I bought this game as premium sorely because FS22 was a nice game, for me.. As it was my first interaction with FS series. Later i learned about their franchise and how this idea works. Business is business, no problems, but if something is valued in certain point over more important, from the consumers perspective, because of greedy approach, then it is not acceptable. Maybe it was the mission all along, who knows.

The money they get from brands are far greater thanks to the popularity of the game. Their focus is obviously to get out as much content as possible and then fix it as they go. They dont have time, or willingness, to test, nor analyze things, because content is out, public is testing, problems can be fixed on the fly, fulfilment for brands is delivered. Money coming in from brand and also from sales = profit. All good. Product is out, problems can be fixed later.

As for FS25, i understand there might be problems in the start but the game was literally unplayable, unstable and full of errors. On a high end PC it was lagging, stuttering, freezing and crashing from left to right. From a publisher like that, who has years of knowledge and quite frankly the funds, it is not acceptable to even release such a broken game. But why? Well, need to go for the first point again. Its like Intel to release 5% improved CPU every year, just because well, gotta fill those orders for OEM's who want to build "super improved" laptop every year. In this instance, still, the improvement was -50% in some areas. Physics is crap (games which have no direct connection to ground deformation are running circles around a game like Farming Simulator 25, which, ironically, was bragging hard about this new upgraded deformation. Its better than in 22, sure, but given for 2024 release .. it was just another "marketing".

All in all, i am quite disappointed, and its clearly visible from game hours. Only account i have used this fs25 and its 5% max of the time i played fs22 in total.

The reason i did put "not recommending" is a fact that Farming Simulator 22 was a lot more enjoyable game.
In some aspects FS25 feels downgraded, in other its upgraded. Other than somewhat improved physics, graphics, Japanese map, rice interaction, couple new animals - buffalo, goat and a bit differently working production line.. There is not much difference. No more popular used crops from various placed added, which was accessible in FS22 via modded maps. People grow different crops around the world.

Giant as a dev should critically take a close look at their approach, because i understand the game is popular, quite one of a kind (who wants to know why, search and you get some enlighting content), but they seem to live in a bubble, where they think they need to roll out the game for Brands, get the money in (again, business, so not judging) BUT they forget that the game itself must be ready as well.

I don't write many reviews because I'm rarely motivated to do so. This game has motivated me to do so. I've been looking at the Farming Simulator franchise for a few years, I still have FS22 on my steam wishlist, I jsut never gave in and never tried it because simulation games just weren't for me. I've slowly began to develop more fondness for immersive gameplay, and more realistic experiences. Recently this year I was bored with the games I was currently playing, needed a change and was browsing the store and saw Farming Simulator 25, it piqued my interested. After watching the teaser videos on the store page, and seeing how good the game looked I decided to purchase a copy and try it out.

Well, here I am with almost 400 hours (I bought this game on April 2, 2025 it's May 30, 2025 now. You do the math. Never mind, I did the math; I've played Farming Simulator 27% of the time since I purchased it. 8 hours of sleep every night takes up 33%) and I'm loving it. I live in a rural-ish area and I now get excited seeing tractors working the fields, or equipment being towed on the highway. I've become obsessed and I think I found a game I'm never going to stop playing. After almost 400 hours I'm still learning new things about the plethora of equipment capabilities and functions and I've barely scratched the surface of all the different crop types.

The game doesn't hold your hand and there's a lot it doesn't tell you which is an attempt to mimic starting fresh as a new farmer would in the real world. Which is cool, but irritating at times. Do not fret though, there's a help menu for basics, a website for more in depth information, and many youtubers to help you learn and grow as a Simulated Farmer.

The gameplay is awesome and is exactly what it's supposed to be. It's a combination of Driving Simulator and Base/Production Management game. You get to drive and operate all the equipment and you get to manage all the processes that go into producing and selling goods, very straight forward in theory, but the complexity comes from just how many avenues you can take to reach what ever end goal you want but it's mainly producing more to make more. [My only gripe about controls is the wood harvesting, it's very time consuming and the physics involved are janky a lot of the time. I've tried a number of methods and mods and want it to work for me so I can try that aspect of the game but I have yet to figure out a system that works. (It's called Farming Simulator not Lumberjack Simulator for a reason, so not a big deal)]

The base game has enough to keep you engaged but the game truly shines in it's immense modding community. From thousands of added vehicles, quality of life improvements, realism add-ons, or entire overhauls, there is plenty to accentuate your personal FS25 experience.

The game looks and feels amazing. The vehicles are very fun to operate and there's a lot to try out from cars to large equipment like tree harvesters and so much in between. The game enforces a simple progression by by having smaller implements operating smaller fields and as you expand and acquire larger fields you'll need bigger and better equipment.

The graphics are demanding so having a more up to date rig will provide a better experience having the ability to render all the game has to offer. The detail is incredible, the machines all have accurate and articulating parts, you can zoom in and see them at work. I've never been so hyped to see dirt in my life. The implements move and change the fields you work on in life like ways. It just looks great. It's hard to tell the difference between playing the game and watching farming videos on youtube, which have now started being suggested to me from my consumption of Farming Simulator content and I'm all for it.

If you want a fun and engaging game, that's chill, that get's you thinking sometimes, that you can sit back and play for hours and not be stressed about. A default game, for those days you're just not sure what to play, or you don't feel like an intense session, then this is the game.

I never thought I'd be sitting here writing a review for Farming Simulator but here I am.

If you're unsure or on the fence, and have the extra money, just try it. If you're into simulators then you'll probably love this, but even if you aren't into simulators (like I wasn't) you might like this one.

(Keep an open mind when reading the negativity on the review page, most of it sounds like it's coming from user error as opposed to actual criticisms of the game. Always check how many hours they played before the decided to write their review. Longer hours usually means it's some one who put the time in to learn the game and discover if there actually are issues.)

LET'S GET TO FARMIN'!

Honestly this should have been an update not a fresh game. its sad for me to write this review as I've really enjoyed playing farm simulator for around 5 years now this has had the most disappointment surrounding it as it promised big improvements and really you've got about 5 new features and way less quality mods due to giants not supporting the modding community anywhere near as much as they should, not to mention in my opinion the modders have made this game 10x better

I haven't played this game in a few months since release due to all the bugs that seem to have been ironed out but it still feels like i'm playing fs 22 so you might as well play that and enjoy the game with 1000s more mods and way better quality maps
There are about 5 really good quality maps as it stands now writing this review that but some of those are maps from fs 22 anyway
Give it another few months and maybe this game will offer more but in my opinion i would recommend saving the £50 and holding on a good while longer