I played Portia on PC about 50 hours and I had a blast. It feels more like Innocent Life thematically (points to anyone that remembers that one) to me and the world has an interesting back story. The mining mechanic is my new obsession. The floor is malleable and you jetpack (or warp) to get out of the sprawling tunnels you make. The best part of that for me is that the walls are color coded so for the ore you have a general idea of what you will get instead of mining for hours hoping for the drops you need. There is still some of that for the key items and the relic pieces but not so much that it is frustrating. Even better you can sell most things so you can earn money pretty quickly from the get go. I gather so much stone mining that I keep an inventory stack at 999 and sell what is left over.
The rival system with the other builder is entertaining and forces me to stay engaged with contracts and resource gathering yet it isn’t overwhelming the way bokumono or rune factory can be (the farming is very streamlined in this game but that means that I can do other things than babysit crops) but provides a nice feedback loop that makes you feel accomplished. You need tools and machines to complete contracts and you need to gather resources to build the machines (and research their diagrams) and the commissions you take on can advance the story and your rivalry with the other builder. If you get your workshop ranked early you get a monthly bonus which is very useful for the money component for upgrades to your land/house.
The world feels a little empty but at the same time it fits for the setting. Some localization issues like grammar being off (way less than I expected though) but that kind of stuff bothers me, so that could just be me. The art style is a bit bright on the colors but it strikes a nice balance between cutesy deformed and more realistic proportions and imo it looks more vibrant than Modern Harvest Moon (natsume's work looks so dead to me). Most of the buildings are accessible, which to be honest I didn't expect as this is something that lower tier (and cheap upper tier) devs will skimp out on. I like many of the characters and the rival feels like a rival, unlike say some pokemon games. (also he is a grade A jerk so there is that)
I'm thrilled that there are same sex marriage options for a lite sim like this (it's part of the reason that I'll turn on startdew instead of working on trio of towns even though I really need to get back to that) and while I have not really worked on the romance option (I usually wait till I built up my routine/fortune before I start that part) I know where I'll be hanging out to ply gifts lol.
I will say focus on building tools/machines and collecting resources (which will net you data discs to get more machine diagrams ) from the start. Don’t let the main story push you before you are ready. If you do that the game flows smoothly imo (unlike the way the review here implied). Also, build lots of wooden boxes to start. Inventory is at a premium and you have to pay to unlock each row. Not too bad to start but it ramps up once you hit the second page. The good thing is the storage inventory is shared so I just keep a chest outside and use it to cycle through the ones in my house.
Front load your building supplies as you build more machines, you will need them and the machines produce overnight so long as they have fuel (a minor thing that I adore as it keeps me mining/hunting/chopping wood). Also the trees respawn after a few days so raze it to the ground. Oh and your strength stat will allow you to break and chop things that usually require a better tool Luckily almost every action you take earns EXP so you level at a decent pace. Trees can be kicked multiple times before they stop yielding resources.
The sparing mechanic sucks and feels tacked on but its serviceable for this type of game. I got a Naruto game vibe from it (in the fact that they tried to sorta stuff a fighting game in a sim game, but unlike the current Naurto games that benefit from the existence of a fighting franchise before hand so they can just sew it in Portia is a little more barebones. But you don't use it much so there is that. The normal fighting is just using your equipped weapon to bludgeon the enemy to death.
There isn't a ton of enemy variety but the ones that do exist feel unique and the AI is smart enough to gang up on you. They also respawn quickly (as they are really there for you to farm their drops) which is great when you are over-leveled...when not...just run.
Also I enjoy the fishing mechanic (unlike stardew's) so I do waste a lot of time doing that.
As stated haven't done the romance subplots yet although I have done a few of the character quests since you taking on commissions also builds up your relationship with the requester as well as the town.
I've not encountered any glitches so far, which considering I've never heard of this dev is impressive. Hitboxes work correctly so far and no out of bounds issues.
If you like bokumono/rune factory and want something that isn't 16 bit but is less farming focused, you can't go wrong with Portia.
Taiko is good for the soul, Hoisa!
Japanese NNID:RyuNiiyamajp
Team Cupcake! 11/15/14
Team Spree! 4/17/19
I'm a Dream Fighter. Perfume is Love, Perfume is Life.
I guess load times are my one big concern but, seeing as you played on PC, I’ll have to wait for post-patch feedback from those who’ve played on Switch...
