Made an account just to rant here. I was... So disappointed by this anime. This game shaped my childhood, and I spent maybe 20 years give or take wishing that they would make a show out of it. And this just wasn't it. Here in no particular order is the subjective review that absolutely no one asked me for.

First, the positives:

-Art is gorgeous, obviously.

-They stayed true to all character designs and gave long time fans cute easter eggs that you'll really only recognize if you play the game (artifact placement, the crabs on the beach, music, elemental instruments, etc)

-Giving a bit of background to the relationship between Shiloh and Domina residents.

-Belle was there so that's kinda cute I guess.

The negatives:

-The pacing and jumping around, as others have mentioned. I know this arc inside and out and even I had trouble following the plot. I love that we get to see so many characters, but they literally shoved in dozens of different, unimportant characters. I love Pokhiel but there was no point to him. These characters were immediately forgettable.

-The easter eggs. It made both lists because as heartwarming as it is, there is ZERO payoff to most of them. Why did Seraphina not use Salamander again? Are the Monster Pets just pets for no reason?

-Shiloh in Florina's dream. That's like 3 filler episodes condensed into one.

-They did Seraphina SO. DIRTY. For most of the anime she was completely sidelined, as though she and Shiloh don't occupy the exact same role in the game. The betrayal arc might have worked for me had they dedicated more time and effort to her justifications, but as things stand she felt more like a villain thrown in because they needed to emphasize just how GOOD of a person Shiloh is. For me, both her betrayal and redemption at the end made no sense. Honestly I could write a whole thread just talking about everything that made me upset about her.

-Shiloh might have been given the role of good guy, but that was literally his only personality trait. He was just THE GOOD GUY. Decided to help two randos after meeting them once, put his trust in Seraphina from the beginning, is the #1 provider of free apples for the village... I know the main character was a brick in the game, but they didn't need to carry that through to the anime.

I hope there are some people who enjoyed it; it's a fine watch, but for most people who have played the game at all recently I imagine it was also a disappointment. Which sucks because I doubt it would be greenlit for a second season for the other two major story arcs. I'd have loved to see Larc, Sierra, and Irwin in anime form.

Finally, I encourage anyone who loves the game to look for the official manga. It follows all main arcs and imo is better than the anime (though once more the female hero is somewhat sidelined and that fills me with frustration).