The Farmer's Story of Slow Life is a game that honestly is going to appeal to a very specific sort of person. The problem is, that person probably has already bought Stardew Valley or a game in the Harvest Moon series, both of which are better games.

I don't want to sound too negative here. The game itself is perfectly fine. In fact, I think it looks better than Stardew Valley. I feel like that retro pixel art style is overdone, and adds nothing to a game in most cases. Farmer's Story absolutely obliterates Stardew graphically, with a ton of very attractive sprites. The music is another case where it's blowing pretty much any other game completely out of the water. The soundtrack is delightful and adds to the charm of the game. The game also tells you the title and composer of each track, which is another nice touch.

Otherwise, though, it's just the same thing that you've done a million times. Collect raw materials to make tools, food, etc. Use those tools to make more complex items. Put various raw materials and items into a box that auto-sells your products for you. You've done everything here that you've done before in other titles. Unless this is your first time taking the plunge on this style of game, you're not going to see anything new. If you don't like this style of game, there's nothing here that's going to convert you into a fan.

There's also the matter of translations – while the English translation is generally competent, the words aren't formatted properly in the text box. It's a minor pet peeve in the grand scheme of things, but it absolutely drives me nuts to re-read things because a word cut off awkwardly on a line break. You also have to manage both fatigue AND hunger which also feels needlessly punitive and designed to draw things out, rather than to serve any other purpose. It's frustrating, annoying, and honestly, I hated this mechanic to an extreme level.

I want to be clear: this game is NOT BAD. It's entirely competent. It's just that this subgenre has been done SO much better that Farmer's Story feels rather pointless. It adds nothing to the genre. It does nothing you haven't seen a dozen times before. Honestly, asking $25 USD is a lot for this. I'm giving it a recommendation, but it comes with the huge caveat of “only buy this if you're aching for a new IP”. If you haven't burned yourself out on the amazing Stardew Valley, just keep playing that.

I sort of wish there was sort of a neutral review for games like this. The art style is beautiful and I'm really interested in the game play, I think there is a lot that can be done here

My biggest issue is probably with the lack of direction. I got really frustrated at the beginning because I couldn't work out how to create a saw. The game simply tells me to make some planks and blocks and to check the recipe in the menu. It makes it hard to know where to go.

I would love to play more, and I'm really happy with the recent updates fixing the text, because that did drive me insane! I think there is a lot of promise in this game and I think a little more of a tutorial at the beginning would definitely help

I'm going to check that I recommend the game for now, because I don't think this is something people should avoid playing, but I definitely think there could be a lot of improvements for an easier play through

This is a nice homage to harvest moon with a fun cooking system added to give you ways to make money and unlock in-game prizes. The soundtrack is phenomenal, with all tracks being named and credited in-game, and an in-game music player accessible from the menu.

I was able to 100% complete the game in about 15 hours (Steam didn't record the first bit of my playtime.) This equated to just shy of 6 seasons of in-game time, collecting/making all recipes, and getting the official roll-credits ending.

Familiar concept, relaxing gameplay and lovely execution that didn't outstay its welcome :)

While the game shows some promise it has a horrible control interface and needlessly awkward interactions. I don't need to be told all the information about the quest (again) when I want to turn in the items, putting items into the shipping bin one by one is irritating and whoever decided that coal and iron should be stored in the refrigerator has some serious issues.

Get lost in another world in this captivating and beautifully designed JRPG style farming simulation game that is certain to have you hooked and playing for hours. Worth hours of game play.