Farming Simulator 17

October 24 – 30

Section: 

The Farming Simulator franchise is a strange bird, playfully maligned in general audiences yet unabashedly adored by series fans. Seems like you either get it or you don't, with little in between.

Part 'Mundane Vehicle Simulator', part tycoon management sim, FS walks an impressive line between boots-on-the-ground production and more cerebral farming-complex empire building. There are no win/lose conditions or time limits; the player is set free in the world and tasked with creating their own goals. This open sandbox nature allows one to enjoy the game from a variety of mood spaces.

Sometimes I just want to kick back and tend the fields, cruising up and down the rows as I unwind from a hard day of work in the real world. I think that's one of the biggest draws of FS in my life. I often refer to it as my Zen Garden, a place for me to chill out and relax. To escape the sharp edges of daily life (LOL, is now a better time or what?).

Besides all that, FS17 is introducing new, exciting activities … like pig farming. Pig farming! (mmm...bacon). Coupled with expanded forestry, this latest installment is shaping up to be bigger, better and more bad-ass than ever before. As such, Farming Simulator is not only my Game of the Week, but moreover my Game of the Season. Bring it.

Greg "Doubtingthomas396" Decker

Farm Simulator gives me all the best parts of a grindy RPG with none of the aggravation. The loop of farming to get money to do more farming is exquisitely satisfying. If it looks to other people like I’m mowing a simulated lawn (which is one of the things you can do), I don’t care. There’s satisfaction in mowing a lawn well, of finding the most efficient pattern for doing it, and even of managing virtual employees as they do it for me.

Plus, sometimes it’s just nice to play the kind of everyday hero that feeds people instead of blowing them up.

For these and lots of other reasons, Farm Simulator 2017 is my game of the week.

Felix “Won’t finish my Civ VI campaign because I’m scared what might happen to Sean Bean” Threepaper

Skyrim Special Edition is the remastered Beatles Box Set of this week. Titanfall 2 is the new Coldplay album. Dark Souls III: Ashes of Arandiel is a fresh EP from your favourite Death Metal band. Kings Quest Episode 5: The Good Knight is a new Pixies album; it doesn’t quite have the magic of the earlier titles.

I vote for the grand strategy prog rock concept album: Nobunaga's Ambition: Sphere of Influence - Ascension. It looks like a blend of Total War, Patrician and … every other Koei game. If it doesn’t have a 20-minute drum solo in there, I’ll be disappointed.

Chris "C" Cesarano

I'll eventually be grabbing Titanfall 2. I didn't bite on the first one. I was curious, but wasn't able to justify an Xbox 360 purchase of a multiplayer-only game designed with Next-Gen in mind. However, Titanfall 2 is also on Playstation 4 and has a campaign that looks like The Iron Giant meets Call of Duty. I am okay with that.

However, my pick will instead be going to World of Final Fantasy. Though the demo released last week does a poor job of properly communicating itself to the player, I managed to experiment enough to discover a fascinating take on the Pokémon collect-em-all concept. By employing Final Fantasy monsters as "equipment" when stacking, or strategically separating them all into individual characters in combat, the player can either dominate foes with powerful strikes or whittle them down for a weakened capture.

Aside from truckloads of nostalgia, I have no clue what the story promises. Family-fun romping across the entirety of a game's franchise is a good amount of comfort food until the much more self-serious Final Fantasy XV releases, though.

