This Is Funny To Me Because My Experience Was Similar.

This is funny to me because my experience was similar.

I found Innocent Life by accident, played it and had a blast, planning to 100% it, searched for guides... And found out almost everyone hated it! Which was shocking, cause I was fond of the idea I was a robot and my creator made me his son, and we ended up learning to be human by helping the island.

But the posts and reviews I found hated it because there was no marriage. I guess Robot Farmer could get married, but I like to think that he just wants to have friends. Sorry for the ramble, I just love Innocent Life: A Fantasy Harvest Moon soo much and I'm glad others like it too, despite the lack of romance.

Personal rambling again? Can't believe it.

I've been thinking more about that thread which asked "Would you play SoS without the farming?", the answers within that thread, and the responses to Innocent Life/spinoffs from the community as a whole.

Innocent Life (and other spinoffs such as Popolocrois Story of Seasons) are commonly thought of as lesser games due to the lack of a romance system.

While I'm not going to discount anyone's way of playing, I can't help but feel sad that at the very heart of things, everything seems to be forgone and discarded if the game does not include romance.

Truthfully, I think every game is full of romance to some degree. I don't need the games to be something that interacts with my own self in such a way. It's enough for me to immerse myself in a world that allows the characters within to grow, and to experience life from multiple povs.

Which is why, when there's young couples, elderly married folk, friends who ride or die, strong family bonds or other representative forms of love - it's enough for me. I feel like there's a lot of "it must involve me, revolve around me" type of sentiment that gets in the way of looking at the whole.

It's also a bit perplexing when the negative responses come from people who would otherwise spend time in an RPG with no self-romantic aspect, just a story. Why is or would be a story-focused Bokumono any different?

On the reverse, would you still play Bokumono with farming and without player romance?