Move over Stardew, there’s a new farming sim coming for your bag. Heavily inspired by 90’s anime and farm-sim RPGs, Fields of Mistria is a nostalgic game. Start your new life! Build the farm of your dreams as you discover a world brimming with possibilities. Magic, romance, and adventure all await you in this nostalgic farming / life sim RPG!
About Fields of Mistria
Mistria, an idyllic village tucked between forest and sea, has offered the player an overgrown but full-of-potential homestead in exchange for their assistance. The player will help to restore the town to its former glory after an earthquake wreaks havoc and strange magic begins to flow through the land.
In this spiritual successor to the Farm-Sim RPGs of the late 90s & onward (Harvest Moon SNES through Stardew Valley) build the farm of your dreams as you discover magic, romance, and adventure!
Eligible Bachelors and Bachelorettes
Fields of Mistria has nine (known) marriageable characters to pursue and two secret love interests. The devs have been pretty tight lipped about the secret LIs, but in the demo there is a little purple heart (the marriage candidate indicator) next to a dragon god, so maybe we can smash a dragon!! A girl can dream!
There is a lot of variety among the marriage candidates, so there will be someone that’ll appeal to everyone.
Celine is sweet and friendly. Her family runs the General Store in town, when she isn’t working in the store she can be found out in nature or tending to her garden. With her cute design and sweet disposition, Celine gives 90s shojo heroine vibes.
Juniper is a mysterious sorceress who runs the town bath house and has the cutest doggo! This Queen looks like the villainess in every 90’s shojo anime, and even has the evil queen laugh *Oh ho ho ho* Sis is serving looks… I would follow her anywhere…
Reina works in the Sleeping Dragon Inn with the rest of her family (her mama and daddy are fine…mmm). This cozy queen loves curling up by the fireplace on rainy days with a good book. Reina is absolutely adorable, with her dango buns, she is giving heavy Sailor Moon energy.
Valen runs the Mistria clinic, which has been run by her family for generations. She is super chill, preferring to be called by her name instead of Doctor. Valen is GORGEOUS, she reminds me a bit of Haruka from Sailor Moon. I’ll definitely go out of my way to faint in the mines just to see her. The devs have hinted that she is hiding a big secret… 🤔
March is the love of my life the village’s vain and grumpy blacksmith. He inherited the forge from his family and is renowned for his skills. March has a bit of an ego, so he comes off as a bit of a jerk to you at first, but you can wear him down. He is literally a combination of my Stardew Valley faves; the grumpy personality of Shane with the body of my himbo hottie, Alex. My guy is my literal bias! He had my heart at first insult. THIS MAN WILL BE MY WIFE!
Adeline is the daughter of a Baron and Baroness, so sis has money~ She and her brother Eiland are left in charge of managing Mistria after their parents return to the capital. Adeline has made it her life’s mission to revitalize the town and is responsible for your character coming to Mistria. She is a hardworking and very determined, though she can occasionally go a bit overboard.
Ryis works as a carpenter in the village alongside his uncle. He is sweet and good natured. Ryis will help you make additions to your farm. Though he’s the only addition I wanna make to my farm 😉. While March may be the bad boy himbo of my dreams, Ryis is the guy you bring home to meet your parents. This ebony king has my whole heart.
Hayden runs Sweetwater Farm and raises a number of animals, but his favorite is his prize chicken Henrietta. He’s friendly and bold, and especially loves a hard day’s work. In the demo this beautiful burly daddy rides up like a majestic king on a horse and I swooned. This is the kind of GROWN man I need in my life.
Balor is a travelling merchant who can often be found at the Sleeping Dragon Inn. With his salesman smile, and striking good looks, he is quite the charmer. He looks an awful lot like Xellos from Slayers, and I have to wonder if he is just as mysterious… But, I am a sucker for a flamboyant hair toss and a wink, so I am definitely going to keep an eye on Balor.
Eiland is the brother of Adeline and a bit of a nerd. He loves archaeology and is the head of the Mistria Historical Society. Eiland is a sweet, awkward soft boi nerd who you just can’t help but love. He is looking to uncover the secrets of Mistria. In the demo he uncovers the dragon god statue on your land.
There are two secret marriageable characters that will be available in the full game. Not much is known about who they are, but the dragon god, Caldarus does have marriage candidate heart indicator… so maybe they are one of them.
Fields of Mistria Features
- Customize your character , home and farm to suit your style!
- Farm, Fish, Mine & Craft your way to a revitalized town
- Find your ideal match with one of 12 marriage candidates (Note: Heart progression past 4 hearts and Marriage itself will be added via future updates.)
- Raise adorable animals & breed rare color variants
- Unlock magic that will aid you during farming & adventuring
- Enjoy the changing seasons with new quests, festivals, and even villager outfits!
- Get to know 30+ villagers and follow their stories
- Battle foes and discover treasures as you explore ancient ruins
- And so much more!
