| Farmagia | |
|---|---|
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| Developer(s) | Marvelous |
| Publisher(s) | |
| Director(s) | Hiromi Sakamoto |
| Producer(s) |
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| Designer(s) | Norikazu Miwa |
| Programmer(s) | Yoshiyuki Takahashi |
| Artist(s) | Hiro Mashima |
| Writer(s) |
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| Composer(s) |
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| Engine | Unity |
| Platform(s) | |
| Release |
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| Genre(s) | Action role-playing, farm life sim |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Farmagia (stylized in all caps) is a Japanese action role-playing video game developed and published by Marvelous, with character designs by Hiro Mashima. It was released worldwide for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5 and Steam on November 1, 2024. An anime television series adaptation produced by Bridge is scheduled to premiere in January 2025.
Gameplay
Farmagia is a single-player action role-playing game and farm life sim in which the player grows monsters from seeds. Monsters are divided into multiple categories: Battle Buddies, which are used to battle enemies encountered in mazes; Agri-Buddies, which assist the player with farming; and Research Buddies, which award points used to purchase additional farming and battle skills. Besides using monsters for offense and defense, the player can perform a Legion Attack, during which all of the player's monsters attack at once; a Unite Blitz, which combines monsters of the same type into a single, stronger Union Buddy; and a Fusion Summon, which combines all monsters of different types into a Fusion Buddy that targets all enemies on the battlefield.
The game's story is divided into twelve chapters, featuring 2D visual novel-style cutscenes. As the player progressese through the story, they form pacts with Elemental Spirits that unlock access to more Fusion Buddies. The game also features in an affection system in which the player upgrades their Fusion Buddies by deepening their relationships with a certain Elemental Spirit. Additionally, player characters and monsters receive temporary benefits by equipping Fairy Skills, which are acquired from fairies found in mazes or purchased from the shopkeeper Charlot, and are reset after the player exits a maze.
Plot
Setting and characters
Farmagia is set in Felicidad, a fictional land in the underworld where its human-like denizens magically farm and grow monsters to use in battle and society, with these farmers known as Farmagia. The land consists of five continents, with the town of Centvelt on the continent Avrion serving as the game's central hub. The continents are protected by the six Elemental Spirits, who strengthen any Farmagia with whom they form a pact.
The game's player characters are a party of Farmagia called the Dragons of Centvelt, which consist of their leader named Ten and his childhood friends from Centvelt's orphanage: Arche, a cheerful yet sickly girl; Leii, Ten's self-conscious best friend; Chica, Arche's pacifistic friend; Emero, an older brother figure to Chica; and Anzar, the group's admired senior member. Lookie-Loo, a fairy who lacks conventional Fairy Skills, is also part of the group. They are guided by Nares, Avrion's noble-minded ruling general, and Dentro, the orphanage's elderly caretaker.
The primary antagonists are Nares' fellow generals from the Oración Seis, who govern Felicidad's other continents on behalf of the underworld's ruler, the Magus Diluculum. The group's leader is Glaza, a tyrannical archmage who rules the continent of Nadeset'sya. The other generals are Lisan, a bewitching newcomer to the group who controls no continent; Manas, a mad scientist who rules Perfectus; Corpus, the brutish yet honorable ruler of Rahatluk; and L'Oreille, the treacherous ruler of Sonrisa. In addition, Glaza is served by Zanas, his armored second-in-command who hides his own identity.
Story
Following the Magus Diluculum's death, the Oración Seis general Glaza establishes an oppressive regime over Felicidad as its new Magus, while Nares leads Avrion in rebellion against him. Ten battles Glaza's legion when they invade Centvelt, but is defeated by Zanas. Nares rescues Ten and accepts him into Avrion's army alongside Leii, Arche, Chica, and Anzar. After driving Zanas's forces out of Avrion, Ten's party is entrusted with liberating other continents by freeing their Elemental Spirits' shrines from enemy control and eliminating their ruling Oración generals. They also reunite with their missing friend Emero, now a soldier of Perfectus, who defects to Avrion after learning that Manas has been turning his subjects into mindless demi-beasts in experiments to create the Hyperion, the ultimate Farmagia.
