Hello and welcome to The Backlog, where we review video games based on a certain genre each month. As the last edition of March, we’re wrapping up our reviews on simulator games. For those who fantasize about living on a farm away from city life, “Farming Simulator 19” might be for you, given you know how to drive a stick shift.
Released at the end of 2018 by Focus Entertainment and developed by GIANTS Software, “Farming Simulator 19” captured my interest for being an escape from suburban life. Playable on PS4, PS5, Steam and Xbox Series X and S, “Farming Simulator 19” is everything you’d expect from a name like that. Players can enjoy owning acres of land and grow any crop they wish, along with driving heavy machinery for planting and harvesting said crops.
Instead of solely relying on profits from harvesting crops, you can also raise livestock and even ride horses. The machinery is based on real-world brands, such as John Deere, Case IH and New Holland. These brands offer tractors and extensions for many crops. “Farming Simulator 19” has 11 crops: wheat, canola, barley, oats, corn, soybeans, sunflowers, potatoes, sugar beet, sugarcane and cotton. Each one ranges in the amount of time it takes to grow and how you should prepare for them.
Players will find that the game is unfortunately accurate in the world of agriculture. A lot of money is put into farming with small profits in the short run. It takes a while for real profits to be seen, not to mention that there are many expenses involved. You will make regular trips to the gas station to fill up any vehicles, along with realizing that driving tractors with a trailer is more difficult than you’d expect. Being in the third-person camera makes driving immensely easier, as compared to the first-person camera where you can enjoy the full tractor experience.
Luckily, “Farming Simulator 19” allows you to change a lot of aspects of the game, one that many new players will find they change is crop destruction and weeds. Crop destruction refers to how you may accidentally destroy your crops (or other farms as well) with the wrong equipment. Weeds appear in your plots if your crops have been ready to harvest for too long.
Players can earn money by harvesting crops and selling them at various price points. Generally, each sale point accepts the basic crops, but four specialized sale points accept specified goods. The Spinnery accepts wool and cotton; the Barn takes loose grass, hay, straw and silage; the Sawmill accepts wood chips and the Biogas Plant takes silage, slurry and manure. It should be noted that the sale prices fluctuate, so players should view all the prices listed at each of the sale points to garner the most profit. This could involve driving around to different locations for each type of crop sold, but the benefit is seen in your wallet.
There is a bit of a learning curve with “Farming Simulator 19.” Navigating the store can be annoying as there are many options and it doesn’t overtly tell you what equipment you need. Sometimes it can feel overwhelming as there are too many options for each type of machinery. Not to mention how many controls are associated with each vehicle. There is a long list of controls when players operate vehicles. If you aren’t fork-lift certified it could cause players to stop and try to remember which button does what constantly.
There are easy jobs that players can accept while waiting for their crops to harvest. Given that you have the correct equipment, players can accept contracts from other farms to complete a specific task. Sometimes this involves harvesting their fields or plowing them; either way I found that it’s a good way to become accustomed to the controls of your vehicles. It’s an easy way to make more money while waiting for your own harvest.
Rating: 2.5/5