It has become a bit of a running joke: ‘Oh, you’re making a cosy game. Is it a farming sim?’ Ever since the success of Stardew Valley, indie developers have been trying to recapture the magic in that particular bottle once again. This has led to some truly excellent games, but somehow, Stardew still reigns supreme within its particular niche. There’s something about its addictive farming elements and heartwarming social features that just works and connects with players in a way that few others manage. It’s always been a tough act to follow, but Fields of Mistria doesn’t just try; it absolutely nails the landing.
NPC Studio’s game feels as close to Stardew Valley as you can get without trying to be a copy of ConcernedApe’s success story. It feels like more of an evolution: just imagine what Stardew would be like if it was released in 2026 rather than a decade earlier. Oh and there’s the whole fantasy setting, which obviously takes it further away from its inspiration too. There’s more than a hint of anime to Fields of Mistria, of the nineties shojo variety, to be more specific. Its pastel colours and quirky characters are a testament to that, and both are a joy to behold.
I’m getting ahead of myself though, so let’s rewind to the start. For those of you who might not have heard of the farming sim genre, allow me to introduce Fields of Mistria properly. The village of Mistria recently suffered an earthquake and has called out for help. You are the person who has decided to rise up to the challenge. In return for a home to call your own, you set out to restore the town to its former glory through running your farm and going on quests given by the various villagers.
Just like with other games in the genre, there are two major focuses for the game: the actual farming and the relationships you build up with the townsfolk. In a welcome change of pace to its inspirations, farming is remarkably pressure-free. Yes, you’ll need to grow some crops to earn money and to fulfil certain quests, but there’s no need to maximise your output here in ways that other games do seem to encourage. During my time with the game so far, I’ve created a plot of land to grow my crops, which is small to medium-sized compared to the amount of land I own, and money has not been an issue for tens of hours. It leaves me with a fun daily routine to get all of my crops sorted and all of my animals tended to, while still leaving a large chunk of the day to explore the rest of Mistria.
And yes, there is a lot to discover outside of your own farm. While the village of Mistria might be limited in size – for instance, it’s quite a bit smaller than Coral Island’s map – it’s incredibly rich in content. There are plenty of villagers to meet, both romanceable and other NPCs, and they are all really well developed. Having said that, I’ll never understand the obsession with the rather rude blacksmith March, but apparently that’s a me-issue, as people are fawning over him all over, so the developers have done something right there too.
It is a slight shame that most, if not all, of the cut scenes you get with characters are limited to the romanceable characters, as I would have loved to flesh out my friendships with the others as well. You can increase your relationship with every villager up to ten hearts, so it would have been nice to have that visualised for the non-romanceable NPCs too. Then again, the cut scenes we do get are all very engaging and bring you closer to these characters in a meaningful way. As does all of the dialogue in this game, to be fair. I’m almost 100 hours in, and I don’t think I’ve had repeat lines very often, if at all.
In a nice change for this type of game, the villagers do seem to have lives outside of what you are up to as well. Yes, they do respond to events that you have set in motion, like when you’ve gifted items to the local museum, but they also hang out with each other, something that culminates in the Friday Nights at the Inn, where the whole village comes together (whether you’re there or not).
There’s also the Saturday market, which introduces traders who offer you their wares and their stories, with whom you can also create friendships. With the 1.0 update, two more traders get added to the already packed market, a musician and a psychic, with the latter especially adding more intent to the gameplay by sending you on quests to stop a looming danger.
Because yes, of course you are the hero here. While the townsfolk will help you on certain quests, you are the bringer of change. Never more so than when you are exploring the mines, as you try to figure out what magic is coursing through Mistria and how it ties back to you. Luckily, combat feels pretty fluid here, considering this is still a farming sim, with your battle prowess enhanced through your magical abilities. Once again, the 1.0 update offers a whole new part of the mines to be opened up to you, although getting there does require a bit of a retread of the previous levels.
To be honest, I haven’t been able to complete the mines just yet. The recent 1.0 release added so much content to the game, and I could not get to all of it within the 30 hours I have played so far. I still require a particular item from the mines to complete my engagement ring, so I haven’t even been able to marry my romantic interest or start a family with them yet. It’s really impressive how Fields of Mistria just keeps on giving and giving with every new update. Even during my 70 hours of play in early access, I never got bored or ran out of things to do.
So to bring it all back to the beginning of this review: yeah, Fields of Mistria really does feel like an evolution of the Stardew formula. All of the things that made Pelican Town a home to so many are present in Mistria, and then some. The fantasy setting is a delightful addition here, and I am also very grateful for both the ability to jump and crafting from your storage rather than just from what’s in your backpack. It’s clear that NPC Studio has looked at the games that influenced them and learned the right lessons.
If this game ever makes it onto consoles, I do see it becoming another success like its biggest influences. Even now it already holds over 20,000 reviews on Steam, but just imagine this coming to the Switch 2. Is it a perfect game? Of course not; no game is, and I have mentioned some issues with it in previous paragraphs. I should probably also warn you that you might experience some lag, as the game was ported to a new engine only a couple of months before the 1.0 release. However, I only encountered said lag on PC and not while playing on Steam Deck, which surprised me.
