Others - Completed - Living with an Elf -A Cozy Forest Retreat- [v1.0.6] [Yasaniki]

Living with an Elf is one of the most wholesome-ass games I’ve played, offering a heartwarming romance with a simple but serviceable gameplay loop. While it starts strong with its cozy atmosphere and relaxing tone, it unfortunately becomes repetitive and grind-heavy later on.

Graphics
The visuals are simple but charming. It has a soft, cozy art style that fits the wholesome tone. Character designs are cute and appealing, though the animations in conversations are fairly limited.

Gameplay
The gameplay revolves around scavenging for materials and brewing potions, both of which you’ll be doing a LOT to progress the story and unlock new events. While these mechanics are easy to understand, they quickly become mind-numbing due to how often you need to repeat them. Potion brewing in particular is a major grind-fest, nearly every progression point or new scene towards mid-late game requires crafting, leading to a frustrating amount of grind.

Like Yasaniki’s previous games, this game’s biggest weakness is the pacing of its stat and item requirements. Even though it’s meant to feel like a slow-burn romance, the repetition undermines that. I strongly recommend using cheats and the unofficial walk-through by Alterunic to save yourself the tedious repetition.

The game also suffers from several bugs, some of which can even soft-lock your progress. Thankfully, there are community fixes available (By Alterunic and the UI mod by Snt04) that make the experience much smoother.

Story
You play as a human apothecary living alongside Lucia, an elf girl you quickly form a bond with. While the relationship development happens quite suddenly (with a relationship forming after only a week or two) it’s undeniably sweet once it gets going. The chemistry between the two is charming and the story’s wholesome tone makes it a relaxing experience for anyone looking for a lighthearted dating sim without any NTR elements.

That said, the narrative doesn’t offer much depth beyond the main romance and there isn’t much else to do once you’ve reached the end of their story. Still, for those who appreciate a pure, feel-good romance between two people, this delivers on that.

NSFW Content
The NSFW content complements the romantic tone well, it’s tender rather than explicit (although there are some rougher scenes which are optional), fitting the wholesome dynamic between the characters. The scenes are spaced out but feel more emotionally grounded and realistic when you get to them.

My Verdict
Despite the repetitive gameplay and technical hiccups, Living with an Elf manages to tell a genuinely heartwarming story. If you can overlook the grind and make use of community fixes, it’s an enjoyable experience for anyone who enjoys a soppy, heart-felt romance (like myself!).

i was confused because i couldn't unlock the h-scenes despite grinding the game for 2 hours. then i came across different patches mentioned in this thread. i tried every patch but in the end i couldn't unlock the h-scenes.

3.6/5
good well above average especially since these are beyond massively rare and that includes being 90% wholesome (not including 2 optional scenes that you have to intentional choose)

-.4
Too much grind never bothered maxing my alchemy until I decided to cheat $ since at post game you Finally get good training though massively pricey (stopped at like 75 before that) and only reached think 41 in her cooking since that a really massive grind and only 2x/food item has a text then it just do it 300x for tiny xp (with way way to late minor xp booster + quality alchemy item you can make and add) --
edit decided to cheat cooking post game also don't think there a bonus scene or anything though just the 2talks/new food item which are decent

-1
There is nothing outstanding about it anywhere;
there are ones with better but they are again massively rare so its not a big deal and this only has the fact 99% of it is just a bit of grind and waiting No having to look for a guide or do a bunch of tricks or grind like no grinder has ever grinded or play 100+ hours etc...

+2
its beyond rare in basically every way and system/mechanic and that includes wholesomeness

+1
Has a decent choose how you want to react during sex and then she maybe will talk about it after
-though could really use better transitions and ideally more acknowledging things and maybe for first times talks have that happen morning of if she fell asleep from to much sex instead of talk

+.5
works great no issues

Well, the game is entertaining. Very peaceful but beautiful. The scenes and the arts are incredible
One rests from so much NTR, corruption and harems.
I liked the sex scenes and the drawings. Besides, the mechanics are fine.
Give him a chance

it's pretty good. i enjoyed the peacefulness that it has. kind of resless with the (i love you) but a good experciance nonetheless. plus a lovely game about vanilla love is a good change of pace rather then the corruption games and harem games.

First, I like to express my thanks for the few kind souls from this thread who provided the patch for this game to correct the errors of the initial release.
Please look into the details of the patch on page 8. Without the patch although the game is playable, it will be a grind hell and took 90% of the fun out of the game.

Synopsis: 3/5
A downtrodden apothecarist (protag kun) who live a lonely and sadden life in the forest was suddenly visited by Truck-kun... opps sorry I mean Lucia the heroine of the elven race. After Lucia was provided food and shelter for the night, she tell protag kun that she is tired from her travelling and ask whether she can stay at his place for a while. Lonely protag kun was delighted with the development and readily agree on the arrangement. And that's where the story start.
Why Lucia appear in the 1st place? Can protag kun shape up his life to win the affection from the heroine? Can Lucia and protag kun can eventually reach a happy ending? I guess we are about to find out. Overall this is a lovey dovely story that you can play and experience the everyday love life for the couple. Although not an epic love story, its well written and well translated.

Gameplay: 4/5
This game essentially is a VN trainer, in which you train Lucia from an innocent elf girl to your personal cum dump (a cum dump you love dearly).
There is a little bit of a grind in the beginning, but not to a point as off putting. I am actually impress for the mechanisms that are introduce through out the story to easy the grinding to a minimal towards the story end. The commission programs, fairy hunting and inn episodes are also some of the very nice touches to spice up the game from the normal grinding.

CGs and graphic: 3/5
No animations. Only a handful of CGs, not specifically well drawn, but not repulsive either. Although simple, the CGs do enhance the homeliness of the heroine, and provide a pleasant feel to the game.

Fetishes: 4/5
Make no mistake this is a lovey dovely game. No NTR, no gangbang, no tentacles, no raping, heck ... not even anal as far as i can tell. But as lovey dovely game concern is very well written and you can feel the love between the heroine and protag kun develops.
PS: there are 2 IMAGINARY scenarios that the couple can participate in that involves violence and raping which i did not choose to join.

Overall: 3.5/5