[b]THIS[/b] is the new gold standard for cozy games/farming sims.
TLDR: if you like cosy games/farming sims, you'll like this, especially if you don't play games with mods.
[h3]General thoughts[/h3]
I bought this game on sale during the very end of its early access run, but didn't play until the 1.0 release. I've basically played it nonstop since 1.0. I suspected that I would like it, but I didn't expect it to be the best "farming sim" I've ever played. I put "farming sim" in quotations, because the fun is mostly [b]not[/b] in the farming, but everything else. The mines, the main story, the overall mechanics... Even though many things have been done before, many haven't. And even the mechanics that have been used in other games are refined to a very high degree.
For being this type of game, the characters are actually interesting, and for the first time ever, I had a hard time deciding who to marry in a game (and I would call all options that were applicable to me [i]viable[/i], which has [i]never[/i] been the case before). Another first, it feels like, is the fact that the game has an actual [i]main story[/i], not just "make the town grow" or "complete the museum". Even though both of those things are in this game, I consider them side plots. So yes, this game has multiple large plots for you to follow, but it can still be as open ended as you want!
Let's quickly compare it to "the big indie farming sim": Stardew Valley. I [b]vastly[/b] prefer this game. In fact, it's not even close. I played Stardew Valley earlier this year, got married, ended year 1 and that's it. That's how far I made it back when it was originally released, too. Even though it has some good points, it just feels a bit... shallow, to me. Outdated, at this point too (which is ironic, since it undoubtedly inspired [i]this[/i] game and so many others). And frankly, it didn't feel very fun, either. Fields of Mistria, though? For so many hours in the beginning, I found myself thinking "I'm having so much fun now!" It was a combination of the mechanics, the polish, the world building... Everything, really. It does everything that Stardew Valley and other farming sims do, but in my opinion, better. And let me be perfectly clear: I'm talking about the vanilla game. I don't play games with mods and don't factor that into how enjoyable a game is. And this game is very enjoyable to play vanilla, in the way the developers designed it.
I've played quite a few farming sims, but this is the only one I can remember where I haven't completed everything that felt important enough (main story, museums, getting married, etc) during year one.
[h3]The ugly[/h3]
Of course, it isn't a perfect game. It almost feels like it, up until the point where you have completed the main story and are mostly grinding for the museum and Stillwell. I have 100% the Steam achievements (one of only 3 games I've ever done that for. I'm not an achievement completionist in general, but I felt most of the time that it was worth it for this game) and that was a [i]pain[/i]. The issues mostly stem from RNG, particularly artifacts not spawning. The game could greatly benefit from a hidden mechanic that makes it more likely for rare things to appear when you have completed 80%+ of a collection in the museum. I had to savescum for several real life hours or in other ways cheese the game to complete: [spoiler]the mist artifact set, the ritual artifact set, the fish trap artifact set, the honey set[/spoiler] [spoiler](didn't have legendary honey, and the fairy bees refused to spawn. Also had to sleep through most of summer year 3 just to reach fall, the [i]only[/i] time when you can get legendary bees! So if you don't know that you need those fairy bees during year 1 or 2, you're in trouble).[/spoiler] If I hadn't savescummed the mist artifact set, it would have taken at least an entire in-game season to complete it.
Also, if you play long enough, there are no more group interactions at the inn during friday nights, which is a big shame. In general, the characters lose most of their charm, especially your spouse, when their lines keep being repeated. So, increasing the spawn rate of rare things would shorten the game and help save the illusion that the characters are actual characters and not just code repeating the same lines over and over. It would of course also make it [i]way[/i] less frustrating. Because now, when I've gotten the final achievement, I'm very beat. I wouldn't even bother to attempt with completing the museum on a new playthrough after this toil. It was fun at first, of course, but it was only pure stubbornness that brought me to the end.
Additionally, in my opinion, Stillwell needed to appear much earlier in the game. [spoiler]Swap when Stillwell and Talifferro join, and it's much more reasonable. But even then, it feels too late to add a quest-heavy NPC so late in the game.[/spoiler]
[h3]Pros and cons[/h3]
[b]Pros[/b]
-Beautiful art, great character designs (mostly)
-A game world and setting that doesn't feel overused in the genre
-Actually interesting characters that feel like they contribute to the town and game world (unless you play for too long)
-Fun general gameplay loop
-Has an actual main story and a few important side stories too
-New mechanics and functions get added for a long time, helping the game feel fresh for 50+ hours
-Nice sound effects and music
-Unless you're a completionist, there's no need for any external wikis or similar. The game is really good at teaching you as you go
-[i]So much customization[/i] for your house and farm
-The best wedding ceremony-stuff in any farming sim I've played
[b]Cons[/b]
-The endgame is [i]very[/i] grindy, and not fun
-Sudden lag spikes. They became fewer with more updates, though
-Too few unique group meetings during Friday nights at the inn
-The characters (especially your spouse) start feeling very shallow after playing more than one or two seasons after getting married
-Fairy bees can block the museum completion for a long time if you don't know that they're the only way of getting legendary honey (something you might never figure out without using a wiki or you might discover it very late in the game)
-Spawn rates, especially for artifacts
-Stillwell
-Personally, I'm not that big a fan of the "modern" customization options for the player character, or Valen's character design, since they don't really fit the overall fantasy theme
[h3]Is it worth it?[/h3]
The game itself, for any price (even full)?
[b]Yes[/b]
Completing everything, especially for all of the Steam achievements?
[b]No[/b]
