Last Friday when I started playing Steam Early Access Farming Sim immortal life, I was only planning to play a few hours before bed. Finally, I finished my session at 5am. It stands out among farming sims because it attempts to emulate the realism of life rather than the drab economics of running a farm. immortal life has a nice art style, the villagers are all extremely personable, and the farming systems are satisfying without being punishing. Although the game is still in Early Access, immortal life is my favorite farming simulation game since 2009 Rune Factory 3 on Nintendo DS.
immortal life is a cross between rune factory and Stardew Valleybut with one big difference: instead of European fantasy, the game developed in China is firmly rooted Xianxia influences. You play as a surviving member of a fallen Taoist sect and must restore the organization to its former glory. This means expanding your farm, “cultivating” spiritual power by fighting local monsters, and improving your relationships with the local community.
The game isn’t innovative in any of these mechanics, but rather shines through the sheer charm of its world-building. I mean just look at these beautiful plants. There’s something incredibly meditative about rolling out of bed every morning and shaking the plants until tiny veggies fall out. I’ve never gotten the same satisfaction from her rune factory
immortal life makes no effort to punish you for striving for realism. Your character won’t get sick from staying past their bedtime, and you’ll still regenerate stamina after going to bed at 4am. If you plant in the wrong season, you will only get a slightly lower yield. The game makes no effort to punish you, which is a welcome change when so many similar games force you to micromanage your fictional farm.
In this case, I’ve always struggled with the how rune factory Games can feel like jobs as often after a while. There are always dozens of ways to get more energy points and expand the amount you can farm. So instead of going to bed at a reasonable time, use readily available ingredients to prepare dishes with more staying power, thereby lengthening your workday. immortal lifeThe systems of are more conservative and only allow you a very limited amount of mana points per day. It’s also quite expensive to restore the stamina you need for resource farming. While this might sound like a huge disadvantage, it kept my farm life from becoming an endless drudgery. I prioritized getting certain resources each day and just went to bed early when I was done in the late afternoon. Farming feels like a means of earning a living rather than a ruthless capitalism simulator.
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immortal life also has a surprisingly robust cooking minigame for a farming game. Most farming sims simply check that you have the right amount of ingredients and the right equipment. This game takes it one step further by running around the kitchen processing each ingredient in the correct order. While there’s no penalty for taking your time, I’ve been able to get better quality dishes by memorizing recipes and thinking several steps ahead; Getting a “perfect” score by expertly chopping veggies while my fish was busy steaming over the fire was very satisfying. In addition, there are beautiful graphics for the ingredients in the game, such as: B. diced vegetables or minced meat.
Honestly, immortal lifeThe cooking system of has raised higher expectations of similar systems in all games. Cooking is so satisfying in real life, and most games oversimplify the process to the point of just navigating menus. But this game emulates life and not just the economics behind farming. For example, you need to cut vegetables on a different board than the one used to cut meat. It’s a small detail, but it reflects a common attitude that Chinese people have towards meat. You’re not dicing cucumbers on the same board you used to slice bloody chunks of pork. it’s just common sense. And it’s the little details that give immortal life a sense of being a lived world rather than a sterile playground.
Being an Early Access game, it has some rough edges. Not all text is translated, so some description fields are either just a space or untranslated Chinese characters. The localization of side quests can also be unclear. Combat is tricky and uninteresting, and I found myself avoiding encounters so I could just mine the stones I needed. The game also suffers from some optimization issues that cause loading screens to take up to 30 seconds.
While these issues were mildly annoying, they didn’t detract from the beauty of immortal lifeenvironments or the lively personalities of the villagers. I felt a connection with each member of my cult, and my favorite part of moving the story forward was encountering new dialogue with them. immortal life is an Early Access game that’s already worth checking out.