After killing Manas and Corpus, Ten's party learns that Glaza has blackmailed Arche into deciphering Diluculum's grimoire, which contains knowledge of the Harvest Festival, a spell that reaps the souls of every denizen and monster on a continent. During the party's operation on Sonrisa, L'Oreille murders Lisan and betrays Glaza in an alliance with Zanas, leaving Glaza to be killed by the party. In the process, Zanas is unmasked as Anzar, whom the party learns has been secretly working against Glaza and L'Oreille for his friends' protection. L'Oreille performs the Harvest Festival on Nadeset'sya before being killed by Ten's party, ending the war.
In the aftermath, Diluculum reveals himself to have faked his own death and consumed the souls reaped from the Harvest Festival to restore his youth. Abducting Nares and resurrecting the other generals, Diluculum transforms the Oración Seis into demi-beasts and sends them to rampage across Felicidad, forcing Ten's party to kill them while he prepares the Grand Harvest Festival, which would reap all souls in Felicidad. Through clairvoyant dreams experienced by Arche, the party learns that the archangels Diluculum and Eleonora created Felicidad and its denizens alongside Dentro—their seraph friend—after a failed uprising against God, who would consume human souls to amass power; when God afflicted Eleonora with a curse that rapidly aged her to death, Diluculum consumed her soul to keep her vital connection to the Elemental Spirits intact, which also passed her curse onto him. Driven mad with grief, Diluculum intends to strengthen himself with Felicidad's souls to kill God.
Diluculum successfully casts the Grand Harvest Festival after Dentro allows him to absorb his soul. Ten survives the spell by drawing strength from his friends, which transforms him into the Hyperion; meanwhile, Diluculum's strength quickly deteriorates due to him consuming Dentro's soul, unaware that Dentro's old age was a slowed effect of God's curse. Ten revives his friends, and together they defeat Diluculum and restore Felicidad along with the souls lost in the Grand Harvest Festival. Ten and his friends then become Felicidad's new leaders, returning the land to prosperity. In a post-credits scene, God's cherub messenger Chariel—who befriended Ten's party while disguised as the shop worker Charlot—chooses not to report Ten's transformation to God, sparing Felicidad from God's interference.
Development and release
The game was announced at the Marvelous Game Showcase in May 2023 under the title Project Magia, with Hiro Mashima designing the characters and monsters. The current title was revealed at the following showcase in May 2024 along with the game's release year and opening sequence. The game's theme song is "dis-dystopia", an image song performed by Ayane Sakura and Inori Minase as the characters Arche and Chica, respectively.
Farmagia was released worldwide on November 1, 2024, published by Marvelous for the PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, and Steam. Following the game's launch, Marvelous released weekly "buddy skins" for in-game monsters as free downloadable content throughout November 2024.
Reception
 | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (November 2024) |
| Aggregator | Score |
|---|---|
| Metacritic | NS: 65/100 |
| OpenCritic | 38% recommend |
| Publication | Score |
|---|---|
| Nintendo Life |   |
| RPGFan | 75/100 |
The Nintendo Switch version of Farmagia launched at #8 on Japanese charts, selling 4,296 physical copies within its first three days of release, making it the only new release to chart in the top ten games sold that week.
The game received "mixed or average" reviews according to review aggregator Metacritic. Reviewing the Switch version, Paulo Kawanishi of Nintendo Life praised the character designs, writing, and technical performance. However, he criticized the farming aspect of the game, noting the lack of diversity regarding the designs of its dungeons, monsters, and the farm itself. Leigh Price of Siliconera considered the game to be mediocre, calling its farming and training aspects "undercooked", but enjoyed the story and sidequests for their character writing.
