Good day my lovelies, and welcome again to Joyful Stick. Miss the last entry? You can read it here. Today, we’re going to be talking about patreon darling Cloud Meadow. Let’s begin.
Game Design As A Dynamic Process
It’s 1998, and I can’t get the box out of my dad’s hands fast enough.
What’s more, I can’t believe he actually bought it for me.
Back then, computer games were strictly a brick-and-mortar goods. As our local stores didn’t carry anything but console titles, my dad and I traveled over an hour to Best Buy in Spartanburg, NC (a holy site for a fledgling nerd like me) to pick up this one game. I was practically bouncing in my seat. Fallout had been an entire experience for me, and I had waited as long as I could for the sequel. The box was a foot long and looked like something from a blast site, boldly proclaiming all kinds of content I was way too young for waiting just beyond it’s cardboard confines. In a lot of ways, the Fallout series was my first exposure into what I’d consider “complete and immersive” worlds. Using a mostly brown color palette accentuated with green, I spent untold countless hours in the wasteland. There was always a different way to play, a new character to build and new ways to win.
It was a total, complete experience.
Except it actually wasn’t.
I’d find out years later that hours of stuff had been cut from the game in The Fallout Bible, written by Chris Avellone. The reasons varied case by case, but usually were the result of “we ran out of time and money”. If only, Chris would write, that wouldn’t have been the case.
Reading Chris talk about designing the game was kind of a revelation for me, especially since brick-and-mortar purchases of games have gone the way of the dodo. The means of getting games into our hands and financing them has become a dynamic rather than static process. Day one patches, DLC and more (which at one point were VERY rare) are now built-in to the marketing of a title. Continued support can happen for real-world literal years. What’s more, it means projects can bloom into alpha and beta builds with open support from consumers.
I don’t know how many of you have been keeping track, but several of the titles recently reviewed here are just that. Alpha or Beta builds fueled by public interest in support, often continuously staying in those states despite being what popular perception would deem a commercial release.
That brings us to today’s title, Cloud Meadow. CM is a adventure-farming-monster rancher-Harvest Moon With Tiddies simulator developed by Team Nimbus, a group of programmers and artists you might recognize. Released last year, CM is a great example of modern game development. It’s fueled by Patrons, actively updated with feedback from the community and handled with care and respect towards it’s audience.
However, that doesn’t answer if it’s actually any good.
Sprites of Fancy
Cloud Meadow takes place in a mid-fantasy level world where monsters and humans coexist in a kingdom in the clouds. I use the term “mid-fantasy”, because it’s making use of multiple aesthetics and tropes simultaneously. A dash of homesteading cottage core, some shadowy brightly colored Bloodborne hunters and anthro critters of every shade. This is the wrapping for what is a pretty straightforward narrative: As a recent graduate of Union Frontiersman, it’s your duty to provide safety out on a far-flung unexplored part of the empire. Imagine finishing college, then moving back to Small Town USA. It’s kind of like that.
Right off the bat, CM’s art direction is incredibly captivating. While you’ve likely seen clips of the pornographic elements already on Insert Tube Site Here, it’s an entirely different feeling to see it in-game. Cloud Meadow is, without a doubt, a pretty and charming game to look at. Despite having multiple aesthetics tossed into a blender on high, it manages to pull them off in a way that no one element feels unnatural. The guards in town that are Obvious Bloodborne References feel right at home next to DC’s Totally-Not-King-Shark hauling boxes. As someone who knows several artists, a merged balance of concepts can be hard to pull off. I applaud the team for making that happen.
You land and after a whirlwind of introductions make your way to the farm. At this point, you can take the tutorial or simply begin playing. As someone who is painfully, stupidly stubborn I told myself that with my Big Thick Throbbin’ Brain I surely didn’t need to use the tutorial.
I implore you to do the tutorial.
Not only will it explain farming, egg incubation and more, it teaches you how to take party members with you out into the wilds-which is of vital importance going forward. While Cloud Meadow features a focus on Harvest Moon-esque mechanics, a sizable portion of the game centers around RPG-lite dungeon crawling with turn-based combat. That shovel in your hands is going to be knocking heads a lot more than it is plowing a field.
