Petit Planet Stardrift Test Impression

The game has a plethora of options for those looking to build, craft, and use their imagination to make worlds that fit their visions.

HoYoverse is primailry known among RPGamers for its sci-fi and fantasy gacha RPGs, namely Genshin Impact, Honkai Star Rail, and Zenless Zone Zero. However, its next endeavor is a break from that style of game, leaning into the cozy life sim genre with Petit Planet. I was given the chance to immerse myself in its very vibrant world through the recent beta Stardrift test, which readily reminded me of Animal Crossing or Harvest Moon, but it certainly has potential to go further.

The game starts with players being brought to the Loomi Co. agency to acquire a planet by a giant space-whale-like spirit named Oumuamua.  The planet is given for free, to nurture and expand as the player lives upon it. The test gave players the option of one of two planets, a lush green one or a sandy desert one. Given I live in a desert, I took the opportunity for something different, selecting the verdant option to start my Petit Planet adventure.

As the “Planet Tender”, players are tasked with caring for their planet by doing all sorts of tasks. The initial tasks start simply enough, such as gathering fruit, cooking fruit, or catching bugs, with the game providing the necessary tools to go about said tasks. As players fulfill these tasks, a special tree called the Luca Tree will grow; each time it grows, it unlocks new areas and even eventually unlocks special upgrades. At first the planet starts as just a small little glade on an island with some plum trees. However, by doing tasks across the island it turns from just a small green patch to having rivers, oceans, bugs, shooting stars, and more.

There are even very colorful characters who will come to the planet. Players start with three employees of Loomi Co., who act as their guides and run a initial shop for the budding planet. Over time, more residents will come traveling to the planet to live and work. The characters are very vibrant, from a fox boy who never lets life get him down to a red panda girl who is good at farming just like her grandmother. The characters do have little achievement unlocks that are associated with doing activities with them, which provide certain resources.

The game does have a multiplayer aspect where players can visit others’ planets. Although I didn’t get time to look into the feature heavily, from what I could see, other players made some truly extravagant planets. This showed me that the game has a plethora of options for those looking to build, craft, and use their imagination to make worlds that fit their visions. On the technical side, the look of the game is pretty impressive, and looks gorgeous on the max settings I was able to run it on. There was an initial issue when the character turned that caused a strange blur, but this was fixed during the test and did not reappear later on.

When Petit Planet fully releases, I can easily see myself sinking hours on the side doing farming, catching bugs and crustaceans, and spending time with my furry friends as a way to relax. It was a challenge to try and avoid getting overly sucked into the test, knowing all data was going to be wiped and wanting to keep some surprises for the future. HoYoverse has yet to announce a release date for Petit Planet, currently planned to release on PC, iOS, and Android, but as a cozy life sim fan on the side, I feel confident saying that this is a game that is right up any cozy gamer’s alley.

Disclosure: This article is based on free access to the Stardrift test provided by the publisher.