Confetti’s Cozy Corner: Locomoto review
‘All aboard’ Locomoto, the coziness adventure life sim that unleashes the absolute childhood joy of playing with train sets and being a train conductor. With no time limits, wholesome vibes and soothing lofi soundtrack Locomoto embodies some of the best qualities that are loved about cozy games.
The game begins with creating a character. There are many options for designs from a bear, a cat, a deer or mix and match various animal features to make your character special. The journey begins with escorting the new mayor to her post and aiding her on her quest to restore the town of Barrenpyre! The series of quests serves as a tutorial for how gameplay and interacting with customers will be. Fulfill requests and transport citizens where they need to go to make progress through the story and open up more customization options.
Starting off the train does feel small. As the story progresses, materials are gained and more quests are complete, more train carts are gained. Sometimes bouncing between quests that take you back and forth to the same locations can feel a bit tedious. As the train is traveling from stop to stop, patrons will make requests for things like hot cocoa which will gain you tips in addition to the ride fare. The repetition of picking up patrons, completing requests, and customizing creates a relaxing experience where often you can forget how much time has passed IRL.
Back during NEXTFest in February the Locomoto demo had many bugs that were apparent from the start. While most bugs are ironed out, there is still some awkwardness during the gameplay. This was felt most while interacting with objects when trying to pick them up, it’s not something that hinders gameplay but it is noticeable. Sometimes characters will glitch as well as some environmental bugs, although the most interesting bug is the luggage that sometimes ends up on the train tracks. While the train customization is fun, an upgradable engine that could make travel faster when possible would have made a fun interruption to the repetition of going from station to station. Moreover, a better way to store resources on the train and personal storage. On the train, since there are no storage chests, the next best thing can be the floor, while only four of each item can be stored into one of the pockets of your conductor.
The most fun game mechanic is the ability to customize your train. Painting the train and customizing the interior is the star of the show, that dims a bit when the limitations become apparent. If you choose to build a long train, unfortunately, since the conductor cannot reach outside of the carts beyond the station, they cannot be customized. Hopefully, in time, a workaround to this can be reached. The developers are very communicative about updates, bugs, and features via the Steam community page and are passionate about providing the best experience for players with Locomoto!
The overall feel of Locomoto is comparable to the feel of Animal Crossing: New Horizons but with way more freedom when it comes to customizing. While a game like this would work incredibly on the Nintendo Switch, at the time of this article it is only available on PC. Locomoto is compatible on Steamdeck and plays very well on the handheld.
With no challenges, time limits, cute art style and lovely soundtrack, Locomoto provides a cozy and wholesome experience that can put players’ minds at ease. While I personally give Locomoto a 3 out of 5, if that cozy vibe is what you seek, get it today on Steam for $24.99.
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