Fae Farm Review (B Unit)
The Good:
- The world looks pretty nice. Its refreshing in a genre dominated by samey pixel art to get vibrant 3D in game graphics.
- The movement is very fluid and allows for a lot of freedom. The first thing I did after getting control of my character was jumping into the ocean. I expected to get teleported back to the shoreline but no, you can go swimming, where upon I got sucked into a whirlpool and shot into the sky, landing on top of a nearby house. This freedom of movement is one of the most enjoyable things about this game.
- You don't need to lug around all your tools and switch to each one manually. In this game your tools are always on hand and the game will automatically switch to the tool required to perform the job for the thing you are standing in front of.
- Its becoming increasingly common these days but you can date any of the romanceable townsfolk, regardless of your characters gender.
- The addicting game play that comes with any farm / life sim. In here I would lump fishing, critter collecting, harvesting and things of that nature - nothing revolutionary but completely fine.
The Mixed:
- The game offers lots of ways to decorate your house but you there are some limitations on what you can do, namely you cannot alter the position of your house at all and the area closest to your house is off limits, so you can't build a path going to your door for example. You also acquire a second almost identical farm just steps away from your first farm was odd to me. It made the game less comfy to me, if that makes sense. Feels like some sort of multiplayer idea.
- I like that the game has combat but its very basic. You have one type of weapon, a staff that you use more like a club 95% of the time. It has a 3 hit combo and you just whack enemies until they disappear. Unless you are asleep at the keyboard you will never be in any danger of being defeated. I do like some of the enemy designs though.
- The world is pretty small. It makes getting to where you want to go a breeze but may feel confining after spending many hours with the game.
- Your bag space is pretty small, even at max upgrade level. Thankfully you have limitless storage at your farm.
- You have a mana bar which is used to cast spells and do area of effect farming actions but it only replenishes by drinking mana potions. It discourages the player from using these features. It would feel better if it regenerated slowly over time.
- The game is stingy with outfits until quite a ways into the game.
The Bad:
- Everyone looks vaguely the same due to the quite limited character creation options. Male, female, it doesnt matter. EVERYONE has the same featureless potato head, 1 of 4 bodies (2 vaguely feminine, the others masculine), no nose, and a smiley mouth. The only area where you get some variety are the eyes and their hair / choice of headwear.
- I get the game is going for a lighter tone but the NPCs are soulless, oppressively inoffensive robots. After making my first character and playing for just a few minutes, one of the town merchants said they hadnt seen me in a long time. Hello, I just arrived to your island! And presumably I will be speaking with you often! Why are you saying this? This sets the stage as to what to expect from these townspeople. The ONLY way to get more than a couple lines of throwaway dialogue out of these NPCs is to go on "dates" with them, of which you can date about a dozen or so of all the NPCs. I use quotation marks because they are rarely romantic at all and just a way for the NPC to actually tell your more about themselves, which should be standard for all the NPCs.
- The social aspect as a whole is poor. Festivals are little more than a way to buy some limited time items because NPCs dont actually do anything or care. Shopkeepers will NEVER move from their designated locations - they may as well be vending machines. NPCs barely acknowledge each others existence and I dont think ever actually talk to each other, just to you the player. You can increase relationship levels with NPCs but these don't actually do anything, except if the person is a love interest, in which case you can eventually marry them where they can just be an expensive decoration for your farm. Honestly I could go on and on about this aspect which is such a crucial part to keep the player immersed and subsequently spend more time in the world the developers crafted.
- The main story is completely uninteresting. It is a lifesim farming game so I expected that going in but expectations were not subverted.
- There is no farm helper system here - you must do everything yourself. And if you plan to make full use of both farms the game throws at you, it can feel like a chore. And no your spouse wont help - they are the definition of trophy wife / husband and utterly useless.
I am going to keep my eye on this game for any major updates - I think a lot of this can be fixed and if it does I will change my review to Positive. That said, I don't regret my purchase and its decent enough in its current state if you just want to grow vegetables with some fun bouncy movement but its hard to recommend over something like My Time at Sandrock or Sun Haven