Fields of Mistria

I haven't been this addicted to a game in a long time. I'm currently halfway through year two and I've sunk 50 hours into Fields of Mistria and I'm fairly certain it hasn't even been two weeks. I did hear about this game awhile ago but dismissed it as yet another Stardew Valley clone (yes, I know), and also because I thought I was done with farming games (haha...) but once I started playing, I realized that I really, really enjoy the pastel aesthetics and fantasy setting of FoM. This game has completely recaptured the magic of Stardew Valley for me (which I also sank many hours into in the past) and made it even better. I'm glad I picked it up just a couple weeks before 1.0 so I don't have to wait long to get all the content! (Just to be clear, there is a ton of content in the game already; I just fear that with the way I've been playing this game like it's my second job, I'll reach the end of the main storyline soon.) I love all the characters, the pixel art is beautiful, the animals are especially adorable, and there's so much to do and collect. Just like SDV, I can't believe this game is so affordable. If I were to be critical of something, it's that the dating mechanic is kind of disappointing. I was looking forward to it when I first unlocked it, but the "dates" are honestly lackluster. A few lines of new dialogue for each dateable character and a photocard with custom art (instead of just their usual sprite slapped on top of a background; hand drawn in the anime style that's used for promo art would be AMAZING) would seriously go a long way into making it more worthwhile to collect all the dates. (Oh, and maybe some kind of pity system for the animal breeding because I've just gotten my fifth pink cow instead of the blue one I need...) Anyway, I'm excited for 1.0 and beyond. I hope the dev team will continue to support this game for a long time because I'd love to keep playing it!