This week:

PC

  • Batman: The Telltale Series - Episode 3: New World Order
  • Big Buck Hunter Arcade
  • Book Series: Alice in Wonderland
  • Camp Sunshine
  • Chalo Chalo
  • Damned Cold
  • Dark Souls III: Ashes of Ariandel
  • Dispatcher: Revoke
  • Dragon Ball: Xenoverse 2
  • Drive on Moscow
  • End Of The Mine
  • Farming Simulator 17
  • Ghostdream
  • Ginger: Beyond the Crystal
  • Golden Krone Hotel
  • Grave Matters
  • Hero Boy
  • Hide and Shriek
  • Hover Hazard
  • Just Dance 2017
  • Kings Quest Episode 5: The Good Knight
  • Kyurinaga's Revenge
  • Lithium: Inmate 39
  • Lone Leader
  • LUXIS
  • Mark McMorris: Infinite Air
  • Meadow
  • Minecraft: Story Mode - A Telltale Games Series - The Complete Adventure
  • My Summer Car
  • MYTH
  • Ne no Kami: The Two Princess Knights of Kyoto
  • Orwell
  • Plankton
  • Redirection
  • ShapeRockets
  • Sweet Volley High
  • The Beard in the Mirror
  • The Deep Paths: Labyrinth Of Andokost
  • The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition
  • The Hateful Dead
  • The Shape Of Heart
  • Through the Woods
  • Titanfall 2
  • White Noise 2

PS4

  • Batman: The Telltale Series - Episode 3: New World Order
  • Big Buck Hunter Arcade
  • Carnival Games VR
  • Dark Souls III: Ashes of Ariandel
  • Dragon Ball: Xenoverse 2
  • Exile's End
  • Farming Simulator 17
  • Ginger: Beyond the Crystal
  • Just Dance 2017
  • Kings Quest Episode 5: The Good Knight
  • Mark McMorris: Infinite Air
  • Minecraft: Story Mode - A Telltale Games Series - The Complete Adventure
  • Monster Jam: Crush It
  • Nobunaga's Ambition: Sphere of Influence - Ascension
  • The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition
  • Titanfall 2
  • Weeping Doll
  • World of Final Fantasy

Xbox One

  • Batman: The Telltale Series - Episode 3: New World Order
  • Big Buck Hunter Arcade
  • ClusterTruck
  • Dark Souls III: Ashes of Ariandel
  • Dragon Ball: Xenoverse 2
  • Farming Simulator 17
  • Ginger: Beyond the Crystal
  • Just Dance 2017
  • Kings Quest Episode 5: The Good Knight
  • Mark McMorris: Infinite Air
  • Minecraft: Story Mode - A Telltale Games Series - The Complete Adventure
  • Monster Jam: Crush It
  • The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition
  • Titanfall 2

Wii U

  • Demonic Karma Summoner
  • Just Dance 2017
  • Solitaire

PS3

  • Just Dance 2017
  • Kings Quest Episode 5: The Good Knight
  • Minecraft: Story Mode - A Telltale Games Series - The Complete Adventure

Xbox 360

  • Just Dance 2017
  • Kings Quest Episode 5: The Good Knight
  • Minecraft: Story Mode - A Telltale Games Series - The Complete Adventure

3DS

  • Corpse Party

Vita

  • Exile's End
  • World of Final Fantasy
  • Yomawari: Night Alone

RIFT

  • Alice VR
  • Push For Emor

Vive

  • Alice VR
  • Carnival Games VR
  • Climbey
  • Ghost Town Mine Ride & Shootin' Gallery
  • Grave VR
  • Push For Emor
  • Yore VR

Comments

I think I'll take a pass this week. Exile's End is of interest to me while Yomawari is a Nippon Ichi horror game, which could be cool, maybe? Seriously, I'm curious as it appears you're a young girl with a flashlight trying to find your sister while avoiding Japanese folklore creatures. Maybe I won't pass on this week.

Only Ashes DLC because of the season pass. I haven't played for months.

Ashes DLC is in, since I got the pass a while ago. If I had some scratch to burn, Yomawari's been on my radar for a while, so that would definitely get my money. Alas, I am not spending on anything any time soon.

Guess it's time to dive back into some Dark Souls III. Please work, poise.

Corpse Party?

three things I already own: Batman Episode 3, Dark Souls 3 DLC and Skyrim: Shiny edition. If nothing else this'll be a relatively cheap week!

Nintendo is a strange bird, playfully maligned in general audiences yet unabashedly adored by series fans. Seems like you either get it or you don't, with little in between.

