I don’t know if you have noticed a strange phenomenon: the more casual the game, the higher the liver.
Not to mention games like “Stardew Valley Story” or “Ranch Story” that grow vegetables day and night to support their families. Even games like “Animal Crossing” that synchronize with real time to slow down players have many players staying up late to build islands.
It can be said that “cultivating immortality until dawn” has become the norm for farming players. However, what kind of experience would it be to cultivate immortality in a farming game?
Recently, on April 28th, “Yi Fang Ling Tian”, a cultivation-themed farming game produced by the domestic production team 2P Games, finally launched a preview experience on Steam.
The fusion of elements of cultivation and farming seems to be another good theme that directly hits Chinese people’s XP
Many farming enthusiasts have been paying attention to this game since its debut at the Weplay game show in 2019. More players have also learned more about the game at these Steam trial festivals or the recent Bilibili high-energy game festival.
After three years, the game has finally released an early access version. As a farming enthusiast who is very interested in cultivating immortality, I will have a fun experience of “immortal farming”.
Antique farming experience
When I first entered the game, although the graphics were not very exquisite, a letter from a fellow daoist and the large-scale Guiyun Sect also pulled me into this antique world of xianxia. As the protagonists, we, as a scattered cultivator with great talent in “spiritual plants”, rushed to Guiyun Sect to become outer disciples.
However, unexpected events happen. Before we could even join the sect, the plot took a big turn – a big crack appeared between heaven and earth, countless meteorites fell, hundreds of towers and pavilions collapsed, and the Gui Yun sect became ruins in an instant.
Faced with such a scene, I believe that players will not back down, but immediately feel a sense of mission with heavy responsibilities. Like their companions who have not yet entered the door, they begin to rebuild the Guiyun faction.
As a farming game, planting crops is definitely essential. When you come to Shanlan Valley, after your senior brother helps to build a small wooden house, a large piece of land in front of the door is entirely at your own disposal.
Interestingly, players can experience the joy of cultivating immortality through some small “immortal techniques”.
For example, this sprinkler gourd, after long pressing E, can summon thundercloud sprinkler, and use “mind” to control for a period of time, it is very convenient to use.
As for the “ripening” method in crop cultivation, the game also designs a “harvest symbol” to ripen crops through the “fairy method”, which is eye-catching.
It is worth mentioning that although the game is slightly rough in terms of graphics and character modeling, the BGM is surprisingly comfortable. In different scenes, the background music styles are different and can be perfectly integrated.
At the same time, similar to Dongsen’s hourly music, the music in the morning and evening also has corresponding changes in tone in “A Spiritual Field” (although the switching is a bit stiff). The music in the morning and afternoon is relatively lively, while dusk and night are more quiet.
When I go fishing alone in the valley late at night, accompanied by harmonious and peaceful music, I feel a sense of leisure like “singing a song and drinking a bottle of wine, fishing alone in autumn”. This greatly increases the immersion of the game, allowing players to immerse themselves in this ancient world.
It can be said that in the era of the emergence of farming games, having seen farming games with European and American styles and fantasy styles, being able to play a game that fully restores ancient farming is indeed a familiar yet very fresh experience for domestic players.
Gathering the strengths of many families “gameplay
In addition to farming, in ” a spiritual field , there are more interesting gameplay and content.
Fishing is definitely an indispensable part. As someone who has been trained in Animal Crossing, after becoming familiar with the sound of fish being hooked, there is no pressure in fishing. If there were no physical limitations, I could fish all day.
Interaction with characters is also essential. In the game, exquisite illustrations and dubbing that match the character design also show great sincerity.
Through “Feihe Message”, I can occasionally receive kind gifts from senior brothers and sisters. Although the love system has not yet been activated, I believe that after the official version, these NPCs in the game can also become the “white moonlight” in the hearts of many players.
Secretly confess to Brother Yuanzhou
Personally, I think the most interesting thing is the cooking gameplay. It’s similar to the gameplay in “Naughty Kitchen”, where players have to process ingredients in order and finally make dishes. The various processing methods are clearly classified.
It seems simple, just put the ingredients in the corresponding location for processing, but to get a high score, you need to think carefully about how to arrange your time. Just like you can cut vegetables quickly when steaming or boiling, which can save a lot of time.
Of course, as a cultivation game, combat is also an inevitable gameplay.
Players can enter the mine through the cave in the upper right corner of Shanlan Valley, kill monsters, collect materials, and also increase their cultivation to prepare for breaking through the realm.
However, when it comes to combat, we have to mention one thing about the game that is worth complaining about: the game is really “anti- human ” in operation.
Not to mention the awkward feeling of “twisting the left hand together” when cutting down trees, knocking stones, and planting during land reclamation, the E key is used for interaction such as harvesting, and the F key is used for harvesting. Once you get used to it, you can still accept it.