Other media
| Farmagia | |
| Anime television series | |
| Directed by | Shinji Ishihira (chief) Toshihiko Sano |
|---|---|
| Written by | Toshizo Nemoto |
| Music by | Shūhei Mutsuki |
| Studio | Bridge |
| Licensed by | Crunchyroll |
| Original network | Tokyo MX, MBS, BS11 |
| Original run | January 10, 2025 – scheduled |
 Anime and manga portal | |
An anime adaptation was announced on June 20, 2024. The television series is animated by Bridge and directed by Toshihiko Sano, with Shinji Ishihira serving as chief director, Toshizo Nemoto handling the series composition, Toshiomi Iizumi designing the characters, and Shūhei Mutsuki composing the music. The Japanese voice cast reprises their roles from the game. It is scheduled to premiere on January 10, 2025, on Tokyo MX and other channels. The anime's opening theme is "Life is Beautiful" performed by Asian Kung-Fu Generation, while the ending theme is "miss-dystopia" performed by Sokoninaru. Crunchyroll will stream the series.
Notes
- Based on 5 reviews
- Based on 24 reviews
References
- https://marvelous-usa.com/2024/11/01/the-fight-to-save-felicidad-begins-today-monster-farming-and-action-game-farmagia-now-available/
- ^ Romano, Sal (June 18, 2024). "Farmagia launches November 1 for PS5, Switch, and PC". Gematsu. Retrieved November 10, 2024.
- ^ "Farmagia". Gematsu. May 25, 2023. Retrieved November 10, 2024.
- Price, Leigh (November 1, 2024). "How to Use Research Buddies in Farmagia". Siliconera. Retrieved November 10, 2024.
- ^ Kawanishi, Paulo (October 31, 2024). "Farmagia Review (Switch)". Nintendo Life. Retrieved November 7, 2024.
- Rizwan, Rabiya (November 2, 2024). "Farmagia: Fairy Skills, Explained". TheGamer. Retrieved November 10, 2024.
- Lada, Jenni (May 25, 2023). "Project Magia Features Hiro Mashima Art". Siliconera. Retrieved November 10, 2024.
- ^ Bueno, Daniel (May 30, 2024). "Project Magia Is Farmagia, Opening Animation Revealed". Siliconera. Retrieved November 10, 2024.
- Romano, Sal (November 7, 2024). "Farmagia free 'buddy skin' DLC to be released weekly from November 7 to 28". Gematsu. Retrieved November 10, 2024.
- ^ "Farmagia for Switch Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved November 12, 2024.
- "Farmagia Reviews". OpenCritic. Retrieved December 1, 2024.
- Kobylanski, Abraham (November 23, 2024). "Farmagia Review". RPGFan. Retrieved November 26, 2024.
- Romano, Sal (November 7, 2024). "Famitsu Sales: 10/28/24 – 11/3/24 [Update]". Gematsu. Retrieved November 9, 2024.
- Price, Leigh (November 11, 2024). "Review: Farmagia Is Far From a Bountiful Harvest". Siliconera. Retrieved November 11, 2024.
- ^ Loo, Egan (June 20, 2024). "Farmagia Game's Extended Trailer Unveils Asian Kung-Fu Generation's Theme Song, Anime Project". Anime News Network. Retrieved November 7, 2024.
- ^ Mateo, Alex (November 14, 2024). "Farmagia Anime's 1st Promo Video Reveals Cast, Staff, Theme Songs, January 10 Premiere". Anime News Network. Retrieved November 14, 2024.
- Cayanan, Joanna (December 18, 2024). "Farmagia Anime's 2nd Promo Video Previews sokoninaru's Ending Song". Anime News Network. Retrieved December 18, 2024.
- Pineda, Rafael Antonio (December 6, 2024). "Crunchyroll to Stream Grisaia: Phantom Trigger, Farmagia, Magic Maker, More Anime". Anime News Network. Retrieved December 6, 2024.
External links
- Official game website (in Japanese)
- Official game website (in English)
- Official anime website (in Japanese)
| Bridge | |
|---|---|
| Television series |
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| OVAs/ONAs |
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 Category | |
- Upcoming anime television series
- 2024 video games
- 2025 anime television series debuts
- Action role-playing video games
- Farming video games
- Anime television series based on video games
- Bridge (studio)
- Crunchyroll anime
- Farm life sim video games
- High fantasy role-playing video games
- Marvelous (company) games
- Monster-taming games
- Nintendo Switch games
- PlayStation 5 games
- Single-player video games
- Tokyo MX original programming
- Video games developed in Japan
- Windows games
- Xseed Games games