Game: Mirthwood
Genre: RPG, Farming Sim
System: Steam (Windows)
Developers | Publishers: Bad Ridge Games | V Publishing
Controller Support: No
Price: US $TBC | UK £TBC | EU € TBC
Release Date: November 6th, 2024
A review code was provided; many thanks to Vicarious PR.
Mirthwood is a 2024 RPG life sim game developed by Bad Ridge Games and released by V Publishing.
The Premise of Mirthwood
In Mirthwood, we play as refugees from a continent enveloped by war, finding a new home and having adventures in a new land. We experience life in a medieval fantasy world where we can choose what we want to do and who we want to be. We can play as farmers, manage a farm, plant and harvest crops, rearing animals, and craft items and gear. We can travel the land, discover new towns, trade our goods, forge relationships, hunt animals, forage herbs, solving mysteries.
Gameplay
Since Mirthwood is a true RPG, we start with character creation. We have an excellent selection of options to change our character’s appearance. We also get to choose our character’s origin story—their land of origin, their background, and their class.
The controls are simplified. Movement is done with WASD on the keyboard, and interaction is with E and the mouse for foraging, planting, fighting, and basically everything else. Clicking M on the keyboard raises the map, and I—the inventory.
As mentioned above, we have a wide variety of activities in the new land, such as foraging food, building things, rearing animals, interacting with other people, and so on. Talking to people can also trigger starting quests, which, once completed, can earn us rewards.
If we choose, we can wander around the map, collecting resources and exploring. It is good to know that as charming as Mirthwood is, it is still dangerous, and one can meet an opponent or two more tough or prepared than we can handle. Running away from such a capable foe is possible, though not very easy—it requires the player to have the foe outside the frame; otherwise, they don’t give up.
An interesting addition is the cheat code—ctrl + F9 on the keyboard—which creates a few chests with much-needed resources, gear, and money. While Mirthwood is not precisely difficult, it can still be helpful to get some items for free.
Some Other Things
Mirthwood features a gorgeously hand-drawn world with a giant map containing all kinds of terrain—six different regions—including mountains, savannas, forests, etc. The art style is well chosen to suit the idea of playing a medieval fantasy RPG. The experience is enriched by changing seasons and the passing of time. Each season has its distinct weather patterns.
Mirthwood employs a manual saving system, which means you must hit save before you exit the game. The game has basic audio and graphics settings. As of yet, it does not have Steam achievements or trading cards.
The game has some minor bugs but nothing game-breaking, and the developers have been continuously patching it since the end of summer. Each new update brings gameplay and quality-of-life fixes. If you’ve followed the game development, Mirthwood was supposed to launch at the end of September, but the developers delayed the launch until the beginning of November. It was an admirable decision, as it gave them ample time to address any problems, and it shows. Having played the previous version of the game and expecting the same stuttering, I was pleasantly surprised when nothing like that happened this time around.
Conclusion
Mirthwood has the makings of a very good life sim game. It heavily reminds me in the best possible way of Echoes of Plum Grove, another fantasy life sim RPG that I reviewed this year. If you love crafting and adventuring, the freedom to choose your own path, a beautiful and unique art style, great music, and attention to detail, I think you’ll love Mirthwood.
Final Verdict: Two Thumbs Up: 
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