The feeling that Island Sanctuary is missing: nurturing rather than exploiting
I haven't played any of the other farming-based games that Island Sanctuary is usually compared to, but this week I picked up a cute game called "Summer in Mara" which is a crafting-focused RPG and the core of it is an island base that is not unlike Island Sanctuary in its basic goals and scope. You have a vegetable garden, animal pens and a wider island where you can cut down trees for wood and mine for stone and metals.
However, it has one big ingredient that Island Sanctuary is lacking, which is that you're not just endlessly taking the island resources but also replenishing them. One of the earliest lessons is that you can't just cut down trees but also have to plant seeds to replace them, and leave offerings for the mountain spirits.
In addition to the instant feeling that you're nurturing the island rather than endlessly exploiting it, it gives you a feeling of stewardship and connection to it – "I planted that forest". And you choose to grow the resources that you need in an arrangement that suits you but also that looks pleasing, and this gameplay loop can go on for quite some time.
It's so much the opposite of IS's dreadful mammets with their "cut down the trees and exploit all the nature!" attitude, and that basic change makes the whole thing so much more satisfying.
An additional thing is that in Mara the items you are crafting directly relate to the wider story of the game, usually requests from other characters. I feel like this is something that could have been achieved in FFXIV – receive more messages and requests from other characters so you're constructing things for them, not this endless arbitrary list of creations for unknown buyers. At very least, have some key quests where people ask you to make something special for them, rather than just turning up to say hi and having no further connection to the plot.
TL;DR I went into Island Sanctuary with no expectations of what it should be, but it feels wrong, and this other game feels like it had the same basic idea and did it right.
