Farmagia (PS5) - Review

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For the last 20 years or so, it’s been increasingly difficult to pigeonhole a video game. As studios continue to create unlikely pairings and borrow ideas from other games, the walls around each genre have eroded. Farmagia, the latest title from developer Marvelous, is a perfect distillation of this hybrid nature of modern gaming. It combines the structure and expectations of an action-RPG with a healthy dose of farming simulation, a pinch of real-time strategy, and, for good measure, a dash of dating simulation and visual novel.

Farmagia takes place in Felicidad, a sort of underworld set apart from heaven and Earth. Split into five distinct continents, the land is populated by human-like denizens, the most powerful of which — the so-called Farmagia — are capable of raising, training, and commanding monsters. Each continent is controlled by a powerful general of the Oración Seis, the ruling class of Felicidad. After the Oración leader passes away, a fascist general by the name of Glaza ascends the throne. When another general, Nares of Avrion, objects, the entire world is thrown into a civil war, with Glaza’s legion on one side and Nares’ rebel army on the other. Among the latter force is a young Farmagia named Ten, a native of Avrion who, alongside his childhood friends, takes the fight to Glaza and his minions.

The narrative in Farmagia is quite good. The heroes are likable, the villains devious, the revelations surprising, and the political storyline fairly engaging. There are also a handful of dialogue-heavy episodes where old friends reminisce about the past, or new friends get to know each other, that really help unpack character motivations and give texture to the adventure. That said, not everything is rosy. The twisting storyline overstays its welcome by the end, and things can get a bit exaggerated and theatrical at times.

When it comes to mechanics, things are far less theatrical and much more down-to-earth — quite literally in some instances. At its core, Farmagia is an action-RPG in which players assume the role of Ten (and his allies) as they fight against enemies using their Battle Buddies, domesticated monsters trained for combat. The main way to experience the game is within dungeons, linear affairs where Ten orders his Buddies to attack targets in real time, in a style similar to Pikmin. The square, triangle, circle, and cross buttons deploy each type of Buddy, and the L1 button pulls everyone back and covers them beneath a protective shield. This attack-and-retreat process forms the foundation of the game’s combat.

Things get more interesting with the addition of Unite Blitzes, Legion Attacks, and Fusion Attacks. As you assault enemies, you'll build up a blitz gauge for each Battle Buddy. Once it's full you can summon forth a powerful beast to do significant damage. These Unite Blitzes are useful in two ways: they allow you to counter unblockable attacks and they help chip away at the enemy's KO gauge, which then opens them up to all-on-one Legion Attacks. While all this is happening, you'll gradually fill the Fusion Gauge, which allows a Fusion Attack — a special onslaught that fuses every single friendly monster into one super strong Battle Buddy.

Consequently, each battle plays out in mostly the same way: you'll chip away at the enemy's KO gauge with assaults; nullify incoming attacks with well-timed blocks or Unite Blitzes; reduce its HP with Legion & Fusion Attacks; and then repeat the process until the monster is no more. It's a relatively simple combat system, but in general it works. It's flashy and fun, and requires both good timing and restraint. That said, once you've mastered the routine, it all becomes a tad mechanical and repetitive. You'll often find yourself on autopilot by the second half of the game. And it doesn't help that combat takes place in samey, nondescript dungeons against similar-looking foes.

Indeed, dungeons are the weak link in Farmagia. While the trappings change based on which continent you're exploring, the layouts remain the same: boring square arenas with portals between zones. You'll enter an area, fend off an ambush, and jump to the next area. Dungeons do benefit from a certain rogue-like flavor — you can create a "build" of sorts with the help of fairy powers — but in general they're unexciting. Getting through them can feel like a chore.

Dungeon-based combat is but one piece of the Farmagia puzzle, however. Another significant part is farming, which is intertwined with the action phase of the game. In order to enter dungeons with the requisite number of Battle Buddies, you'll have to grow them on your farm. That's right; in an unusual twist, monsters resembling wolves, dragons, and turtles actually come from seeds planted in the ground. Just as with any farming sim, you'll till the land, plant your seeds, water the earth, and harvest the final product. In addition to Battle Buddy seeds, you can plant Research Buddy seeds, which serve double duty: they generate research points, which can be redeemed for farming and combat enhancements; and they provide new Unite Blitz forms.

Overall, farming is a pleasant, meditative distraction from the non-stop action in dungeons. It's just a shame it's not more evolved. For a game called Farmagia, you'd expect a robust, integral farming component. And while planting seeds and raising monsters is essential to the game, it ultimately feels underdeveloped — especially compared to Marvelous' previous work in Story of Seasons.

That underdeveloped feeling extends to some other areas, including the ranch. This is where you'll level up your Battle Buddies using training items and motivating treats. If you have the right resources, you can enhance your monsters' endurance, attack, defense, teamwork, etc. Again, there's nothing wrong with this phase of the game; it's another pleasant enough diversion. But it feels a bit tacked-on. Marvelous probably could have accomplished the same thing by allowing Buddies to level up in the field, after defeating a certain number of enemies.

While some elements of Farmagia are undercooked, there's one section that's given plenty of time to blossom: the elemental shrines. These are home to the six divine spirits Ten meets along his adventure, who just happen to appear in physical form as beautiful women. Ten can chat with them, complete quests on their behalf, and even bring them gifts. It's a sort of quasi-dating sim. And it works. There's a lot of narrative material to mine here, some of which is useful for world-building, some of which is unexpectedly moving, and some of which is quite funny. Indeed, Undina's stone-faced retelling of the horrors of "Little Blue Riding Hood" and "The Three Little Turnies" is absolutely hilarious.

Furthermore, as you grow your relationship with a certain spirit, you'll enhance their associated Fusion Buddy. For example, after strengthening your bond with Gnomia, you'll power up Tempest Unicorn, adding paralysis effects and upping the damage dealt. This is one thing the game truly excels in — a feedback loop in which gains made in one area feed into others.

Because of everything it has to offer — dungeons, farming, training, questing, and "dating" — Farmagia is a substantial game. You can expect to spend roughly 30 hours in Felicidad, depending on how many side quests you accept and how many achievements you wish to unlock.

You can also expect some striking character portraits, courtesy of Hiro Mashima of Fairy Tail fame. These, along with impressive voice performances across the board, bestow upon the game a lot of personality. The graphics you'll find in the 3D areas of the game are less impressive due to low-texture assets, but they're sufficient. More importantly, the game maintains a solid frame rate throughout, even with dozens of Battle Buddies and multiple projectiles & explosions filling the screen.

As for the soundtrack, it's quite impressive. Composed by Tetsuya Kobayashi and Shioto Hamasaki, it's a very eclectic mix of tunes: some whimsical with traditional Japanese instruments, some driving with electric guitar, and some soaring and epic with the backing of a chorus.

In Farmagia, developer Marvelous throws a lot of mechanics at the wall to see what will stick. Somewhat surprisingly, many of them do. Yes, the game suffers from some flaws — the story overstays its welcome, the dungeons are tedious, and the farming element is a tad underdeveloped — but it's difficult to dislike. The characters are affable, the Pikmin-style combat is flashy and fun, and there’s just enough tactical depth to keep the whole thing afloat. In the end, Farmagia isn’t a must-play game, but it’s a perfectly fine way to pass the time.

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