Cosy farming sims meet sci-fi space chaos in Farlands as you start your new life on your very own planet. Plant crops, raise animals and fight back against the evil corporation trying to take over the quadrant.
Sure, from the outset it looks like Stardew Valley in space, but does Farlands have the power to stand on its own two feet?
There’s No Place Like Home
Farlands begins with a bang as a fully animated pixel-art cut-scene plays out. This introduces you to the fast-paced sci-fi lifestyle your avatar is leaving behind before they blast off into space. After a brief swindling from the local realtor, you purchase your very own planet, ready for cultivation. But it’s not all sunshine and mane-eating roses…
The solar system you’ve just moved into is under threat from a local fatcat and industry man. He’s looking to lap up all the land in the local area to drain it for resources to line his pockets. There is hope, however, as an alien race will offer help to preserve the galaxy provided you can fill their “Ark” with enough evidence of life that’s worth saving.
It’s a classic underdog story as you help the locals fight back against the big corporation while giving players something to hook into outside of the natural gameplay loop. The Ark will naturally be compared to Stardew Valley’s community centre quest line, but offers enough of a unique twist that players won’t feel cheated. You also only need 70% of the collection to complete the main Ark quest-line, which felt more forgiving and achievable.
The Tools Of Your Trade
Farlands uses the classic controller functions of a 2.5D environment, be it WASD or D-pad on controller. You’re given most of your tools from the start – axe, scythe, watering can, hoe, pickaxe – but soon gain a bugnet and fishing rod. You also have three rows of inventory, with no expansion or purchase required. However, you can’t remove your tools from your bag, which did cause some frustration. (I don’t understand why I need to take my watering can down the mines, but whatever).
Tools can be upgraded for efficiency or wider areas of effect, and I really felt a difference with most of the upgrades. I appreciated not having to reach a specific level before upgrading the tools nor having to wait for them to be reforged, especially with travel time/costs. The tool animations also come with cute sci-fi noises, which I really enjoyed.
Your Vessel
No sci-fi adventure would be complete without your very own spaceship. Sure, it’s a rundown piece of junk, but it’s yours, and you can crash there overnight to save on fuel. You also know a mechanic.
At first your ship’s economy is pretty poor. It’s rusty, and there’s little space in the cargo bay, but it does run on random junk you throw into the processor, so you can’t complain. With upgrades, however, it becomes a golden dream machine that’ll have you zipping around the galaxy to your heart’s content.
I did feel the restriction of the planets and space travel for the first few hours of gameplay. Planning your days around planet hopping and managing your resources/inventory space is tough when you’re starting. I worried I was going to miss character events, but the upgrades were easy enough to achieve that I didn’t feel like I was missing out.
The Heart Of The Matter
With the overarching story on a slow burn, you’re left to explore the various planets of the solar system at your leisure. Each location introduces new side characters, items and materials for you to discover within unique biomes such as desert or cave lands. Uncovering all the secrets and befriending the locals will take time and perhaps some presents, but I started triggering story events pretty regularly after a few seasons.
Farlands offers players a few romantic storylines leading to marriage. You have bonus conversation options with these characters where you can chat, flirt or joke with them. It seems to be on a random chance how the characters respond to this because you only ever get their response, and I was often left wondering what I had done to offend them. Which is probably a little too close to my IRL efforts for my liking if we’re being honest.
There were a lot of things I appreciated from the large variety of characters, be it their designs or their backstories. Despite only hitting character events every few days or even longer at the start, the world felt lived in and wonderfully diverse. It’s then bulked out with a few NPCs with fun sci-fi references who pop up in the bar for silly dialogues.
Each side character also has a bunch of things blacked out on their character sheet to give you a clue as to their favourite things. It was a great addition and saved me having to make huge wiki lists.
Get Your Hands Dirty
Farlands does well to balance progression and cosy, laid-back gaming. There aren’t as many events tied to specific days due to the space travel requirements, and you get fair warnings for when they are on.
The overall style is so incredibly well thought out and put together that I’m more likely to compare the animation and artistry to Celest or Sea of Stars than most other farming-sims. The landscapes, the sound design and characters all bring something unique to the Farlands world, and the writing only further elevates it. There were a few bugs that I encountered between patches, but I’ve not seen them since, and it looks like the developers are pretty hands-on thus far.
I grew tired of feeding the animals pretty quickly, which is a regular occurrence for me personally, so I was yearning for some kind of automation pretty early on. Despite the crafting machine being available from the start, I also felt the lack of “makers” pretty heavily. Years of farming sims led me to want to hoard items to make into other items, which isn’t an option for most resources until much later on (if at all). You do get access to food recipes from the outset though, so it’s not the hugest loss.
Into The Farlands
Farlands stands on its own as an incredible farming sim set in space. It has everything I want from a cosy game and removes some of the battle mechanics found in Stardew for softer “scare them away” or “avoid the danger” type creatures. The pop-culture references and zany characters will have people falling in love with this world and, if nurtured well, I could see the community behind it growing as strong as the Stardew/Harvest Moon fandoms.
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Microsoft Windows, Xbox Series X and Series S
Publishers: JanduSoft, Anotherindie
Developers: JanduSoft, Eric Rodríguez
Played On: PS5
Key Provided By: Keymailer
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