Monster catching is great and all, but have you ever wanted to quite literally raise your own monsters from the ground up? Well, now you can in Farmagia, the latest creature collecting action RPG from Marvelous! Part farming sim, part monster battler, Farmagia is quite the ambitious undertaking, but does it deliver on this exciting premise, or should we send this one back to the ranch for more training? Let's break it down.
Farmagia takes places in the imaginary underworld of Felicidad, comprised of peculiar, living continents inhabited by both human-like denizens and monsters alike. While the people and monster live in harmony, the "Farmagia" are special individuals capable of training the monsters of this realm, which commands them a high level of respect. The Oracion Seis, a governing body with representatives from each of the five continents, are held in the highest regard and are tasked to protect each nation and keep the peace in Felicidad, with the Magus ruling over them all to ensure unity and order.
After the death of Felicidad's beloved leader, a new ruler emerges named Glaza, who proclaims himself the new Magus with some pretty radical ideas for Felicidad. Needless to say, this does not sit well with all of the members of the Oracion Seis, birthing a rebellion with Nares of Avrion at the helm. Now, it's up the Nares and her army of unlikely and untested Farmagia to restore peace and freedom to the world of Felicidad. That's where we come in.
In Farmagia, you'll play as Ten and his comrades, a group of up-and-coming monster trainers, facing off against demi-beasts and corrupt government officials, all while trying to prove your worth. Ten might be young, but it's clear that everyone around him sees his potential. One of the first things you'll notice about Farmagia is the horde of adorable creatures at your command. After the brief opening cut scene and text setting up the backstory, you're pretty much instantly thrown into battle where you can take in your army in all its fluffy glory.
With Ten or one of his associates at the helm, you'll be able to control hordes of various monster varieties, deploying some (or all) of them to do your biddings against whatever foes you encounter. In addition to standard attacks, there is the more powerful "unite blitz", as well as legion attacks and the devastating Fusion attack, all using your monster army. To block oncoming enemy advances, you can use your assemble ability, which blocks your Farmagia and all of their monster comrades in a shield. Guard at just the right moment to score yourself a "perfect guard," or get an attack off at just the right moment to counter an enemy, adding a bit more skill and strategy to an otherwise mash-friendly combat system.
Once you're caught up to speed with the plot and the battle system, you're taken to the game's main hub. Here you can choose between talking strategy and advancing the story at the castle with Nares, taking on quests and speaking with the locals at the shuffling sheep, purchasing magical wares at the shop, working on your relationships with the mystical (and denizen-obsessed) elementals at the shrine, training your army to advance their levels at the ranch, and, of course, growing new creatures at the monster farm.
The farm is definitely something that sets Farmagia apart from other titles in this genre. As you fight, you'll collect monster seeds, which can then be sowed, watered and, eventually, harvested at the farm. Not only can you raise new monsters to join your crew, but you can also grow other creatures that you've encountered for research purposes. Researching monsters allows you to expand and level up your farm, which means more move points each day to tend to crops, the abilities to break through rock barriers with a monster that looks like an uncanny Wolverine, and more.
Once you've harvested and trained your army of monsters, it's off to the next mission. Before entering the mission, you can choose how many of your existing creatures you'd like to take on your journey, choose from different formations and leaders (each with their own strengths and abilities), and then depart. Each location you'll travel to will have you progressing from one are to the next via illuminated portals, with different colors representing what awaits you on the other side. Some portals will lead to monster nests that have a high concentration of angry beasts waiting to fight on the other side. Others contain a more manageable amount of monsters and lead to item chests or upgrade trees that allow you to choose equippable enhancements that will aide you in battle for the duration of that mission. These upgrades can be at the individual monster species level or for your general well-being. The last type of portal you'll encounter on a mission is a boss portal, where you'll face off against a demi-beast or other large abomination that will put all of the skills you've learned to the test.
These missions can take place at different times of day, which can impact that types of creatures you'll encounter and the amount of time you'll have to complete your task. Once the mission is over, however, it's back to the main hub to start it all again.
While it took a brief adjustment period to get used to, i did find myself genuinely enjoying the combat system of Farmagia, even if it feels a bit simplistic at times. It was super satisfying to pull off one of the dramatic fusion attacks against a gigantic creature, even when it didn't feel like the buildup to get to those attacks took a particular amount of skill or strategy. If you properly level up your creatures, choose the right leader and upgrade your crew according to the task at hand, the normal difficulty isn't too challenging, even for novice gamers. However, if you do find yourself struggling, difficulty can always be decreased (or increased) in the options menu for a more suitable challenge.
The loop is fun, the pacing is good, and the missions have a time limit, which provides natural breaks and saving points, so you don't wear yourself out on the old grind to save Felicidad.
There are some really gorgeous, anime cutscenes, but these were quite sporadic, and i did wish a bit more of the story was fleshed out with animations. The character portrait art is fantastic, and the developers did attempt to add a bit of life to them in story segments by changing poses and facial expressions, but I did find myself wishing some of the longer text-based segments were fully animated. Often, I would just put the text on auto-advance and let it roll for what felt like quite a lengthy chunk of gametime.
Despite my hunger for more cutscenes, the game ran incredibly smoothly, even with the settings maxed out. The environments are vibrant, and the creature design is colorful and creative. It was always exciting to plant a seed and return to your farm to watch a brand-new creature emerge from the earth. That's not a sentence I find myself saying too often, but it's true. Menus are clean and easy to understand and navigate, it's just a really well-made product. And this rings true when it comes to the soundtrack and sound design as well. From the stellar soundtrack that had me humming along to folk-infused masterpieces to the voice acting that helped breathe life into the cast of characters, there is a whole lot to like here. Even though Farmagia is a brand-new title, it already feels like a well-established series or at the very least the beginning of one, and it introduces a world I would like to visit again.
Farmagia is going to be the perfect game for folks that love monster collecting and farm simulations and have always dreamed of finding a way to blend those two genres together. This mashup doesn't feel forced and works surprisingly well in the context of an action RPG. The farming components are shallow enough that they remain fun and easy, and the combat is simplistic, yet fun and satisfying. I'll never get over how epic it is to watch the character of the character of your choice leading dozens of buddy creatures into battle. While i could have used a bit more visual interest in some the long-winded text segments and the loop can become a bit tedious in longer play sessions, especially when you take on one mission after another, it's overall a fun an innovative genre bending action RPG that has me hoping we'll see more of Felicidad and the Farmagia in the future.
GREAT
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