It has been a while, but we are back with another Kairosoft review, straight from Japan! I kindly direct you to the article I did before about my love-hate relationship with the studio (mostly love, obviously) for those unfamiliar with the series. So, let’s go all Daniel Defoe on this game.
Kairosoft!
Beastie Bay is the latest installment on the ever-growing Nintendo Switch Kairo-brary. This time, we get to be Robinson Crusoe (Daniel Defoe wrote it), with a starter ally to help us out and explore unknown territory. And, of course, we wouldn’t be humans if we didn’t try to develop the unknown islands by building and planting things such as fields and trees on the land. The game’s primary goal is to explore as much unfamiliar territory on islands as possible and capture beasts for allies in a Pokémon-Final Fantasy-style hybrid setting.
Beastie Bay
To elaborate, the primary purpose of the game is to go adventuring on expeditions to obtain beast allies, residents, territory, trading partners, and buildings to grow your resort. The gameplay is divided into two parts: Exploring wild areas with your allies and designing the resort town to earn gold. The more successful the resort community, the more accessible expeditions become. Note on the trailer below – this is the trailer for the Mobile version since a Switch trailer is non-existent.
Like other installments of the Kairosoft-RPG-subgenre, it follows a very straight pattern. At the start of the game, you must pick a starter ally, which is either a duck (Dabbler), a cat (Kerfuffle), or a dog (Scout), and name it. The only logical choice is the duck. When this is done, you will have to build a home for yourself and your ally. Then, some unexplored territory will appear as a blue area with its name and level on a sign. Selecting the area and choosing to “Depart” will launch an expedition. If you defeat all of the enemies you encounter, the area will be considered “Conquered,” and conquered areas can be built upon. Of course, not all territory you conquer will be available for building. Some of it belongs to neighboring island communities or islands deemed “uninhabitable,” but completing every available area improves your ability to build upon your island. Some areas can be explored repeatedly, allowing you more opportunities to capture new allies or to level up your allies.
Exploration & Combat
The expedition is displayed by a graphic of Robin walking along with a background, and a percentage measures progress. Various events will occur during the journey, ranging from found items to obstacles requiring specialized survival gear to overcome to beasts attacking and engaging the party in combat. Thus entering the Final Fantasy style of gameplay.
Combat in Beastie Bay is turned-based. Your party consists of three allies, which must face off against one to three wild beasts. At the start of each round of combat, you have the option to “Fight,” “Switch,” or use “Items.” Selecting “Fight” allows you to instruct your allies on what actions to take. The “Switch” option lets you swap out allies in combat once you’ve unlocked the ability via Research. Using the “Item” option takes your entire turn but is useful for healing your allies in the middle of combat and is essential for recruiting new allies. To compel a new ally, you must first weaken it in combat by reducing its HP, then select “Item” and choose a type of bait to use. Different beasts prefer different baits based on their element and level, so it may take several tries to find the type or amount of bait needed to satisfy the beast. Once it has eaten enough bait, it will leave the fight helped.
Combat includes many factors to consider, the biggest being the level that determines your allies’ and enemies’ strength. Elemental attributes are another critical factor in affecting combat. Monsters with an attribute that does critical damage against another mean the attribute is “very effective.” The opposite happens when one beast attacks another beast with the same element, resulting in an attack that is “not very effective.” The exception to the rule is beasts with no detail, as they have no strengths or weaknesses, even against other non-elemental beasts.
Building & Remodeling
Another aspect of the game is the building and remodeling of your island. Allies and residents need pastures and homes to harvest food and building materials. Building a structure requires lumber, which is gathered through harvesting. Harvesting requires expending a certain amount of strength from the ally or resident. Once the “strength” of a given ally or resident is depleted, they will return home to recover strength before harvesting again. Allies with a higher “Work” stat will be able to gather more materials faster than allies with lower work scores. If an ally or citizen needs to replenish strength and does not have a home or is too far from its home, it will instead consume valuable food.
Once the ability to host tourists is unlocked, pastures and other buildings become tourist attractions that earn money from the visiting citizens. Residents can encourage tourists to spend more gold by placing harvested items for sale at these attractions instead of adding them to your food or lumber stores. These items become “Specialties” and vary in price depending on the type of item. Additionally, you have the option of “Investing” in neighboring island communities, which increases the rate at which you earn gold and improves the selection of items available at the shop.
Conclusion
Yes, the running joke is that all Kairosoft games are the same. But they are pretty deep and challenging if you dare to look past the ‘pixel’ look. My outline proves that Beastie Days are one of the more difficult and complex Kairosoft titles, and I applaud them for it. I love it when they try to change up the game, and Kairosoft proves they know how to handle a Final Fantasy RPG mixed with town-building elements. If you like Harvest Moon, Stardew Valley, and the likes, I highly recommend you try this one – you’ll be sucked in. Trust me.
