Fae Farm Review – Nintendo Switch, PC
If you’ve been like me and missing (and looking) for something to fill that Animal Crossing void that filled most of my pandemic, Fae Farm might be for you.
Fae Farm is the latest cosy farming sim game in a slew of releases trying to hold up to the likes of Animal Crossing and Stardew Valley.
In my opinion, it sort of tries to make its own path in the genre, and by doing so, it passes and fails on a few bits along the way. The overall art, style, score, and feel of the game is nothing short of dreamy and cosy after a long day at work, and the quality of life improvements it has over other games (Changing to different tools as the game realises you’ve moved from one resource to another, no input needed, decent fast travel and streamlined mining) do make this a promising release.
Farming, flowers, animal tending, fishing, mining, cooking, bug catching and crafting are all done quite well. I can see more skills being added and look forward to them.
Where Fae Farm falls most short is in the relationship and friendship building part of the game. While there are tons of NPCs roaming around, if they are a shop owner, or tend to a shop, you can’t advance your friendship with them.
This leaves around 7 NPCs to befriend and romance if that’s something you enjoy. There also needs to be an increase in dialogue options, I have heard the same exact line about the Mayor from everyone, and several times at that. You can chat to and gift the select NPCs but there are no dialogue options for you to choose, so it’s all just down to who you speak to first or most often.
Another small complaint is that in-game days are too short, so you struggle to feel productive, but if you are out and about you don’t have to rush back to bed or face a penalty. The game will automatically end the day and take you home, no loss to you.
Fae Farm has a bit of a steep price tag which I know is keeping people from it, but I have hope that there will be tons of additions and even more quality of life updates to the game, and that we see Fae Farm live as long Stardew Valley has. I hear somewhere along the line you might gain some wings…
Verdict: ✪✪✪ (Good)
✪ Poor (0-5) ✪✪ Mediocre (6-7) ✪✪✪ Good (8) ✪✪✪✪ Great (9) ✪✪✪✪✪ Must-play! (10)
