Summary
As a big fan of cozy games, I wanted to love the new content forFae Farm, which arrives in the form of a springtime update and a fresh DLC pack, Skies of Azoria. The base game was one of the first things I covered in-depth in my role here at TG, so I’ve got a soft spot for it, but I’ve known it’s not without its flaws.
For those returning to the game like I was, you’ll have access to the new realms as soon as you cangrow the magic beanssent to you in a mysterious letter. If you’re starting a new game, the letter will arrive just after you’ve gotten your wings from the Wisp Mother – you’ll need the power of flight to navigate the new world of Skyvale that waits above Azoria. Comprising three new areas that correspond to the major regions below – Azoria, the Fae Realm, and the Mountains – you’ll progressively unlock each town by helping the deity of the skies, Gusto.
While I started the DLC fascinated by everything in Skyvale – new minerals and resources to collect, new characters to meet, even three new romance options to schmooze – I quickly realized that the adventure in each realm was going to be the same. On the first new island, it was charming. The second time, it felt repetitive. By the third time, I barely needed to talk to the quest-giving locals to know what to do back down on earth.
Explore Three New Regions In Skyvale, Ideally In A New Save
On arrival, you’re told you’ll need to grow two new Skyvale crops back down in Azoria and bring them to Gusto, who then asks you to gather some Fallen Stars. These are prizes for solving the puzzles in the new Star Vaults that make use of your flying prowess and assorted magical abilities, and you’re able to purchase powerful perks with them. You can ask Gusto to instantly regrow wild plants overnight, have a realm’s trees restored, or for rainfall on your farm that night.
I tried to play the DLC twice – once on my Switch in an endgame save, and again on Steam in a new save – and the experiences couldn’t have been more different. Playing the DLC as a return to the Fae Farm I had already mastered was endearing but kind of tedious. Playing it as an add-on to a story in progress, though, gave me a new layer of things to do.
I was in the middle of the Floating Ruins when Gusto’s helper Kestrel sent me the magic beans, so popping up to Windhaven, the first world in the DLC that floats above Azoria, felt like a break from my main mission. I’d climb the beanstalk every few days to say hello to the locals, grab some resources, and check in on my quest progression.
Woven into the fabric of the game instead of tacked onto the end feels like the way to experience the Skies of Azoria content, as it did with the Coasts of Croakia DLC back in December. Both offer enough content to come back to, but doing so at the end of the game was nowhere near as satisfying as treating it as supplemental content to the main story.
The DLC Is Adorable (When It Works)
My problem, though, is that I experienceddifferent game-breaking bugson both Switch and PC. When playing on Steam, every few in-game days, shopkeepers in Azoria went on strike, I guess, turning their backs to me and refusing to open their shops. They’d say hello and chat if I tried, but I couldn’t purchase anything from them. Given that my PC save was the one I was actively playing a new game on, not being able to buy things like tool upgrades was a hindrance to my progress. It was fixed by quitting the game to my desktop and reloading it anew, but a simple fix doesn’t excuse the fact that it happened three times in as many days.
The Switch bug was even worse. The regular Fallen Stars were no big deal, and I progressed into the Starlight Isles, the second world, optimistic for what was to come. What came, though, was an inexcusable number of software crashes as soon as I began collecting the next kind of stars, the Rare Fallen Stars. The process of solving the puzzle was much the same as before, but as soon as I grabbed my first Star and exited the Vault, the game closed. Frustrated but not deterred, I relaunched it, redid the puzzle, and experienced the same crash. In all, it crashed eight times in the Starlight Isles.
The goal to “Collect six Rare Fallen Stars” in my objectives on the side of the screen felt like it was mocking me – Ididcollect six! More than six! Finally, I got them all, practically threw them at Gusto’s feet, and proceeded into Howling Heights, the third and final region of the DLC. Without issue, Igrew all six Skyvale cropswhen I was asked, I gave them to Gusto, and I received my mission to collect Legendary Fallen Stars.
I stepped tepidly into the nearby Vault, white-knuckled my way through excruciatingly laggy graphics complicating the puzzle, and unsurprisingly experienced yet another crash as soon as I left with my Star. I’m not too proud to admit that, after the ninth crash in a single day, I spared myself the headache of reloading the game for a tenth time.
When the Skies of Azoria DLC for Fae Farm works, it’s definitely charming, but not charming enough to warrant circling back. If you’d like to play the DLC, I recommend beginning a new save to do so, but just be wary and save often. I have hope that the Skies of Azoria DLC can come to be something enjoyable, but for the sake of not grinding my teeth to smithereens,I’ll be playing something elsenext time I turn on my console.
