A Farming Fantasy Not Ready For Harvest
HIGH Unique setting and tone. Charming aesthetics.
LOW Lackluster quests and NPC interactions. Frustrating combat and farming mechanics.
WTF Not having a grid for interior design is a huge blindspot for a cozy game.
Mirthwood is a new farming sim/sandbox RPG from Bad Ridge Games in collaboration with V Publishing.
At first glance, it would appear to be nothing more than medieval Stardew Valley, but that’s neither wholly accurate nor a fair thing to say, even if that might have been what the developers were going for.
In many ways, it follows the formula established by its predecessors — the player starts by creating a character who then travels to a faraway place where they receive the deed to a remote homestead to do with as they will — but it differs in setting and overall tone.
Everything looks as if it were pulled straight out of some Eyvind Earle concept art, between its storybook-like character models and layered forest scenes that seem like setpieces on a stage, allowing the player to be swept off to their very own farming fantasy.
The adventure opens with a brief cinematic before launching into a prologue where the player will learn the basics of movement and interact with NPCs before a horde of bandits descends upon their family home. At this point they learn the basics of combat, fighting their way to the nearest ship bound for the Free Lands.
As one might expect from a title that is a farming sim first and a RPG second, the combat is basic — there’s a light attack, a heavy attack and the ability to block or sidestep. It resembles fencing in that the player must be lined up with their enemy in order to attack or evade, which wouldn’t be a problem if the game was entirely 2D. However, because it’s isometric, such limitations make combat frustrating as the engine will sometimes lock the player into attacking in a certain direction even after the enemy has changed position.
Once the player arrives in the Free Lands, they can set their own pace as they develop their homestead, harvest crops, chop wood, forage for plants and mushrooms, explore the surrounding environs, aid NPCs and find their footing in pastoral medieval life — warts and all.
Once at their homestead proper, the player will be greeted by a mysterious plague doctor who says the player can do whatever they wish with the property. I started with the first items of business — gathering the resources needed to restore the dilapidated cottage and planting seeds for what would become the garden.
I used my starter axe to chop down enough wood to replace the worn-down floorboards and my basic pickax split enough rock to replace the crumbling walls which instantly turned what was a dirty hovel into a cozy cabin.
Just as one would do in something like Animal Crossing, I started adding decor that I had crafted, like a cooking pot, chest and wardrobe to make it feel homey, but I was disappointed to find that there was no grid to help guide my interior design ideas, and no ability to change viewing angles or use anything except for the very back for wall decor.
When I finally made my way into town, a host of NPCs flooded the screen, greeting me as I passed by. These greetings opened up multi-path dialogue chains with options such as romance, gossip, joke, etc. While there were plenty of people to interact with, nearly all of them left me wanting as they lacked any semblance of depth or nuance, which are key components for any farming sim/RPG worth its salt. Meeting back up with the enigmatic plague doctor was little better — the quests he offered me were underwhelming, amounting to glorified fetch quests.
However, there was one side quest that I was invested in — investigating what happened to the Medville family meadery outside of town.
Arriving on the scene, I fended off attacking bandits and poked around the ruins, finding a few letters written by the owner, Duncan Medville, who described a tragic chain of events that led to the fall of the meadery in harrowing detail. The second part of fulfilling this side quest was to venture across the continent to track down the owner’s surviving wife and deliver the news of her husband’s passing.
Rather than receiving a weapon or armor set as one might in a typical RPG, however, she gave me a lucky rabbit’s foot which merely buffed the efficacy of other equipped items — the equivalent of going through all that and getting a t-shirt emblazoned with “I traveled all the way across the Free Lands and all I got was this shitty rabbit’s foot.”
From that point on, I became all too aware of the feeling that I was wasting my time in Mirthwood, which in my mind, is the mark of an experience that is mediocre at best.
Ultimately, I see a lot of unrealized potential here. Blending cozy gameplay with dark subject matter, Mirthwood offers an experience that is pleasantly familiar, yet distinct enough to stand out from other games of its ilk. That said, it’s not an experience that appeals to me in its current state. Once some changes are made to the combat mechanics and NPC dialogue, perhaps I’ll want to return to the Free Lands and finally see my crops bear fruit.
Rating: 6 out of 10
Disclosures: This game was developed by Bad Ridge Games and published by V Publishing. It is currently available on PC. It was obtained via publisher and reviewed on PC. Approximately 5.5 hours were devoted to the campaign mode. The game was not finished. There is no multiplayer mode.
Parents: This game is not yet rated by the ESRB but there is some blood and violence. The player will frequently encounter enemies in the wilderness who will attack them, as well as commit acts of violence against other NPCs. They will have to fight to survive and make decisions about whether or not NPCs should be executed. Thus, the game will likely be rated T.
Colorblind Modes: There are no colorblind modes available.
Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: This game features dialogue presented in text format. Incoming threats are indicated by exclamation points flashing above attacking enemies and there are no sounds that affect gameplay. This title is fully accessible.
Remappable controls: The controls cannot be remapped.
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