Thoughts on the Fields of Mistria Demo
Right from the start, the 90’s shojo aesthetic and soft pastels evoke the cozy vibes you’d expect from the farming-sim genre. Idyllic and inviting, Fields of Mistria has a different warmer vibe than the genre juggernaut Stardew Valley, which has a more rustic appeal. Of course by the very nature of the game, there will be more than a few comparisons to Stardew Valley, it’s an inevitability. Based on gameplay alone, there’s not too much that differentiates the two. Both see players moving to a quiet, tucked away town to start a farming adventure, get to know the various residents and maybe find love along the way. It’s a farming-sim, a bit of overlap is to be expected.
But, Fields of Mistria adds its own unique charm that sets it apart from its predecessors. In keeping with the 90’s shojo aesthetic, you can pursue your own magical girl dreams… at least on your farm. In a fun twist your farmer can use magic to assist you with farming and during your adventures. The demo has two spells you can use that help speed up the growth of your plants—a godsend for farming adverse gamers like me, who hate waiting days for crops to be ready for harvest.
Of course other genre staples are all here in Mistria, but with small tweaks here and there to make them feel fresh. The player can actually swim across rivers and lakes, which is something I always wanted to do in Stardew but couldn’t! Jumping across small chasms and along rock paths are also welcome additions to the game.
Fishing is also available in the demo, catch fish in the various rivers and ponds to eat, sell, or if you’re like me horde in chests for a rainy day. The fishing mechanic (at least in the demo) is much more user friendly than Stardew Valley and even more so than the Persona series. A blessing, truly!
If you’re more of the adventurous sort, you can explore the mines of Mistria. Explore the mines, uncover hidden treasures, and combat monster that dwell in the depths. Farming-sim veterans will be familiar with mine exploration, but Fields of Mistria does attempt to challenge players by including chasms to jump over and upping the monster combat. Also if you wanna unlock your inner Pokemon master, you can even catch and collect bugs around Mistria.
The usual quests are there too, so if you’re feeling helpful, you can assist the townsfolk with various tasks and missions for rewards. I’m not one for helping others in games so I tend to push quests to the bottom of my list of things to do. But, don’t be like me, help the villagers.
But, where Fields of Mistria really shines is in its diverse and attractive cast of characters. Most of the character designs are inspired by 90’s anime—sorceress supreme Juniper bears a striking resemblance to a shojo villainess, Balor is giving Xellos from Slayers energy, and Reina is rocking a variation of Usagi’s signature dango bun hairstyle.
Beyond their looks, I love each and every one of the characters I encountered in the demo. The side characters are baddies in their own right, and there were more than a few that I wished were marriage candidates. Yes, I’m looking at you Olric, they are too fine NOT to be romanceable 😭
The bachelors and bachelorettes of Mistria are all tasty morsels in their own right and I will admit I am gonna try to catch em all in the full game. Though I do have my favorites. March is my bias; cute, rude, and redheaded…say less. Hayden is the bear daddy of my dreams. Valen makes me want to drop to my knees. And me and Reina are gonna be besties. But, trust me when I say all the marriage candidates are worth getting to know!
The Fields of Mistria demo only covers the first three days of in-game story, which for a farming sim is extremely short. One run is not enough time to explore most of the features packed into the game, so you’ll definitely have to play through it a few times to see everything. So be sure to download the demo before it leaves Steam on June 17th!
I’m still pretty new to farming-sims, but from what I’ve seen, Fields of Mistria has my full and undivided attention. It’s a loving homage to farming-sims classics like Harvest Moon SNES and more modern titles like Stardew Valley, with a soft pastel charm. Whether you’re new to the genre or a veteran, Fields of Mistria is definitely something you want to keep your eye out for, especially when it hits early access on Steam on August 5th!
OMG, this looks so cute! I’m a huge fan of Stardew Valley, but I’ve already played through it like 5 times and it’s getting a little stale. I would totally play this game.
I’m still pretty new to Stardew so the fatigue hasn’t hit just yet, but I definitely want to try out new games too. Mistria is really cute, I hope you enjoy it when you give it a play!
I can definitely tell this was hugely inspired by a lot of 90s anime designs. Can’t say I’ve played any farming sims though.
I’ve only really played Stardew, but I really enjoy it! It’s a lot of extra work with farming and maintaining everything, but it can be a lot of fun.
Gotcha. I haven’t been gaming as much as I used to even though I found my Genesis Nomad and got that working again which was a huge nostalgia trip! I’ll keep that title in mind if I fully return to video games.
Yeah, I get taking gaming breaks but when you come back to it, there are so many great titles waiting!
Sure thing, and I’ll keep that in mind. Funny enough, I still have a Genesis Nomad which still works and played some NBA Hangtime one day.
The art style honestly reminds me a lot of Coffee Talk, which also seems to have a 90’s/early 00’s feel to it. I never got super heavily into farming sims and I can’t imagine this would change my mind, but it does look very cozy so I’m sure my friends will have a great time with it.
Yeah it definitely has that vibe, which is a huge part of the overall appeal. I’m not a huge farming sim player, I’ve only played stardew, but Mistria really caught my eye. I want to see what it has to offer
I will definitely buy this! I love the Haverst Moon/Story games, and Mistria has exactly what it doesn’t have that I couldn’t like in Stardew, the look. This look and the character sprites are adorable!
I’m still pretty new to farming games, so the 90s aesthetic is what initially pulled me in. But, after playing the demo, this might be replacing Stardew