However, during the battle, I had to switch back and forth between battle states using the Tab key. Fighting and collecting often made me flustered, and the tedious operation also made me worry about getting tenosynovitis over time (not really)
I have to say, after adding the spell, my left hand twisted even harder
The game is also made slightly rough in terms of combat. The fixed bird’s-eye view makes some rocks in the cave occasionally block the picture; and the height difference of the terrain also makes players experience the phenomenon of “hitting but not causing damage” during combat.
The platform that blocked most of the interface
After discussing the areas that need to be complained about, let’s get back to the game content.
Believe that players who love farming are mostly interested in decorating their homes. In the game, a mature home system is also set up. Various furniture and decorations meet the needs of decoration enthusiasts.
As the game progresses, you can also expand your own house in the future, making custom homes more possible.
Speaking of expansion, don’t forget our original intention of staying in Shanlan Valley – to rebuild Guiyun Temple.
Players can choose to repair the corresponding buildings in the scenic area, and this business model can also allow players to experience the joy of growing together.
It can be seen that the game is still very rich in gameplay. In “Yi Fang Ling Tian”, you can see many shadows of similar games. Based on the ancient style, the game integrates various gameplay and expands the breadth of gameplay and content by “combining the strengths of many families”.
Cultivation elements floating on the surface
However, as a game in the EA stage, “Yi Fang Ling Tian” still has many limitations in terms of content. For example, tools can only be upgraded to ordinary levels at most, and mining can only go down to the seventh level. The ultimate goal of rebuilding the Guiyun faction is still a distant matter for now.
The most important thing is that currently, there is too little content about cultivating immortality in the game.
Perhaps for this reason, when I played for five or six hours in one breath, I realized that I seemed to have forgotten that this was a game with a “cultivation” theme.
When browsing through Steam reviews, it is not difficult to find that players are indignant about being a “big victim” in the game.
Many players start the game because of the theme of cultivation. Although it is a theme of cultivation, what they want is to “have fun”. As a result, in the game, not only can they not “guide the country”, but they are even treated like cattle and horses. This contrast also makes the positive feedback of the game almost non-existent, and it also makes players feel tired easily when playing.
There are countless tasks waiting for you, a big fool, to do
Think carefully, you who do everything, are you the outer disciple in the “Great Cultivation Simulator “? Because you are outstanding in all aspects, you have become a “jack-of-all-trades” role, completing every task by yourself. It is really worthy of the title of “great injustice”.
I think the reason for this situation is that, from the current perspective, the “cultivation” element in the game is too shallow. The realm that can be broken through in the game is still in the late stage of Qi cultivation, and at this level, it is indeed still in the stage of “outer disciple emulator”.
For the same reason, the game’s integration between cultivation and traditional farming is still quite stiff.
Everyone has climbed onto the theme of “cultivating immortality”, yet they still have to manually farm and work from sunrise to sunset, which seems somewhat out of place.
Actually, as of now, the game is essentially a traditional Simulated Operation game. Judging from the gameplay of farming alone, the efficiency of repetitive operations in the game is very low, and there is no sign of automated agriculture in the future. The only place where the power of cultivation can be reflected is still in farming. Although using the Harvest Talisman is very enjoyable, does cultivating immortality only make crops mature?
But it’s really cool, I want other talismans!
As a game with a cultivation theme, the superficial cultivation elements make the game inevitably boring in the later stages. The lack of imagination in cultivation ability has also become a criticism for many players who start with “cultivation”.
Fortunately, the production team can humbly accept the suggestions put forward by the players. The production team is currently very active in responding to the players’ suggestions and has launched a follow-up update plan.
The “breadth” of gameplay in the game gives “Yi Fang Ling Tian” a fairly complete and excellent framework. However, in order to receive better reviews, the production team needs to continue to work on “depth”.
Whether the official version of “Yi Fang Ling Tian” is a completely “reskinned game” or a cultivation pleasure game with its own innovation depends on whether the production team has such great “ambition” and ability.
Summary
Overall, as a farming game, “Yifang Lingtian” is definitely qualified. It draws on the excellent aspects of other games. When playing the game for the first time, there is a familiar addictive experience that makes people want to work on it for several days and nights. However, as a game with a “cultivation” theme, at present, the content of “Yifang Lingtian” in cultivation is too superficial.
If you are a farming enthusiast, then you can treat it as a “rune workshop” or ” Stardew Valley Story ” substitute “, rich game content, so that farming enthusiasts can also get a lot of fun in the game; But if you are for the theme of cultivation, then you might as well wait and see for a while, after all, even the foundation has not started, what is cultivation?
