Fae Farm is our newest addition to the comfortable recreation farming simulation style, and sure, it’s definitely a recreation with each farming and fae! The second recreation of studio Phoenix Labs, Fae Farm goals to convey one thing totally different to the desk of farming simulation. To be fairly trustworthy, I’m shocked nobody has tried to place a fae twist on a farming recreation already. It seems like an actual missed alternative being corrected simply now. So does Fae Farm ship an entire new magical expertise? Let’s flutter into the Fae Farm evaluate.
Fae Farm Evaluation: A sprightly introduction to a energetic world
Like in lots of video games of this style, opening the sport and beginning your first save brings you to the customization display. Fae Farm‘s customization is blended for me. There are some nice accessibility choices. You possibly can select from 4 physique sorts, use masculine or female voices with out limitations, give your self a hijab, and select your pronouns between he/him, she/her, or they/them. There’s additionally some neat facial paint marking choices, and a very good unfold of colours to select from. On the flipside, nonetheless, you solely get 4 eye and eyebrow choices and a considerably restricted selection of hairs.
The artwork fashion of Fae Farm is blended as nicely. I believe it’s cute, the bodily surroundings is nice, it’s positively its personal fashion. It’s not unhealthy by any means, however the characters look higher within the paintings than as 3D fashions. It feels prefer it leaves some issues to be desired.
Fae Farm doesn’t maintain any surprises from the forefront about what sort of recreation it’s. It’s a farming simulator with magical parts. It’s very Stardew Valley like, with romanceable NPCs, seasons, festivals, and dungeons to discover. You’ll be constructing furnishings, crafting provides, catching critters, the works. You’ll additionally get to forged spells, which is a neat little addition to face other than its cousins and siblings.
Fae Farm Gameplay and mechanics evaluate: A farming sim is a farming sim, however with magic too
Total, Fae Farm has competent mechanics for its style. You possibly can transfer round, fish, catch bugs, craft, mine and harvest, so on. There are just a few comfort options I particularly like concerning the recreation. For one, every of the same old tools- pickax, axe, scythe, watering can, etc- are all condensed into one button that adjustments routinely primarily based on what your mouse is concentrating on. The one two instruments you’ll anticipate to be a part of that rotation which can be as a substitute their very own button is the fishing pole and the bug internet. This is sensible, as you may’t hover your mouse over critters like a tile.
I additionally like that when your well being, mana, and power bars get low, the sport will immediate you to press 1 to eat one thing in your stock to get these bars again up. Unbelievable function concept that saves plenty of the inconvenience of manually opening your stock to eat an merchandise. The keybinds and interfacing with the storage and crafting menu are extra clunky with muscle reminiscence. The button to pick out what number of to craft is identical because the affirmation button, so I maintain clicking cancel beneath it on accident. I’ve to maintain staring on the display to recollect which keyboard button will auto transport into storage as a result of it’s not proper click on.
The motion on this recreation may be very satisfying to me. Your character runs round with an brisk bounce of their step which is pleasant to observe. You possibly can simply dive out and in of water and soar on and off cliffs. It’s principally easy in a manner you may get a really feel for and I really like diving out of the water onto land like some dolphin remodeling into an individual in midair.
I particularly take pleasure in catching critters. The bees and frogs are so cute I can’t resist attempting to nab each one with my internet. It’s a small element, however I additionally take pleasure in that crafting stations have a bit of present field when you’ve got supplies prepared. It’s a very good reminder to seize your stuff introduced in a really cute manner. One of many extra distinctive mechanics that units it other than different farming simulators is the seasons have a cold and warm mechanic. If it’s too scorching in the summertime, you want to use cooling drinks or else you’ll drain power extra simply and have to cease regularly. That’s a enjoyable integration of realism and recreation mechanics that feels applicable for a farming recreation.
The map and navigation usually are not my favourite, however not the worst. The map is sufficiently small you can typically get a really feel for the place issues are with out checking the map continually, however isn’t detailed. It solely tells you what space you’re in, not exactly the place you’re. This implies you’ll be pinning targets and teleporting as a extra environment friendly technique of determining the place to go. I do love the purple mushrooms littered by way of the map you can bounce on to climb up a stage. These are an amazing addition to make getting round simple and really satisfying to make use of.
I like dungeon exploring in farming simulators, so the sport’s first dungeon space, the Saltwater Mines, had been a spotlight for me. The enemies acquired progressively extra overwhelming as I ventured down, making it related to replenish on provides in a manner that felt pure. But in comparison with say, Stardew Valley, it nonetheless feels missing. All of the rooms are simply rooms with a bunch of rocks to mine in them and a few enemies. They don’t assist you to discover a extra unfold out and winding room to seek out the change and exit. They’re simply circles. It seems like much more will be finished with this than what we get.
