Potion Permit Reviews

Potion Permit's spin on the farming sim genre sees you as a budding alchemist/chemist moving to a small-town to help heal decades-old mistrust of chemists. While there is no farm to tend to, there are sick patients who need medicine, and you can craft them healing potions through a tetris-like brewing game using foraged items around the island. The graphics are adorable and there's a whole cast full of quirky characters to get to know and romance (plus you have a pet dog!). However, this game does come with quite a few drawbacks: -Because this game is rather story-driven it doesn't quite feel like there's the same replayability to it as other similar games -The music is a bit lackluster (or at least too quiet) -The fishing mini-game is a bit too simple (at least for my personal tastes) -It is QUITE a grind to gather all the materials needed for all the upgrades you'll want for your home, your clinic, and your tools, which can make the game a bit of a slog -While the visual change in time of day is cool, there isn't really a way to track the weeks, or a change in season, or any way to celebrate villager's birthday (aka no calendar) -Some of the simple mini-games associated with researching potions, or diagnosing patients get really boring after you've done them a few times But all that said, I have really enjoyed playing this game and figuring out its quirks. I would recommend it to anyone wanting to expand their collection of farming sim games or anyone who doesn't mind a bit of a grind for achievement hunting.

I played this game mainly for the achievements, but unfortunately, I can't recommend it. The gameplay feels tedious, and some of the achievements are excessive—cutting 1,000 trees and breaking 1,000 stones is just too much. I previously played this game on the Switch but decided to try it again for the achievements. Most of them unlock naturally as you progress, but if you're aiming for 100% completion, I’d suggest focusing on upgrading all your tools as fast as possible. The story isn’t particularly engaging, so it’s not something to get invested in. The overall experience feels bland, the music gets repetitive, and while the potion-making mechanic works fine, it doesn’t bring anything new or exciting to the table. If you enjoy achievement hunting, you might find some satisfaction in it, but otherwise, it’s hard to recommend.

Gonna be honest I got this game a long time ago and have not played it since. disappointing game play, story and characters. idk it just feels so boring :c

I played this game on recommendation from a friend, and it was a complete gem. The sound design (not JUST the sound track, also the effects) is so satisfying and enjoyable, and the art is beautiful. Additionally the game mechanics stay entertaining for most of the game and have a great amount of variability. The plot stays engaging, and is very fun and it makes you intereact with the whole town (not leaving anything unavoidable, but also making it clear which paths to take). Additionally the quest log is actually useful but leaves some logicing to the player. Overall a great game, and one of the most enjoyable I've played in a while. It's addicting.

It's an endless grind of material without a day you can waste on dating or stuff. Not recommended for those who likes the typical chill farming game. Story: 5/10. Art: 6/10 Gameplay: 3/10 Character art: 4/10. ( I was hoping that the characters or NPC would at least have some different pixel art but nope. No waifu, no laifu, no motivation to date ) Overall, not recommended.

This game is so fun. I'm dreading a full achievement completion though because I don't want to fail to cure patients so much :( but I'll do it ;^; Besides that amazing great game, highly recommend!

Just a casual game with an endearing story line. The graphics are nice, game play is easy to understand, and the world building (though not complex) is really cozy.

I love it! Initially I was finding it hard to get into during the intro, but that quickly changed as I progressed in the game. I love that there is no friendship decay and minimal punishments for staying up late or taking longer to do quests/ assignments. I love being able to do things slowly and relax while playing, so this has been great for that!! Overall, Potion Permit is a fun, simple and relaxing game!! Especially worth buying when on sale :)

I absolutely adore this game. The character story’s are wonderful - so many cut scenes and so much detail around each character. There are some amazing QoL features - fast travel, NPC tracking, unlimited storage, etc etc. This game is very grindy so if you don’t like that, this won’t be for you. However, there is so much to do in the game that you can mix it up each day to keep the ‘grind’ interesting. Nothing is time sensitive apart from a couple of things - patients and weekly requests. Other than that, you can take as long as you want to complete something. There is no pressure. Visually it’s beautiful! My only negative is that the dog sleeps outside… literally my ONLY negative. Obsessed. Beautiful game and a nice one to 100% for achievement hunters.

At first glance Potion permit looks like your basic "Oh its Stardew but i make potion, cool" kind of game. For the few firsts hour of gameplay you'd be right but the more you play the more you realize that this game is so boring and repetetive. First problem :The grind. This game is so unnecessary grindy. The amount of ressources and money you need to collect to achieve an upgrade or doing quest is downright ridiculous. Sometimes a single upgrade can put you in this position where all you do is cut wood and break stone for the next 1 to 2 IRL hours and praying that someones gets sick in your clinic so you get that little cash. Makes me wonder if the devs played their game to feel the system they've put in place. My advice : reduce the cost for the upgrades, drasticly. Second problem: The minigames. At first, I loved those minigames when you'd have to play around ingredients to make a potion. The diagnostics system too. But after a while it becomes really old and feels repetitive. My advice: Make it more difficult over time or just remove the system after "mastering" the diagnostic of certain diseases. Third problem: Gathering ressources. Unlike Stardew valley, Potion permit has a specific zone where you collect wood/stone and your ingredients. The problem here is that everything is pregenerated to give a certain amount each day. Exemple, lets say for a quest you need to give x 10 daisies. You go fetch daisies but Uh-oh it only spawns 3 daisies per day and you dont have any cause you used you lasts ones to make a potion. So for the next 3 days you will have to come back to the same spot and gather the same daisies. Once again it is grindy and becomes old real fast to see the same layout eachtime. Same goes for wood and stone. My advice : Change the layout, spice it up a bit. Randomise some places and add some unexepected things. Make it less dull and repetitive. Fourth problem: The characters. Honnestly, I normally dont get too hung up on this normally. But the caracters are bit predictable in their respective story line. I think cracaters just need a bit more love and more complex stories. Its not a big issue as mentioned above but it does makes the game seems more "meh". My advice, flesh out a bit more your caracters. Conclusion: I haven't really played all those hours in the game (I AFK a lot) but i can safely say that I cannot recommend this game not even as a relaxing slow paced game. It lacks alot of things and It feels unifinished. But I think with the right amount of work and passion, this game could eventualy reach a status worthy to be compared to a Stardew Valley like.