Farming Simulator 22 Review (PS5)

We live during crazy times, and more than ever before, people out there think that giving up on their homes in crowded urban regions for a small country house is just the right way to live their lives.

The exodus from large cities is happening no matter if we want to accept it or not, but unfortunately for some of us, getting a small piece of land and living as a traditional farmer isn’t always an option.

Not IRL, at least. And this is why Farming Simulator 22 is such an interesting concept.

Giants Software’s franchise is supposed to let us digitally make this dream happen. Own your land, work to produce your food and make money, and learn a lot about how to properly take care of your crops, these are all the engines that are powering an offbeat concept that people seem to love.

Farming Simulator 22 comes with a very impressive offering, and at first glance, it’s no wonder those who want to discover agriculture, animal husbandry, and forestry are typically very keen on trying out the new releases of the game.

First and foremost, Farming Simulator comes with no less than 400 machines and tools, including models from John Deere, CLAAS, Case IH, New Holland, Valtra, Massey Ferguson, and many others. There are over 100 real agricultural brands, and the new version adds new maps and crops.

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But the real big star of the show this year is the season support. More than ever, it’s now important to carefully plan your next move. You can only plant the seeds at the right time, though sometimes the crops feel like they’re growing way too slow. In other words, Farming Simulator 22 is now promising an experience that more accurately simulates what happens in the real life, though on the other hand, it somehow makes the game feel slower for long-time fans of the franchise.

The graphics aren’t impressive, but they’re not awful either. However, for a 2021 game running on new-generation consoles (I tried out the PS5 version), I clearly expected more, and in many cases, I didn’t notice any improvements from the previous titles.

On the other hand, Giants Software spent a little more time polishing the smaller details, and the vehicles in the game are now more accurate replicas of their real siblings. And given more tractors and machines have been added to the new version of the game, this was obviously a must-have.

The physics, however, leave a lot to be desired. And so do the game mechanics, which still feel very unpolished on many occasions. If you drive a tractor on a public road and hit anything, such as another car or a pole, it all feels like a ball hits another ball, and the collisions made me feel like I was playing the original Lotus game launched several decades ago.

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Farming Simulator is a highly complex game that’s not easy to play, no matter if you’re a novice or an experienced farmer. There’s a lot to learn, and while the developing team has tried to make everything as intuitive as possible, they actually failed to do so on too many occasions. In many regards, I feel like the game still hasn’t reached the level of its predecessor with mods, even if so many improvements have been included for high-end machines.

At the same time, the occasional glitches sometimes spoil all the fun and make Farming Simulator 22 extremely frustrating. The AI helpers are super-buggy, and they sometimes stop all of a sudden, therefore failing to complete their tasks. They also miss large parts of the fields they’re working on, and this doesn’t happen just on rare occasions.

There’s no way to enable a follow mode for these helpers, even though there are machines that would totally benefit from such a feature.

But what I think remains the main selling point of the game is its high complexity mixed with the often-painful learning curve. There’s a lot you need to learn in Farming Simulator 22, and while this could make some beginners walk away, it’s actually amazing how much you can end up discovering about crops, machines, tools, harvesting, and anything that’s related to the farming industry. It’s not always the most straightforward experience, but it’s a way to spend many hours without even thinking about the nightmare commute you’re struggling with every day IRL.

It’s not easy to master the art of farming, and learning how to properly use the equipment, plant the seeds at the right time, and use your tractors in a more effective way makes a huge difference.

In many regards, this is what’s making Farming Simulator 22 so special. I know there’s a lot to improve about it, though I enjoyed the new seasons, but the effort put into making it simulate a real farming experience is more than obvious. At least, for a beginner, as veterans clearly don’t enjoy the slower approach and the lack of refinements.

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The Good

The Bad

CONCLUSION