I played Fields of Mistria on day 1 of its EA, and even that early, you could tell it was going to be one of the best games in the genre. It's been a true joy to see how far it's come. The devs have really nailed it with this game. It's put together so well, and you can tell it was made with a lot of love by people who know the genre and understand what players want to see. I know my reviews are very long, but if you've waited until full release and you're still on the fence, hopefully some of the info below can help you. ♦ NPCS: The NPCs are one of the, if not the , most well developed set of characters you will find in any farming game. They all are distinct with different passions, dreams, and hobbies. They talk to each other, react to events, actually respect the work your character is putting into the town, gather to hang out, etc. The town feels lived in. A common criticism I’ve seen for this game is that the NPCs are flawless, too nice, boring, etc. To each their own, but I strongly disagree. They are not dark and messy. You won’t find alcoholics, bad parents, traumatized children, etc. But they absolutely have flaws. If you need high octane drama, these NPCs will not work for you. But I think Mistria really thrives by providing an experience that is primarily wholesome but still has depth. This helps set the game apart. ♦ ROMANCE: Setting aside how awesome the romanceables are themselves and just focusing on the mechanics of romance, Mistria honestly isn’t doing anything groundbreaking here. I don’t mean that as a criticism, just as an observation. You get heart events, and you can kiss characters you’re dating. You can go on dates, but although they’re cute, they’re just a very brief cut scene. There’s no jealousy, and even though you can marry only one, you can date however many you want. After marriage, they don’t help on the farm, which is fine. Personally, I’ve never wanted my in-game spouse to give up their passions and careers to farm with me. It’s really cute that the spouse will carry your baby around. I married Eiland, and all the dialogue is very sweet and cute. One nice thing that’s different is that you have some choice in setting your wedding day, and your spouse will ask you questions such as what color flowers you want. On the day of, you get a cut scene that unlocks wedding outfits but you can wear whatever you want; you don’t have to worry about outfits in advance. ♦ FESTIVALS AND EVENTS: Honestly, I think the seasonal festivals are a weaker point in the game. Don’t get me wrong, they are not bad . But they aren’t as full of activities as you might find in some other games in the genre. I do think the falling stars event is adorable and unique, especially since it has a romantic twist. But most are just a couple stalls to buy minimal things at, and some sort of contest that finishes very quickly. HOWEVER, the weekly events are where Mistria shines. Every Friday, the town gathers at the tavern and you get to see various activities unfold. Every Saturday, vendors show up in the town square for a market. Later on, you’ll unlock more festival vendors and a couple of them will give you tasks to complete to unlock new items. So the monthly festivals? Meh. But the weekly events? They really help the game stand out and are fantastic. ♦ MINING AND COMBAT: If you hate combat and try to avoid it in farm sims, this game might not work for you. There is combat everywhere in the mines and you will need to complete the mines to progress the story and unlock important things like cosmetics, furniture, recipes, and even the engagement ring. If you do like combat in your farm sims, you’ll probably enjoy it here. There’s a large variety of monsters and variations in how they will attack you. This game will require you to spend a lot of time in the mines, but they make sure it stays interesting with complex combat and light puzzles, as well as lots of loot to discover. ♦ FARMING: The farming here is pretty simple. There’s a good variety of crops to choose from, but they will only ever produce one level of quality (they aren’t tiered). You have a shovel, which will help you dig out dirt, and then you use a hoe to make a spot to plant in. This is a pretty cool system, because your farm is actually super green and grassy, and the shovel will help you carve out natural paths, and they won’t automatically disappear after a set time. ♦ OTHER ACTIVITIES: The fishing and bug catching is super simple, which I appreciate. I dislike most fishing mini games, and this one is just a simple click to catch. I also really appreciate that this game takes it easy on the crafting. You won’t need five trillion machines to craft with. There’s one for cooking, one for ores/weapons, one for crafting furniture, and you use the wind mill to process food stuff. There’s not a big emphasis on processing crops here. Like yeah you can cook, but there’s no drying/jamming/preserving anything. I actually really enjoy having a limited amount of crafting machines, and while there’s still a part of me what wishes I could make juices and jams and all that, it’s not a big deal. I can find that in plenty of other games. ♦ MAGIC: There are a handful of useful spells you’ll unlock as the story progresses, that will help you with things on the farm, or in the mines. Honestly, it’s not a super deep or unique magic system. There’s not a ton of spells, you’re not brewing potions or anything, and you just have an average mana bar. The biggest aspect of the magic system is essence, which is something you gather from doing everyday activities. This can be used to get skill perks, most of which are actually really good, and it can be used to fuel things like sprinklers once those are unlocked. ♦ CUSTOMIZATION AND DECORATING: Character customization in this game is fantastic. You can set pronouns, and change your name at any time. There’s only one body type, but on a pixel character I don’t think that matters much. There are a lot of hair styles and clothing to unlock through a lot of different methods. And one of the best parts is that you can have several saved outfits. You can change your outfit at any time in the menu. Decorating is also decent, and there’s a lot of cute stuff. There are also a lot of ways to unlock new decor, and the crafting menu is easy to navigate and find items but type or sets. I really do wish there was more, because I'm greedy, but I also think that in time, modding will catch up and offer more options. ♦ RANCHING: I think ranching is the only big gripe I have with this game. It drives me up the wall. And it all comes down to a couple things: slow relationship gain, and relationship decay. I hate relationship decay in any game, but it’s particularly annoying with farm animals, especially since upkeep can be so time consuming. I finally caved and installed a mod to let me turn off the relationship decay, because it was really frustrating. It’s literally the only mod I’ve bothered with, because I love everything else. All that being said, the animal designs here are my favorite in any farm sim I’ve played, and I love that you can breed for so many color options, and use bigger animals as mounts. ♦ QUALITY OF LIFE: The QoL in this game is PHENOMINAL. Endless watering can, unlockable progression to turn off debris spawning on your farm (eventually, anyway), jumping and swimming, crafting from storage, day length options, etc. I really think you’d be hard pressed to find a farming sim with better QoL that doesn’t require modding to make it good. I do wish there was better fast travel, but I really can’t think of many other ways QoL is lacking here. If you made it all the way through that, congrats. Please accept this gold star: ⭐