holoVillage: Our Cozy Days – A Cozy Game That Forgot to Be Cozy
So here we are, another licensed tie-in hoping the IP carries the gameplay. I’ve been around since before most of these VTubers were born, and I’ve seen this pattern before. A familiar face on the box doesn’t make a game good, but sometimes it can elevate a decent foundation. This one… well, it’s a foundation.
Let’s start with the good, because I’m not a complete cynic. The chibi models are genuinely charming. The Hololive talents are rendered with care, and if you’re a fan of the franchise, seeing your oshi potter around your farm will give you a warm feeling. The music is also a highlight—remixes of Hololive songs that actually work well as background ambiance, though I’ll get to that. And the art style, when it’s consistent, is pleasant and colorful.
The game tries to be a Rune Factory-lite: you farm, fish, mine, craft, explore dungeons, and fight bosses. On paper, it’s all there. In practice, it feels like someone built the skeleton but forgot the muscles and skin. The day-night cycle is short, the farming is basic, and the combat is functional but shallow. Melee is sluggish, magic is overpowered, and there’s no dodge or block—just walk away from attacks and hope you’re fast enough. The boss fights can be frustratingly cheap, especially with the lack of proper telegraphing.
And then there’s the placement system. I’ve built villages in more games than I care to count, and this is the most infuriating implementation I’ve seen since the days of isometric RPGs without grid snapping. Everything is placed relative to your character’s facing, not the camera. You’ll spend minutes trying to align a house, only to move an inch and have it snap somewhere else. No grid, no snap, no preview. It’s maddening.
The villagers themselves are the biggest letdown. For a game called “Our Cozy Days,” the residents have all the personality of a cardboard cutout. They repeat the same three voice lines—often pulled from stream clips—and wander aimlessly when not assigned to a job. They don’t interact with each other or with you beyond basic commands. You can’t take them on adventures. They don’t comment on the weather, your progress, or even each other’s existence. In Animal Crossing, even the cranky villagers have more depth. Here, they’re just walking soundboards. And yes, Suisei will randomly scream and jump-scare you. I’m still recovering.
Speaking of sound, the music is good but gets repetitive fast. The same tracks loop endlessly, and while the remixes are nice, you’ll be hearing the same morning track for hours. I had to turn it off after the first hour. The ambient sound effects—footsteps, mining, fishing—are loud and grating. Cozy? More like annoying after a while.
The meta-progression is a grindfest with poor returns. Smelting ore consumes wood at an absurd rate, and you’ll spend half your time just gathering fuel. The smithing system offers stat boosts of 0.5% to 2%, which might as well not exist. The skill trees are skill trees, but you’re locked into one combat path unless you pay to respec. The Kuromarine store uses a separate currency earned daily, which is fine, but why tie it to an online requirement? Oh wait, they fixed that after launch, but it shouldn’t have been there in the first place.
And then there’s the roster. About 70% of Hololive members are present, but significant groups are missing: Council, ID, Justice, HoloX, Gen 1, Flow Glow. The representations for those that are included are uneven—some get a few furniture items, others get nothing. If you’re a fan of, say, Mori Calliope, you’ll find her here. If your oshi is from Indonesia or Promise, you’re out of luck. The game also shipped without an offline mode, which is baffling for a single-player experience. That’s since been addressed, but it’s a black mark on the launch.
Now, I’m not saying it’s all bad. The adventuring side of the game is actually reasonably well-paced. Exploring the different zones, gathering resources, and fighting the area bosses provides a clear sense of progression. The gear upgrades, while incremental, do make a difference. The fishing minigame is tense and fun. And if you just want to chill and decorate your house with 1,800+ types of furniture, you can sink hours into that. The character creator is robust, letting you mix and match parts from different talents.
But the core experience is held back by a lack of polish and some baffling design choices. This feels like an Early Access game released as a full product. The bugs—UI glitches, cooking menu overflow, item placeholder names, softlocks—are numerous. The developers have been patching quickly, which is commendable, but it doesn’t excuse the state at launch.
For Hololive fans, this is a passable time waster. You’ll get 15-20 hours of enjoyment if you’re willing to overlook the jank. For anyone else looking for a cozy farming sim, you’re better off with Stardew Valley, Rune Factory 4, or even My Time at Portia. This game is carried by the IP, and without that emotional attachment, the cracks are too wide.
I hope the developers continue to improve it. The potential is there—a cute world with beloved characters, decent combat, and good music. But potential isn’t a finished game. As it stands, holoVillage is a solid 6/10. It’s not broken, but it’s not great. It’s… adequate. And at $25, “adequate” feels like a stretch.
If you’re still curious, wait for a sale and a few more patches. Your oshi will still be there.