Merchants of Rosewall Is A Management Sim That Can’t Quite Pick What It Wants To Be
Merchants of Rosewall is a shop management sim with a dark mystery at its center. Players are sent to the town with a shop in place and stipend. The government expects you to make a profit though. On top of everything else, an inspector will stop in to check on progress. Yet the game also wants to be cozy, but that’s mostly aesthetics.
The management part is optional, and also easy to get a hang of. There is some planning involved since making anything takes time. This can lead to missing deadlines, which leads to losing customers. Even if the right things are made in time, what people buy seems arbitrary. There is some variety in which ingredients are needed as crafters level up.
As the managers, visiting the market adds another layer of potential annoyance. It’s necessary to visit multiple stalls frequently while dealing with price fluctuations. The narrative could be compelling but seems shoved in at odd times. Magical orbs the player character ingests slowly reveal the town’s past. Players can make choices but when returning to the shop aspect, it feels unimportant.
Certain mechanics are more of a headache than fun. That being said, graphically and musically Merchants of Rosewall compliment each other well. Players do get engaging goals. It just ultimately feels like two games instead of one cohesive product. Both parts can be enjoyed. It’s just glaringly obvious when moving from the management sim to cozy, narrative game.