Speaking of which, your first assignment is just that. You (and whoever you drag along with you) have to go out to the “dangerous dungeon island” and help a local merchant. There’s a nice array of party members right from the onset. I went with a tinkering rabbit, a succubus and a cat girl. Each party member features unique attack animations and playstyles. Camilla, my succubus, relies on a “heat” system for putting enemies to sleep. She does so by literally flashing them. The cat girl could take a nap for a turn and recover her health. The bunny? Her abilities roll up via a slot machine each turn, with a random chance for any one thing to appear. Combat can be automated of course, but I never found myself so bored that I wanted to activate that feature. Battles also are blissfully not random encounters, though often you will have to fight to progress forward.
However, the very first dungeon is where the shine started to come off for me. It’s the classic “clear the floor and get the key for the door”, and while not as grindy as other RPG titles the design method feels dated. There’s little guide as to where you’re supposed to go or what you should do. This leaves you just kinda wandering around trying to figure things out organically. While this is tried and true as far as design goes? That doesn’t mean you should use it. No amount of unique art styles changes that. During play, I was actually reminded of Mario and Luigi Super Star Saga for the Gameboy Advance. Both it and Cloud Meadow feature incredibly similar approaches to dungeon construction, though MLSS at least gave you an indication of where to go.
Actually, now that I think about it? Both titles feel extremely similar. You travel in an airship, helping a kingdom with a party. Both feature colorful and vibrant art styles. Huh. Interesting.
If you said “hey, I bet this ends in a boss fight”, you would be entirely correct. Cloud Meadow has a formula and sticks to it. Which frankly is what makes reviewing it, and other titles that are dynamic, living media such a chore. Right now, if I really wanted to, I could contact the Devs. I could send them this review, likely strike up a conversation and even get their feedback. I could join their Patreon and leave comments on updates. I could do all of this, and still perhaps come no closer to getting a change to the core design unless my voice was joined by others. But the possibility is real, and still there.
CM is still in beta as of this writing. By the time it’s “out”, this could be an entirely different game. Whole mechanical systems could be adjusted despite years of development already behind it. For all I know this could turn into a hyper-realistic cyperpunk 2077 rival. It’s unlikely, but in a world where our media no longer comes in a simple cardboard box nothing can ever be truly discounted from possibility. Call me an old man screaming at clouds if you want. It’s still true.
This wouldn’t bother me so much were it not that hours of the game are dungeon crawling. Dungeon crawling that feels like so many other titles I’ve played. A bright palette and boobies are wonderful additions, but by the time Camilla had flashed my opponents for the tenth time I no longer cared. If a piece of your core gameplay feels unnecessary, stale or “same-y” to other titles, it’s time to ask why it’s there or how you can do it differently.
Barnyard Banging
When you’re not pretending to be Conan the Farm Hand, there is sex to be had in CM. The game is cheeky without being disrespectful, and jiggly-soft instead of firm. If there’s a monster you like or have in mind, you can probably fuck it in CM. However, teratophilia is more a “suggestion” than the norm, as CM’s cast tends to be more on the “human” side of the design slider than “monster”. Regardless, CM is incredibly inclusive and there’s all kinds of sex to have with all kinds of bodies. Plus sized, skinny, hung cock, small cocks, big boobs and small boobs-they’re all there. This is a rarity in the field, as other titles typically tackle inclusion via harmful language or fetishizing.
In terms of fetishes and kink content, CM drops the ball. Yes, there’s implications of dom/sub relationships and dilfs/milfs to be had. But that’s as far as it goes. Implying rather than committing. This obviously could change with future builds, but as of right now simply isn’t there. However, if you’re into unprotected sex or breeding specifically there’s a wealth of scenes to be had. Size difference content abounds as well.
Final Thoughts
I enjoyed playing Cloud Meadow, and even got aroused during the sex scenes. But I couldn’t shake the feeling that CM seems like it’s suffering an identity crisis and still trying to figure out what it wants to be years later. It’s farming elements can’t compare to something like Stardew Valley. The dungeon RPG elements are outclassed by any number of titles. The erotic elements, while entertaining, can’t hold the entire project together on their own. For everything it gets right, I got bored playing Cloud Meadow. It’s a pretty face that lacks substance.
If you have to play the game, I recommend waiting until it goes on sale. If you’re coming to the title for it’s erotic content, I actually recommend supporting the artists behind it on patreon instead.
As I’ve done for other titles in alpha/beta, I’ll end my review like this: Should CM ever “complete” it’s build cycle, I am happy to come back and re-review it. Until then, I don’t think I’ll put my head back up in the sky anytime soon.
-j