So if Animal Crossing and Rune Factory had a baby with MySims graphics... that would be this game.

Basically, Animal Crossing on LSD.

For me Fae Farm was like a delicious looking cake that was tragically undercooked: The icing looks delightful, the flavors sound awesome, and it's decorated divinely. The problem comes when you really bite into the game and realise its core leaves a lot to be desired.

In a way it felt kind of… soulless? It’s like they took the look of Portal Knights and gave us a soulless watered down Wylde Flowers. It's weird, cause so much of what I love in a game is present, but it just fell flat somehow. I think it's because the NPCs are so damn flat. There's just absolutely nothing there, even the so called love interests. Compared to games like Wylde Flowers or Stardew Valley that are a fraction of the cost with NPCs that have actual depth and personality, it's hard not to feel like Fae Farm is disgustingly overpriced and soulless.

I think it's a truly beautiful game with an engaging score, but it could be so much more than it is. I adored the game, don't get me wrong, but it definitely feels like something is missing. I loved the art style, the many many characters, the ease of doing daily tasks, and the relationship with animals and people options. There's so much to discover and I like how the inventory/almanac gives hints at what's to find and what you're working towards. Enough side quests to keep you busy. The game design and art style was so good it kept me playing, but the characters were definitely lacking compared to other cozy games. Yet, to my pleasant surprise the game has so much to do that I found myself enjoying it despite the lackluster relationship factor.

It's cute without being childish and the map is amazingly simple but full. I really appreciated how mindless (for lack of a better word) it is. It's perfect for unwinding or playing while high. It's simple but still more engaging than Animal Crossing because time moves much faster in this game. Everything is folksy and adorable. They nailed the aesthetic. I can’t put into words how much just bouncing off the mushroom tops sparked joy in me. Half the fun of playing the game is basking in the cute. And it nails cuteness in a way I haven’t felt other games do half as well. I especially loved the critters and fey spirits.

I loved the slow pace. It reminded me of novels about plot-forward vs character-forward books. This is not a plot-forward game so for me I liked pretending I was a fairy just peacefully going about my day. I loved the quests! I loved the farming! I loved the animals! I loved how there’s no pressure. I loved that I could take my time building my farm and exploring the mine and interacting with locals. I personally loved that the market is open constantly and the NPCs are always at my disposal. It is a very independent game, you can keep interactions with the NPCs to a minimum if you want.

There is so much content and so many things to do. Breed all the flowers, catch all the critters, grow all the different types of crops... so I tried to make this game more about the journey than the destination. I loved the flower breeding. I loved that I could move the flowers/veggies around too after they had been planted, and being able to reclaim materials from things I've crafted was awesome. I also liked how accessible it is for little ones too. My daughter liked bouncing on the mushrooms, and swimming into the whirlpools and being shot up into the sky. And milking the Moos and patting the Chickoos.

My biggest gripe again is the complete lack of any kind of meaningful relationships or character depth. Soon after starting the game I realized the NPCs were all just shells with the same two lines by the second interaction. Like, not even two unique lines per character? The same two for everyone?? I can enjoy a cozy game where every interaction feels like talking to a cardboard cutout with a tape recorder playing behind it, but it really brings down the experience. Being asked for the 50th time, "what's it like to live on a farm? " or going on a date and then being told "thanks for clearing the miasma". Also the moaning. What the hell. Who approved the sound design? In particular the childish voice moaning. Why does Argyle, a love interest, sound like a moaning child?? What the actual fu*k.

I just could not care about the townspeople. Their dialogue barely changed and would reference the same thing you did a while ago over and over. I got married and my wife did nothing but wander my farm drinking tea and poking the ground with a stick. The dialogue didn't change. She never even came into the house. The NPCs are pretty much empty window dressing.

What also annoyed the hell out of me were the constant giggles and laughs of the NPC’s. Especially if you found like 5 blueprints back to back and all you hear is ''hahaaaa!''. And I know everyone complains about the dialogue, but when people said “they have bland repetitive dialogue”, I don’t think anyone emphasized that different characters use the same bland dialogue. Frankly that was almost insulting. I’m unfortunately used to these games not having a ton of different dialogue options but at least each character has their own, unique way of saying “spring is finally here” or whatever.

The game is still good, but I feel that fixing the character issues I mentioned would have really propelled it into 'great' territory for me. It is still very enjoyable, though, and I’m still glad I picked it up and learned that lack of meaningful dialogue isn’t a dealbreaker for me as long as I can stay busy, but I understand not everyone might feel the same. If romance, character complexity are important to you though, perhaps it’s best you wait on a sale.

7/10

Qui a dit que les fées ne savaient pas gérer une ferme ? Fae Farm nous offres un monde rempli d'intrigue et de magie avec une histoire assez sympa. La romance est au rendez-vous :D pour les ceux et celles qui ont de l'amour à donner <3.

72 Types of Flowers.
36 Types of Crops.
7 Types of soils.
4 Seasons.

I think there were other things in the game, but I wouldn't know because I spent most of my time starring at dormant seeds HOPING they would turn into the varietal I needed.