It should come as no surprise that I’m a huge fan of farm sim games. I’m going to play them all, especially ones that are on the Switch, no matter how good or bad they may be. I end up liking them all and if there’s one that’s unique or has a fresh spin on the genre, I end up liking them even more.

That’s where Kitaria Fables comes in. Most farm sim games don’t really deal with RPG elements. There are some games like Stardew Valley, Littlewood, and Atomicrops that use simplified battle mechanics, but Kitaria Fables goes the distance by being a full-fledged Action RPG and that was a concept that I really liked.

As a result, I knew that I really wanted to give the game a try and in the end, I was given a copy of the game by the publishers earlier this month and after playing for about two weeks I quickly saw that Kitaria Fables was definitely the best of both worlds when it came to being both a farm sim game, and an RPG and it ended up being pretty good too.

GRAPHICS: 9/10

The graphics for Kitaria Fables are definitely some of the best when it comes to the genre. It’s a really good blend between vivid 3D artwork and a simple style. When you’re playing a farming sim game, the focus isn’t always on the graphics. The gameplay comes first which is why games with bad graphics or games with simple, minimalistic, or retro graphics are still good. But with Kitaria Fables, the graphics are a step beyond in many cases.

For instance, as you walk around Paw Village, many of the house look really good and have their own charm and many of the character designs are good as well, especially when you’re talking to them and you see all the different images that show their reaction or expression.

There’s also plenty of beautiful imagery throughout the game and plenty of detail in some of the scenery and monsters. However, my favorite part when it comes to this aspect is how well the look makes me think back to some of my other favorite Switch games. For instance, the look of the town and monsters made me think of My Time at Portia and Dragon Quest 11 respectively. Some parts of the game were even reminiscent of Guardian’s Crusade, which to this day is my favorite game.

Overall, the game is full of color and lots of detail. It’s just a joy to look at and this category gets a 9 out of 10 from me.

SOUND: 10/10

Normally with a farm sim game you expect all the value to be out of the way that the game plays and looks, the sound isn’t always amazing. But I ended up really enjoying Kitaria Fables’ sound design a lot because there’s lots of great music and sounds throughout the game. In fact, out of all the indie games that I’ve ever played, I think that Kitaria Fables had some of the best use of sound. When it came to the sound design, there were three main talking points that I really liked.

1. The first point that I want to make is that the music is really good, a lot better than I thought it would be. I haven’t heard anything that I thought was truly iconic but almost all of the songs were fun and catchy. I remember when I first booted up the game, I stayed on the main menu screen for a few minutes so that I could listen to that song, which I really liked.

As I continued to play, I was introduced to more songs and I liked each of them for one reason or another. There was one song that really made me think back to the game Bully, and there was another song that played while you’re in Paw Village that probably ended up being my favorite of the whole soundtrack because of the beat. Overall, the soundtrack ended up being really good.



2. The second point that I wanted to make was is in regards to the combat sounds. One of the very first things that you do when you play the game is the combat tutorial in the form of rescuing a kid from some low level monsters. What I noticed is that depending on which way you’re facing when you swing your sword, you’ll hear it differently if you’re wearing headphones. You’d hear the music normally but you’d only hear the combat sounds through one side and I thought that was a really cool and subtle feature that added to the immersion.

3.The final point that I wanted to make is very small but was very cool to me and I can’t tell it’s in the game by design or if it was a cool coincidence. After playing for around an hour, I was running around in Paw Village and I started paying close attention to the sound of the footsteps. The actual footstep sound itself was soft and mixed well but I realized that after a few seconds, the sound of the footsteps caught up with the beat of the music and became in tune with it. At the time, that blew my mind and I thought it was really cool.

There’s a bunch of other things going on when it comes to sound but these three were the big ones and I think that these alone are enough to carry the category and make the game feel great. Once you add in all the other small sound details, and the sound design becomes as perfect and it can be and gets a 10 out of 10 from me.

STORY: 8/10

There’s actually quite a bit to the story that’s thrown at you right at the start and you quickly learn a lot about what’s going on. This is what gives the game the most RPG feel for me because not that many games in the genre do a ton when it comes to story. With games like Stardew Valley or the newest Story of Seasons, it’s just you taking over a farm, interacting with the town residents, and a few minor story things here and there.

