Fields of Mistria Preview – Farming Sim Meets Magical Girl

A Magical Experience in the Fields of Mistria

To many, Fields of Mistria will feel nostalgic in more ways than one. Inspired by classic Farm-Sim RPGs of the late 90s, NPC Studio’s debut title promises to deliver a cozy farming and life sim experience set in an idyllic village and sporting really pretty pixel graphics. The character design is what first jumped out to me: reminiscent of anime I grew up with, such as Sailor Moon, I expected a nice magical twist to a familiar formula.

The opening sequence is simple but effective. Adeline, the village leader, and the local archaeologist Eiland are looking for someone to help revitalize Mistria after an earthquake has caused great destruction and brought weird magic to this little haven. They seek for an adventurer to take over an abandoned plot of land – an introduction that will sound familiar to many – and become the local farmer. So, the player character moves in and is tasked with meeting everyone in town. The characters were standout.

 I loved the different character designs, and they all had clearly defined personalities, even in the little time I spent with them.

Fields of Mistria relies on popular character archetypes, and so you will meet the cute girl next door, a broody blacksmith, the flirty merchant, and many others. Those archetypes helped me quickly gain an understanding of the characters, and the designs were all gorgeous. I was also happy to see that no matter which gender I had picked for my characters, I could romance any of the eligible bachelors. Notably, it looks like a dragon named Caldarus, who gives you some cryptic explanations regarding the flow of magic, might also be in the list of potential romance options. Call it professional curiosity, but I just have to see where this goes.

While the demo only lets the player go through the first few days (with some extra tools and early unlocks such as the mines), the story feels promising.

The world-building starts off strong, with different places outside of Mistria mentioned at several points and the backdrop of a village recovering from a recent catastrophe offering space for the plot to evolve. I am also really keen to find out how magic fits into this equation—the player starts out with two spells they can cast. But does everyone have magic powers? Are we not like other girls? I look forward to finding out more.

Fields of Mistria felt familiar in many different ways. Not only is it an additional entry to a genre I love, but many elements strongly resemble the game’s inspirations. Players will find their familiar tools, such as the watering can, pickaxe, and hoe, and be able to engage in a range of different activities. There is a museum that needs filling, an ocean and rivers full of fish, and mines to gather materials and fight cute monsters. I didn’t mind this familiarity – it is what many, including myself, will expect from the farming game genre, though I am hoping to see it take a more unique twist with the inclusion of magic later down the line.

However, I felt that the demo at times depended a bit too much on the player being familiar with the games’ predecessors.

Some sections could use a tutorial – especially as all the tutorials seem skippable – such as fishing or the mines. A newcomer to the genre might struggle to find out that they need to destroy rocks with their pickaxe until they find a ladder to descend to a lower floor, for example. I consider myself a big fan of farming sims, but even I got confused when trying to finish one of the side quests I picked up along the line. The mission seemed simple – deliver a crayfish to one of the villagers. However, I just could not figure out how to actually give them the item, and when I did, the villagers thought it was just a nice present, and my quest remained unfulfilled.

While the graphics are really pretty and perfectly convey the vibe of a 90s farming sim with magical girl vibes, some aspects were a bit difficult to read. For example, at this scale, I struggled to tell some of the characters apart from each other. It should be noted I played on a big screen, and I imagine it is even harder for you to play on a handheld device. 

But that aside, I had a fantastic time with this short demo. It offers many quality-of-life improvements over similar titles, such as the ability to see where characters are on the map at any given moment, an easy system to deliver collectibles to the museum or see what has already been donated from your inventory or, to my delight, the ability to jump.

The demo for Fields of Mistria is available from now until June 17th as part of Steam Next Fest and can be played in around 2 hours. The game is also scheduled to release in Early Access as of the 5th of August. Considering how polished and fun the demo was, I am really excited about the Early Access release and cannot wait to play more. I am especially keen to see how this title will set itself apart from its inspirations and how it will manage to put a unique spin on a familiar experience.