Mineko's Night Market Reviews
Tedious crafting, soulless resource gathering and one long spiderweb of dull, interlocking fetch quests make Mineko's Night Market even less fun than paying off your Tom Nook mortgage loan.
Mineko’s Night Market has finally arrived. It lives up to everyone’s expectations, despite its limitations. It serves as a visually stunning tribute to Japanese folklore and culture, while also providing a humorous social simulation. And it’s a dream for those who have longed for a healthy and heartwarming relationship with your dad.
Mineko's Night Market has a great story, fantastic vibes, and fun concept, but the balancing and Switch performance issues are hassle.
Between muddled gameplay and conflicted writing, Mineko's Night Market can't decide on an identity to fully embrace.
Mineko's Night Market has a great vibe and aesthetic, but its slow pace and tedious resource gathering make it hard to recommend.
Mineko’s Night Market has lovely art, but its boring chores and lifeless NPCs make it much harder to get caught up in its rhythm than it is in other life sims.
Mineko's Night Market is one of the most sweet and whimsical games that I have played, plus it has cats! It is full of personality and has a lot of different activities you can do to keep you coming back for more!
Despite a few flaws that harm the pacing, Mineko's Night Market is a truly impressive life sim that stands out among a sea of similar wholesome games thanks to its jaw-dropping visuals, unique emphasis on Japanese culture and arts and crafts, and a cute story at the center of it all filled with wonder. It's a terrific little game that can be enjoyed by those of all ages, plus, again, you get to pet hundreds of cats. Really, that alone should make it worth it.
Mineko’s Night Market is a delightful journey that explores childlike storytelling and themes of tradition and friendship in a way that captivates players. Its beautiful style and emphasis on Japanese culture draw you in, but the compelling and varied gameplay makes you stay. Its slow and simple start may be off-putting for some, but if you’re starting a cute little life sim game like this and expecting fast-paced drama, you’re at the wrong market stall.
This title's gorgeous visuals, great sense of humor, and creative crafting make it much easier to overlook the areas in which it falls short. The game weaves a delightful tale full of feline-centric magical realism that's truly delightful, and it's possibly one of the best releases for cat lovers since Stray. Despite its flaws, Mineko's Night Market is perfect for any player looking for a creative and relaxing world to get lost in.
Mineko's Night Market is an adorable and exciting Simulation game following the titular character, Mineko, as she navigates her new life in Mt. Fugu with her father, and her search for the mysterious, legendary cat, Nikko. The game features highly-addictive crafting and mini-games, as well as small puzzles to solve in order to take down the Agents taking over the town. DualShockers was provided with a copy of the game for review purposes.
There’s no doubt an appeal here for fans of cozy experiences, and Mineko’s Night Market delivers all the charm one could expect from this genre. But the experience is shortlived as it offers little focus on player expression. Similar titles present a much wider range of activities to invest yourself in that makes the experience feel like your own. However, there really isn’t any of that here. It all feels just a little too static and unimpressive. For a younger audience, this could be an entry-level introduction to this wholesome genre, but there may be better ways to spend an evening than at the Night Market.
Mineko’s Night Market is a beautiful game. Its soundtrack and artwork are delightful; I could listen to the music all day and never tire of it. Unfortunately, the energy, money, and early-game task balances really left me questioning if I liked the game. I think it could be delightful with a few patches to balance and smooth aspects of gameplay. I just wanted to be able to do more because I could see all potential, but it always felt out of reach. Hopefully, the game will receive some post-launch love to help balance some of these gameplay elements because with a few tweaks, it would be easy to fall in love with Mineko’s world. Right now though, it’s just hard to say yes to.
This is a review-in-progress due to some technical errors that were fixed prior to launch. At this point I believe I'm about halfway through the story and wanted to fully progress through the story before making my final, scored review.
Mineko’s Night Market from developer Meowza Games is an adorable, relatable, and fun crafting adventure that pushes everything along with a story that runs perfectly parallel to the gameplay. While its main audience might be younger gamers, there might be enough here for older gamers to enjoy.
Mineko’s Night Market is a carefully considered, cosy life sim, with an intriguing, low-stakes narrative and plenty of familiar activities to keep you busy. It might not sound groundbreaking on paper, but it delivers on everything it promises, offering a felicitous, feline-filled escape from your troubles.
There are other complaints, such as the front-loaded need to make money, which evaporates after Mineko acquires all the crafting tools and benches, immediately negating one of the few mechanics that kept anybody playing. But, ultimately, Mineko’s Night Market is a melding of boredom and frustration, and a lot of that frustration stems from the fact that the game could have been good. It had the graphics, music, story, and the makings of a gameplay loop that should have been thoroughly engaging. Instead, it just feels like nothing was pushed to its full potential, leaving both the game and the player wanting more.
Mineko's Night Market goes down as one of my biggest disappointments of the year. The early promise is entirely squandered through inane conversations, repetitive minigames and a feeling more akin to a mobile game loop than a cosy game. The art style and plethora of cats are cute, but I'm afraid this is one to avoid.
Admittedly, there are days where it feels like friendship in this quaint little town is conditional, an odd feeling that everyone wants something from you: 10 pieces of paper for fixing a flimsy wall, two matcha lattes for a thirsty neighbor, a sports drink for an aspiring athlete. At one point, a vendor even jokingly requests 120 blocks of wood to build their store — a joke to be had at your expense. But if you can shelve these uncomfortable thoughts, Mineko’s Night Market can be a place to linger for a few hours. Be it chipping away at your laundry list of mundane but comforting chores or selling some handmade kitty kitsch at the night market, this cozy sim is an invitation to slow down and smell the roses. Or rather, pet the cats, as they flop over in contentment, their purrs resonating from deep within their bellies.