Psalms 22:16 (1,000 yrs before Christ)
They pierced My hands and feet
Isaiah 53:5 (700 yrs before Christ)
He was pierced for our transgressions
@JaxonH welp, I will get it on Friday so I can post Switch specific impressions then.
Taiko is good for the soul, Hoisa!
Japanese NNID:RyuNiiyamajp
Team Cupcake! 11/15/14
Team Spree! 4/17/19
I'm a Dream Fighter. Perfume is Love, Perfume is Life.
@JaxonH I've put about 5 hours into the Switch version so far, and to be honest I haven't found the load times too bad. To be honest it's already better than other similar games I've played, like Rune Factory Frontier and Harvest Moon: Tree of Tranquility. The initial startup is pretty long but within the game it's not bad.
The lagging and frame drops people are talking about aren't too bad either, at least in my opinion. Maybe that's not saying much though considering I found RiME a bearable experience on the Switch, but the drops are very minor in this case and I really don't notice them much.
What I find most noticeable is some parts of the game that aren't translated as well to a controller. Some of the menu navigation and some parts of the game (like fishing) don't work quite as well without a mouse.
That being said I'd still highly recommend the game, I'm still having a blast with it and can easily see myself putting in 100+ hours. I'd even say it deserves a higher score than what NL gave it.
I've done a video of my first 35 minutes with the game. It's in german, but you'll see the loading times
The initial loading time (before you first get into the game) is pretty long, but that's the same for the pc version. Maybe during the first loading time the dungeons are created or something like that.
The performance is pretty solid so far and it looks absolutely fantastic.
So...I dunno if my file is a dud or the game is poorly optimized for the Switch. The loading times are unbearable and the game keeps freezing every few seconds. I tried updating it, but apparently it's up to date.
Current games: Everything on Switch
Switch Friend Code: SW-5075-7879-0008 | My Nintendo: LzWinky
I'm having a great time with this game. After the initial load times, the loading is pretty quick throughout the game afterwards. It has a ton to do and makes me not so anxious for Animal Crossing or Rune Factory 5. Really nice gem of a game here that's worth getting imo. (plus the animals are adorable)
@LzWinky A little of poor optimization and the game can chug even on a gaming grade pc. My rig is getting a little long in the tooth but it can handle modern games just fine, and even it will get rando stutters and slow down when going to the menus sometimes. It is way worse in the switch version (I'm only using handheld mode right now) but it is still playable. PC version has some load time issues as well (not as bad as the initial one though just like on switch). The game is still good though and I'm hoping that they will patch the game again to tighten the load times.
Taiko is good for the soul, Hoisa!
Japanese NNID:RyuNiiyamajp
Team Cupcake! 11/15/14
Team Spree! 4/17/19
I'm a Dream Fighter. Perfume is Love, Perfume is Life.
I'm putting massive amount of hours into this. Honestly, the load times aren't an issue for me, and the chugging in menus is annoying but nothing deal breaking!
@Magician Haha. I love Mack as well I've been a sub of his since he had 67k subs and I always laugh when he picks on consoles especially controllers
As far as My Time at Portia it is a very good game especially if you like games that fall in the same genre as Stardew Valley, however.
The optimization isn't very good. I have it on my gaming PC and have used it as a comparison on the loading times which are very long. This game uses the Unity engine also. Unity games dont run that well on the Switch (Cuphead being an exception) maybe because it is RAM heavy.
The first initial load time once you launch the game and enter the game the loading can take around 3-4 minutes (34 secon on my PC) and the second longer loading which is when exiting your house can take around 40 sec to a minute (10 seconds on PC)
Those are the worst loadings in the game, with the rest of them when entering exiting buildings not being all that bad.
If that is something that doesn't bother you than grab it because it is a good game.
Ill stick to playing it on my PC because it looks much better.
Taiko is good for the soul, Hoisa!
Japanese NNID:RyuNiiyamajp
Team Cupcake! 11/15/14
Team Spree! 4/17/19
I'm a Dream Fighter. Perfume is Love, Perfume is Life.
The patch is out for Switch. People are reporting that it runs better if you start a new game; continuing an old save doesn't help anything. I only bought the game this week so I was only a few days in so I just restarted.
I'm really in love with this game so far. It has that "just one more day" addictiveness. I was a little bit overwhelmed at first since the main quest and most of the side commissions and quests all require materials that you make yourself through equipment (that you also make yourself) but after I built the grinder it all clicked and now I'm really enjoying it.
Does somebody still play the Switch version after get the latest update?
How about the game performance after update?
Does it still have some issues until unplayable?
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