoid in games like this. It just doesn't seem like enough complaints to warrant a six at least in my eyes.
@ieatdragonz I was contemplating giving it a 7, but at the end of the day, I do think that it doesn't really offer anything to make it stand out. But that's just my opinion, and all it ever can be.
Vulgar Display Of Flower
@David_Dudeney No mean to call into question your reviewing style, after all the article was laid out fine and written nicely. Good to know that you were contemplating a higher score as well. To me at least it didn't seem like there were any real annoyances to pull down the overall package. Compared for example to punch club the review before which had stat decay but still the same score.
Maybe it was more in the choice of the reviewer. No I'm not trying to be rude and understand that different views are needed for reviews to fair. Although in the case of these relaxing simulation games a certain mindset seems to be needed in order to enjoy the game unlike other genres.
Again I am not criticizing your review as it was sound and made me understand the game well, and yes I know I cant expect of a certain reviewer mindset (plus the Nintendo Life team is always busy which I appreciate). Maybe next time a game comes up like this someone else who've had experience/enjoys the genre should take up the review instead
Sorry for the ramble just my thoughts and I hope I didn't offend.
Wait, wait.... Fur Beyond Driven
@ieatdragonz It's fine, this is my first review, so I'm still getting to grips with it. I appreciate the feedback. When I was asked to review the game, I wasn't told anything about it, so I didn't know what to expect. Next time I shall do some research beforehand so I have the right mindset to approach the game with.
@Stu13 beat me to it😂😂
@Stu13 flowerboys from hell.....
No, you had the best one's 👍
Re-Spect ...Walk
@ULTRA-64 @Stu13 Power Petal.
Good review. On another site I saw review Plantera, it actually gave the 3DS version a 6, but the Wii U version a 7.
Plantera is a Hardmode boss that can be fought after all three Mechanical Bosses (The Destroyer, Skeletron Prime, and The Twins) have been defeated. Once this happens, Plantera's Bulbs will begin to spawn in the Underground Jungle biome.
I think 4,99 € is a good price because you can get the maximum of all the special items in the Wii U and 3DS version for free (with your in-game coins). On the mobile version the Alarm Clocks, Guard Dogs, Scarecrows, etc. cost real money (0,99€ or 1,99€) each. You would pay more than a hundred dollars on mobile to have 70 Guard Dogs, 50 Fertilizer, 48 Alarm Clocks, etc.
Also, for 4,99€ you get both versions - Wii U and Nintendo 3DS.
And I don't think the Tutorial is lacking, it just points to the things you have to click on. I thought it was simple and easy understanding, without the need of words. If the game is still too hard to figure out (for the most casual gamers) you can click pause and access an in-game help menu explaining everything.
Also the game is addicting fun and getting all achievements is going to take a bunch of hours, maxing out the garden and earning all the star shards takes months though!
Have to comment because I literally thought this said "Pantera".
I got this for free for my iPad from the AppStore. It's actually terrible. At least in my opinion it is. I love farming/gardening games but ugh, this one is hard to learn and just feels like it has no substance to it. I'd rather play gardening mama, story of seasons, harvest moon, etc.
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