Also relevant.

MaxShrek wrote:

Corpse Party?

It sorta looks like a 16 big jrpg horror game.
IMAGE(http://a5.mzstatic.com/us/r30/Purple1/v4/05/d4/3c/05d43cac-9ea3-bfdc-88c5-630f87b69732/screen520x924.jpeg)

By employing Final Fantasy monsters as "equipment" when stacking, or strategically separating them all into individual characters in combat, the player can either dominate foes with powerful strikes or whittle them down for a weakened capture.

I just realized... this is basically a weird mash-up of a 'mon game with FF7's Materia system.

JohnKillo wrote:
MaxShrek wrote:

Corpse Party?

It sorta looks like a 16 big jrpg horror game.
IMAGE(http://a5.mzstatic.com/us/r30/Purple1/v4/05/d4/3c/05d43cac-9ea3-bfdc-88c5-630f87b69732/screen520x924.jpeg)

It is. It's been around for awhile on PC, PSP, and Vita and has spawned multiple sequels.

So, apparently, Clockwork Empires comes out tomorrow. Been waiting and waiting and waiting for that to leave EA.

It's more or less being released into the wild even if it hasn't quite been fully baked. Or that's what Steam users mostly seem to be saying. I'll wait for you all to tell me if it's worth it.

So yeah, I'm really digging FS17 at this point.

I was expecting an incremental step up from FS15, yet instead got even more than I anticipated. Quality production this year, top to bottom.

Big thanks to Greg "Doubtingthomas396" Decker & Co. letting me nerd-out on my fave IP!

Cheers.

garion333 wrote:

So, apparently, Clockwork Empires comes out tomorrow. Been waiting and waiting and waiting for that to leave EA.

It's more or less being released into the wild even if it hasn't quite been fully baked. Or that's what Steam users mostly seem to be saying. I'll wait for you all to tell me if it's worth it.

That's been on my radar for a long time, but I'm definitely still in "wait and see" mode even though it's finally getting a proper release.

Aaron D. wrote:

So yeah, I'm really digging FS17 at this point.

I was expecting an incremental step up from FS15, yet instead got even more than I anticipated. Quality production this year, top to bottom.

Big thanks to Greg "Doubtingthomas396" Decker & Co. letting me nerd-out on my fave IP!

Cheers.

I second that assessment. I was expecting FS15 with new skins, and instead it's like they added a whole new game on top of the old one.

Also, the community spotlight GOTWs are a team effort of Wordsmythe, Ccesarano, Felix Tgreepaper and me, so I'll spread your thanks out accordingly.

garion333 wrote:

It's more or less being released into the wild even if it hasn't quite been fully baked. Or that's what Steam users mostly seem to be saying. I'll wait for you all to tell me if it's worth it.

Well that team did support Dungeons of Dredmore for a long time didn't they?

shoptroll wrote:
garion333 wrote:

It's more or less being released into the wild even if it hasn't quite been fully baked. Or that's what Steam users mostly seem to be saying. I'll wait for you all to tell me if it's worth it.

Well that team did support Dungeons of Dredmore for a long time didn't they?

For quite a while, and very generously. They're a fun team and very player-conscious. I really hope the Clockwork Empires reviews are positive-leaning to give me an excuse to support them.

danopian wrote:
shoptroll wrote:
garion333 wrote:

It's more or less being released into the wild even if it hasn't quite been fully baked. Or that's what Steam users mostly seem to be saying. I'll wait for you all to tell me if it's worth it.

Well that team did support Dungeons of Dredmore for a long time didn't they?

For quite a while, and very generously. They're a fun team and very player-conscious. I really hope the Clockwork Empires reviews are positive-leaning to give me an excuse to support them.

Dredmor was a full game though, from many accounts this seems a bit like a failed venture. These types of games are notoriously difficult to make and the team is releasing the 1.0 as a way to move forward. They're probably not right this minute dropping support for the game, but move forward they will be. Practical decision, I'm sure.