Farming Simulator 17

released on Oct 25, 2016

Farming Simulator 17 invites you into the challenging world of a modern day farmer. Take on all the challenges of farming life, including animal husbandry, crops, sales, and woodcutting. You decide how you want to manage and grow your farm in a huge, open world!


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(Never played any of the previous or later entries, so I can’t say how it compares)
When one thinks of farming, they probably imagine monotonous and boring labour in an overall dull environment. Well, safe to say that Farming Simulator 17 manages to capture that feeling perfectly.
But seriously, I am definitely not the target audience for this type of game. I played it for around 10 hours before I quit. Still, I believe my opinion can be of some use.
If you read the title, you can probably guess what this game is about. (Hint: It's farming) Is it a good farming game? No idea it’s the only one I’ve ever played, but considering there are newer titles in this franchise with more features, you are probably better off with them. Unless you have some weird, deep nostalgia for 2016.

Story
Big surprise – there is no story.

Mechanics and gameplay
You see, FS 17 isn’t boring per se. Yes, the gameplay can be somewhat monotonous, but there is a sort of Zen feeling to farming. You get to slowly build up your farm by getting new equipment, more fields, and expanding into other agricultural sectors. There is also the problem – there is no end goal, no incentive to actually do this.
Simulator games like FS 17 rely entirely on their mechanical gameplay to keep the player engaged. If the player is like me and isn’t actually interested in farming, they will inevitably stop playing before they have seen everything the game has to offer.

Graphics/Artstyle
Probably its biggest flaw. FS 17 looks incredibly dull. Not ugly, just boring and flat. Now that I think about, it reminds me of those low-quality 3D mobile games.

Atmosphere/Immersion
Can’t say anything here. Even if I was ever emersed, by now I’ve forgotten about it.

Soundtrack
The only music I can find that has any connection to FS 17 is the main menu theme and a few radio stations. So, I guess my favourite part would be “Farming Simulator 17 Main Theme” as that appear to be the only music produced for the game. Honestly, it’s not even that bad.

Final Thoughts
Back in 2016 I had the choice between this and Battlefield 1. I can’t even say I regret it. It's not that I hate Battlefield, it's just the thought of me spending an absurd amount of time of that game, just doesn’t sit well.

This game really holds a place in my heart, but some of the smaller details or lack thereof make the game a little frustrating at times, and mean that it doesn't quite hold up quite as well especially compared to FS19 or 22.

As a non-farmer, one may see a tractor and wonder what it would be like to be a farmer (in a romanticized way). People like this will fall into two camps.
1) They will play this game, find the waiting boring and stop after a couple of hours.
~OR~
2) They will play this game, and find that a week has passed, a radio sits beside them, and the only thoughts that fill their mind are the Barley prices going down right as the harvest was finishing up.

I was #2, and I want to go back...

this game is so funny when you play with your brother behind you and he crashes his fucking tractor

legit the funniest game i have ever played i played about 5 hours with my friend one time and we could not stop laughing it was so much fun (got it for free so +1/2)