Petit Planet could be the blockbuster cosy game to finally rival Animal Crossing

Cosy gaming has become something of a phenomenon in recent years.

Far from the loud, bombastic action of many mainstream titles, the cosy game as a genre has quietly cemented itself as a major player in the market.

And while the likes of Stardew Valley, Harvest Moon, Tiny Bookshop and more have all succeeded from it, the king of kings in this space is undoubtedly Animal Crossing.

While several studios have tried to replicate the success of Animal Crossing – the closest perhaps being Nintendo themselves with Pokopia – none have managed to do so.

But that could be about to change, as HoYoverse, the developer behind gacha blockbusters such as Genshin Impact, are coming for the crown with Petit Planet – and they might just pull it off.

Immediately, it's clear that this is a game inspired by Animal Crossing. Beyond the obvious similarities of a life sim where a human player lives among animals, developing their island, much of the gameplay bears resemblance to New Horizons, specifically.

The core gameplay loop is the largely same, involving you revitalising the titular petit planets, much as you did with your island in New Horizons.

Decorate your island/planets to make them look shiny and new. Explore new islands/planets to find resources. Catch bugs and fish to donate them to the local Museum/Ecohouse. It's clear to see just how similar the surface level gameplay is.

And while I would perhaps like to see Petit Planet make more of an effort to differentiate itself from ACNH on the gameplay front, one thing I cannot disparage it for is its quality; it is immediately apparent how polished this game is.

Where Petit Planet does begin to differentiate itself is with regard to its characters.

While we all have our favourite villagers in AC games, it would not be hyperbole to describe many of them as somewhat one-note, however charming they may be.

But with HoYoverse games often so lauded for their characters, it is a delight to see them put as much effort into those of Petit Planet.

The characters you'll meet when going from planet to planet are fleshed-out in a way that many cosy games often ignore.

They have their own stories to tell, and go through genuine character arcs. You can take them with you on expeditions, helping you gather resources and the like, increasing your friendship with them along the way.

While Petit Planet is still fundamentally a solo experience about your own character's journey, having those other stories being told in the background gives the whole experience a real soul that I wasn't expecting going in.

Returning to the level of polish that Petit Planet offers up, it would be totally remiss of me not to mention the visuals.

Fans of HoYoverse games have come to expect only the highest quality when it comes to presentation, and while the chibi art style of Petit Planet may not be what they're used to, the aesthetics of this game are superb.

From the chibi protagonist and the wonderfully vibrant characters you meet throughout to the cutesy, clean design of the nature and buildings, Petit Planet delivers an interesting combination of art styles that, rather than clashing unceremoniously, manage to blend together totally cohesively.

Of course, as with any preview, it's hard to say just how much of this will be the case with the final game.

One major issue I had with New Horizons was that it's all well and good blitzing through your decorating early on, but once you reach a certain point, the returns certainly start to diminish.

Naturally, a preview doesn't last long enough for me to say how Petit Planet will deal with this long-term issue faced by similar cosy games.

And considering how a focus on character is how Petit Planet appears to be setting itself apart, once the stories run dry, does it have the legs to keep players coming back for more?

Thankfully for Petit Planet, there are few developers in the world more capable of bringing players back time and time again than HoYoverse, which suggests to me that this won't be a problem.

But regardless of how the end turns out, what I can say is that Petit Planet's beginning is mightily impressive, and considering the game will be free-to-play, I imagine that the rabid hordes of cosy gamers eager for more will not need much convincing to dive headlong into it.

Petit Planet is currently in development for PC, iOS and Android.

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