But with Kitaria Fables, the story has a way more interactive and personal approach. You learn a lot about a great calamity that happened long ago. You learn about the troubles Paw Village faces with nearby monsters. You’re dispatched to the village to help fight the monsters. You learn that those who sent you there might not be exactly who they seem. You learn that your grandfather was a magic user, which happens to be illegal. That’s a lot of story content to take in and all that happens within the first two hours, with the bulk of the RPG elements beginning afterwards.

The story is good and it takes place in a really well thought out world that has lots of backstory and lore for you to uncover and many monsters to uncover and defeat for a variety of reasons while you take care of your farm. Kitaria Fables really is the best of both worlds because you get a good farming sim mixed with an RPG that checks all the boxes. Story gets an 8 out of 10 from me.

ADDICTIVENESS: 9/10

The only thing that you might not come to like in Kitaria Fables is the travelling because for the most part, you’ll find yourself running through areas of different sizes going where you need to go. There is a way to fast travel but you have to be at specific teleport structures to do so and you have to unlock each structure before you can use it. In my case for example, it took me a couple hours to unlock the first one outside of Paw Village so the game really was a lot of walking.

Other than that, there’s a lot to enjoy. If you put an hour or two into the game during each session, it’s going to be a very long time before you get bored, especially if you’re a fan of both farm sims and RPG’s. If you’re a farm sim fan, you’re going to really like the farm and spend many hours planting your crops and mining. But if you’re more of the RPG fan, then you’re going to love going into one area and spending as much time asn you can fighting monsters and working on your stats.

Each side of the coin has aspects that will keep fans engaged and if you are one of those types of players who love both genres, then you might easily be able to spend dozens of hours across the land. Not only that, but the clever writing, fun characters, good music, and In depth storytelling will make sure that you can’t put the game down. The game is very well balanced between the two genres and is lots of fun.

DEPTH: 9/10

The game does have a decent amount of stuff going on when it comes to depth. Obviously the thing that jumps out at the start is the fact that it’s both a full fledged farming sim while also a full fledged RPG at the same time. That’s not done often and opens the door for you to be able to do more things than if it was one or the other. As for the game itself, the map is pretty big with a large number of places to explore outside of Paw Village with a decent collection of monsters and bosses for you to fight.

One aspect of Kitaria Fables that I really enjoyed was the fact that you can change your appearance on the fly by going into your house. You can choose between eight different types of adorable cats to use as your skin and with the launch of the game comes an assortment of DLC that adds even more customization options. You get a lot of options with the base game but the Deluxe Edition normally costs $25 and comes with 15 different customization options such as skins, wings, and headgear in addition to the game. Until the game is released, the Deluxe Edition costs $20, which is the normal price for the game by itself.

Then you have a lot going on when it comes to the farming side. There’s lots of different things you can grow on your farm and lots of different items for you to collect from fighting monsters.

DIFFICULTY: 3/10

Kitaria Fables is only as difficult as you allow it to be. Fighting might get hard at times, especially since some monstera might take a really long time to beat. But as long as you are patient and dodge attacks, every monster can be defeated no matter how strong or weak you may be. Once you learn about all the different skills that you can use and the different stats that you possess, many battles will also become a lot easier and quicker in due time.

The farming aspect of the game is also very straightforward and easy to get into a groove with once you figured out what your best options are. All in all, the game is pretty easy and will mostly just require some patience or a little bit of grinding in some areas.

OVERALL: 9/10

Overall, there are many good aspects of Kitaria Fables and if one or two things don’t stand out or seem to drag the game down for you, there are other aspects that will. I felt that way every now and then with the gameplay and battles slowing down at times but then the music would keep me energetic and wanting to play more.

All in all, it’s a very good mix between both farm sim and RPG and delivers a very good experience whether you’re looking to relax on your farm or fight for your life in the caves and fields. The game itself is also relatively cheap and worth every penny and overall, Kitaria Fables gets a 9 out of 10 from me.

zanderlex : Nice review I'm gonna have to check this one out. The combat looks pretty fun, I wasn't able to finish stardew valley due to just getting burnt out on the overall repetition of it, and the combat in stardew valley is of course not a focus gameplay wise. I wonder how this game will compare to rune factory 5 once that get's localized for us english speakers, considering Kitaria is 20 bucks and rune factory will likely be 3 times that.