Preview: Fields of Mistria draws inspiration from the 90s
A quaint town nestled between mountains and green hills. Colorful birds flutter from tree to tree, and fish swim upstream in emerald green rivers. The people of Mistria live from day to day, wandering from shop to shop, each with their own colorful personality. And while Mistria Fields It may look like your average farming simulation game, but it seems to be much more than that.
Category Mistria Fields occupation is definitely one of my favorite games. I was hooked by it. Harvest Moon series through Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life as a kid, and tried things like Stardew Valley, Rune Factory, Paliaand more. When Fields of Mistria came across my radar a few years ago, I was immediately hooked, even if it was just a few character illustrations here and there. Because while these games are functionally similar in mechanics, nothing is the same. Mistria Fields.
The character design is incredibly detailed and reminds me of when I used to skim through the Yuu Watase manga like Oh my God! or Alice the 19th. It has a mid-90s to early 2000s appeal, and isn’t afraid to wear those inspirations on its sleeve. Juniper, the public bathhouse owner, his laugh is a direct reference to a common trope, one you’ll see in a series like Sailor Moon or other popular shoujo manga and anime of the time. Mistria Fields seems to embrace these aesthetics and weave them into the game, with characters fulfilling specific archetypes. And because it doesn’t shy away from that, it creates Mistria Fields all the more powerful.
You more or less know what you’re going to get with each character, as their personalities tend to match their appearances. At least based on what I’ve experienced. And there’s nothing wrong with that. These “anime” archetypes exist for a reason, and they’re very popular. Olric is a part-time shop assistant, which is evident in his character portrait, while March the blacksmith is immediately perceived as cold with his tilted head and furrowed brow. There’s something appealing about this, mostly because it feels familiar. It might turn off some people who are looking for something that might subvert those expectations, but since these immediately resonate with me, I can’t help but be drawn in.
Even small social interactions with characters feel fresh and interesting. This is because the characters in Fields of Mistria interact with each other in casual conversations. When you approach NPCs standing around each other, there is a chance that they will chat with each other. On Fridays, the local tavern has Mistrians gathering to drink and play cards, and this makes the town come alive. Everyone has their own habits, but their relationships with each other exist outside of you. However, I wish the dialogue options you can choose for your responses didn’t oscillate between overly eager or “insolent” responses that come off as a bit cheesy.
Because even if the first few hours Mistria Fields It’s a slow burn, with you needing to progress through days and countless side quests to actually get access to all your tools, but the game is oddly relaxing. The characters, while predictable, are fun to talk to, and the overall flow of the game is slow but steady. It’s clear that the developers want you to take your time, as interacting with the world and all its systems, like farming, fishing, and gathering materials, will give you essence. Essence is used to unlock skills in the skill tree, which is an interesting implementation, but some of these passive skills are great for restoring stamina without forcing the player to cook or end the day early.
Of course, you can do a lot of things during the day and even at night. There are collectibles that you can turn into museums to unlock more cosmetics. You can fish and farm to your heart’s content. You can raise animals and craft furniture and other things to help your farm. All of these things are present in other farming simulators, but Mistria Fields There are some easy ways to check what items you’ve donated to the museum or how much each crop is selling for. There’s also a cave you can explore if you want to get away from farm work for the day. But all of this comes together in a way that makes time management easier. Mistria Fields fun, and not too overwhelming. You don’t have to min-max your days to have a good time, and requests from NPCs aren’t time-limited. That means you don’t have to frantically try to collect whatever the local innkeeper or carpenter is craving on a random Tuesday.
There is enough repetition on the formula to create Mistria Fields It’s fun and engaging. And even though I’ve only played the first ten or so hours of the game, I’ve really enjoyed it once I get over that initial hurdle. I can’t wait to spend more hours just tinkering with these systems and unlocking more cooking and fishing recipes while curled up under the covers with my Steam Deck in hand. (That’s right, Fields of Mistria runs on Steam Decks and has controller support.) And I especially can’t wait to see what else the developers have in store and will be putting into the game when it finally releases in full.
Mistria Fields will enter Early Access on August 5, 2024. It will release on computer via Steam.