Nonetheless, the Dungeon Seals are an amazing mechanic. As you progress the flooring, you craft seals made out of an increasing number of complicated supplies to make every room teleportable to sooner or later. This makes it simple to avoid wasting your development, and you can even do it with spots across the total map.
Total, the gameplay loop is respectable. At just a few factors I ran out of issues to do for the day, however it layers on totally different quests and mechanics to do because the day goes on fairly nicely that you just received’t be left standing round an excessive amount of.
The fight is strictly what it ought to be for this type of recreation. It’s minimalistic and easy, however the spells add one other layer that makes for a bit extra pleasure. I simply suppose total the sport is simply too sluggish to get into its most fun elements. Generally I used to be additionally left confused on what to do subsequent as a result of the search logs don’t clarify in sufficient element precisely learn how to obtain the following goal.
Story: A selection customer to the island of fae
Fae Farm opens in a really enjoyable and colourful collection of artworks with an accompanying rhyming poem. It tells the story of an individual who finds a message in a bottle telling them of a distant island in want. This spurs the protagonist to set sail and discover this land, solely to have their boat destroyed by a whirlpool. But getting alongside by simply the wreckage, as soon as the storm clears they discover themselves simply off the coat of the island they’re searching for, and so make their strategy to security. These artworks proceed to occur throughout essential story beats, they usually’re fantastic to take a look at.
From right here, it’s a really commonplace farming simulation recreation premise. The mayor welcomes you to the isle of Azoria and offers you a house to get began in. You meet the villagers, do duties for them, and begin to make associates. There’s some ominous intrigue occurring like the very fact the island is trapped by persistent whirlpools and you may’t go away, or the very fact there are a bunch of darkish thorny vines and patches of darkish fog across the place so that you can take away.
There’s no trace or point out of precise fae till you’re a number of hours into the sport, and it’s solely after that the story actually will get began. Till then, you’re simply type of going by way of the everyday gameplay setup story motions for a farming simulator. For a recreation referred to as Fae Farm, I discovered myself asking at a number of factors, ‘the place are the fae?’.
Like mentioned earlier than, I believe the sport’s a bit too slowly paced. There ought to be much more hints and traces of fae close to the start for gamers to be looking forward to. The meat of the sport is considerably extra thrilling, but when it takes that lengthy to get into the thrilling stuff, it could do nicely to do extra with the premise of a magical fae island with out overwhelming the participant.
Characters
The characters definitely have a bit of popout of character and are all fairly pleasant. Those that stand out to me are the Mayor Merritt, whose manner of standing round watching you full duties in the course of the tutorial and being very invested in your progress made me suppose she had an ulterior motive, and the Wizard Alaric, whose character merely caught out for being extra awkward. I additionally respect how the NPCs are so assorted in skintones that nobody vary stands proud as the bulk. There’s additionally a personality in a wheelchair, which is a pleasant contact.
The fae characters are extra memorable for apparent causes. They’ve acquired extra selection and extra occurring with very nice designs for a few of them, and I discovered them very charming. Past that, there’s not a lot I can say concerning the characters. They work for the kind of recreation they’re in, and we get to find out about some relationships between the 2. There’s additionally a number of you may romance, together with a few of the fae. Now we’re speaking.
Fae Farm Evaluation: Strong basis, however not fairly as magical because it may very well be
In my trustworthy evaluate, I’d be mendacity if I mentioned I wasn’t mildly disillusioned with Fae Farm in apply as in comparison with my expectations. That doesn’t imply it’s a foul recreation, nor does it really feel as missing as Palia, however it nonetheless doesn’t really feel like every part it ought to be. Is it price 60 {dollars}? Not within the slightest. Is it well worth the adjusted 40 {dollars}? Debatable. Personally it feels extra like a 20 greenback recreation to me.
Nonetheless, in evaluate, Fae Farm is an honest sufficient recreation with some very strong concepts. When you preferred Stardew Valley, you’ll discover familiarity with Fae Farm. It’s foremost downside is the sport wasn’t that invigorating till a number of hours in, and I actually really feel like this kills plenty of its potential momentum. It’s not a recreation I really feel too compelled to play, a minimum of on my own. But it surely’s attempting to do one thing a bit of totally different, and if that totally different is your form of totally different, it might be price getting previous that preliminary grind to discover the deeper and extra magical secrets and techniques of the island.