Birthdays the Beginning Reviews

Birthdays the Beginning is ranked in the 28th percentile of games scored on OpenCritic.
3 / 10.0
May 20, 2017

I wouldn't recommend Birthdays the Beginning to anyone. Its biggest problem is badly done tutorial, which doesn't help in understanding this complicated game. Beside original idea for gameplay, there is not much worth seeing.

Review in Polish | Read full review

Rice Digital
Kitsumeda
Top Critic
May 7, 2017

For every novel aspect the game brings to the table it fumbles in delivering a meaningful and engaging experience. It is interesting to experiment around with the massive number of species and create a beautiful world but it all becomes repetitive rather quickly. Considering that the developers already planned out a sequel we can only hope they will be able iron out its issues and add everything they initially wanted.

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5 / 10
May 22, 2017

Birthdays is a fantastic idea on paper, but suffers from some very poor execution that hinders the overall experience.

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5 / 10
May 5, 2017

Birthdays the Beginning is an oddity: it's a relaxed, cutesy god game, but it also requires you to follow strict rules and pay attention to a vast array of stats, which can kill the fun factor to a degree. The free play mode makes for a more chilled out time, however, while the challenges offer more objective-based gameplay for those that want it. The creature capturing is initially compelling, but once you've seen everything, the game doesn't really have anything to draw you back in.

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5 / 10.0
May 5, 2017

If it was structured more like Universe Sandbox, or if the world behaved more consistently, Birthdays: The Beginning would have been a far more fun and educational experience, instead of a dull and frustrating one.

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GameSpot
Top Critic
5 / 10
May 19, 2017

The ambitious-but-flawed Birthdays the Beginning is packed with charm, but suffers from a clunky interface and confusing systems.

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5 / 10.0
May 5, 2017

Birthdays the Beginning is about as exciting as watching paint dry – even if you get to pick the colors

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May 15, 2017

The game is worth it if sandbox creation games are your thing. On the other hand, if you’re like me and felt you would get this game based on your love of Harvest Moon only, that would be like comparing apples and oranges, and this may be a skip.

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6 / 10
May 8, 2017

Birthday the Beginnings may be fun but it also has a very plane gameplay. A game that may be fun for the usual management players, but with a very modest visual look.

Review in Spanish | Read full review

6 / 10.0
May 10, 2017

Birthdays the Beginning is cute and nostalgic but there's not much depth

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Metro GameCentral
GameCentral
Top Critic
6 / 10
May 10, 2017

Despite the many obvious flaws there's a mesmerising quality to the game's artificial worlds, as the gameplay itself creates a surprisingly palatable form of edutainment.

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6.5 / 10.0
May 13, 2017

Birthdays the Beginning looks promising but most of the expectations did not meet when you start playing. Being their God was not easy and for me that was the only thing keeping me alive in the game, I could have died from boredom later.

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IGN Italy
Top Critic
6.5 / 10.0
May 17, 2017

Birthdays: The Beginning is a nice simulation game with a really cute art direction, which fans of the genre and people who seek a relaxing gaming experience will probably enjoy. Unfortunately it has its flaws, like poorly detailed graphics, slight frame rate drops and clunky controls, that we hope will disappear in the next titles of the series.

Review in Italian | Read full review

7 / 10.0
May 13, 2017

Birthdays The Beginning can be a very fun and addictive game if only for a short while, the ‘beginning’ in the title feels very apt as the game feels like the beginning of something much larger that we’re just not being given in this game. The gameplay is a bit of a mixed bag as some features work brilliantly within the setting while others are straight-up broken or extremely frustrating to use. The positives of the game outweigh the negatives, but there just isn't enough of it to keep you around for that long. *It's worth noting that Birthdays The Beginning has received a day-one patch which, according to the patch notes, should fix some of the issues that I have laid out in this review and aims to improve other aspects of the game.

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7 / 10.0
May 23, 2017

Birthdays the Beginning is a really challenging game to describe in just a few sentences. It blends some genres and will undoubtedly be a divisive title as it is a slow burn that often provides more of a passive experience than an active one. The thing is - I find myself enjoying the time spent with it more often than not, despite some of its flaws.

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3.5 / 5.0
May 11, 2017

While Birthdays the Beginning isn’t the most hardcore god game out there, it’s still got plenty of merits. It’s a good game to chill out to, it makes you think, and its visual charms are undeniable.

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7 / 10.0
May 9, 2017

Birthdays the Beginning stumbles on some aspects, but overall delivers an enjoyable "god sim" experience that I've been craving. While I did hope the PC port would have been better, the overall experience is enjoyable and recommendable to those with an interest in sandbox simulators.

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Cubed3
Top Critic
7 / 10
May 5, 2017

Birthdays the Beginning is highly recommendable as both edutainment and a god game. There are little issues that crop up that are annoying, but all in all, it's a great experience. There's a breadth of life to be created here, as long as you're going for what the game wants.

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7 / 10
May 5, 2017

I'm tempted to describe the entirety of Birthdays the Beginning as ‘bittersweet'… it's equal parts massively addictive yet horrendously frustrating, but it somehow manages to always provide an enjoyable challenge.

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GBAtemp
Top Critic
7 / 10.0
May 5, 2017

Overall, Birthday the Beginnings is ok. The number of species you can create and manage promises a lot of gameplay, if you can get passed the poor pacing and intermittent gameplay. The cute animals (like that fish <3) makes the game pretty worthwhile, too.

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