Beyond the Idyllic – A Wacky and Dark Farming Tale
The farming games that have come out on Xbox over the last few years have been plentiful and successful. From the big mega franchises like Farming Simulator to the cute cozy games that play on Stardew Valley vibes, there’s seemingly no end to the number of gamers who like to farm, sow the fields, and raise animals.
Mostly, these games have shown farming to be an idyllic life where everyone is wholesome and friendly, the sun shines and rains at exactly the right moments and the tractors never break down.
In Farmers Life, this couldn’t be further from the truth. The farm is a mess, the farmer is a drunk and the only one with any sense is a pig called Fluffy. Let’s farm.
Kazimar’s Redemption: A Narrative-Driven Farming Experience
The first thing to mention – and applaud – in Farmer’s Life is that it is most definitely trying to do something a bit different to the norm; moving away from the usual sim farming format. It’s a bit darker in theme, but very funny at times and extremely wacky.
You play an ex-soldier, Kazimar, who we find asleep in his bed under the influence of booze and his pet pig Fluffy sleeping next to him. The room is a mess, as is the rest of the small farm. We find out during the game – through gibberish language – that he had a tough time in the war and lost a brother. Turning to the bottle is his only sense of comfort.
Plowing with Purpose
It’s the narrative and story that feels more important than anything else in Farmer’s Life; more so than the gaming and sim sections. You feel his pain and I like how the game gives you morality decisions as you look to help get his life back together, or have another drink. You also interact with, and do jobs for, neighbors and even find love if you go looking for it.
Gameplay-wise and a tutorial walks you through things, giving tasks to complete like clearing the farm of sticks and then leading your old horse to the field to plow it. Sometimes the more traditional farming sim games, when plowing and planting, have felt to be sticklers, ensuring you need to cover every inch of a field. Farmer’s Life, thankfully, is more forgiving.
And from there, you can do all sorts of things like selling scrap you find around the area, buying animals or even brewing moonshine. You get seeds to plant and grow and there is something fun and familiar…
Should you have played enough farming games, then you’ll know that they feel a bit too polished, and far too authentic. There never seems to be a goal except to be a good farmer and enjoy that. With this one though, the story arc shows you a redemption story and the farm is the only thing that will stop Kazimar from killing himself.
So I was eager to plow a field or cut down a tree because I wanted to see what would happen next in the story. The thing is, if you are looking for just a farming sim experience there are better ones out there.
A Farm Unlike the Rest
The setting is fine too; an ex-war zone country so everything feels a bit muted and broken. Its colours are drab and will never compete with the sunsets of Farming Simulator 25. But the characters look fine and the world works without anything being too janky. The UI is clean too, and there is a nice button that highlights the things you can interact with; that in itself is a great help.
Whether the gibberish language that complements your adventures will be to your liking will be totally dependent on your tastes.
A Wacky Farming Redemption Tale
You may find Farmer’s Life to be a bit of a pleasant surprise. You should learn to like Kazimar, even though he is flawed, and similar goes for the gameplay, quests, visuals and sound. It’s all fine, without ever wowing.
One thing is for sure though, in Farmer’s Life you will discover the worst farmer in the world, but you will certainly want to help him become a better one.
Important Links
Get Your Wellies On! Deep (and Slightly Deranged?) Sim Farmer’s Life Launches on Xbox Series X|S – https://www.thexboxhub.com/get-your-wellies-on-deep-and-slightly-deranged-sim-farmers-life-launches-on-xbox-series-xs/
Buy Farmer’s Life on Xbox – https://www.xbox.com/en-gb/games/store/farmers-life/9n3nw1sql52v
