The Southfield demo recently released as a part of Steam Next Fest, but we had the privilege of receiving a code early from the developer Radical Forge. I will give my first impressions of the game in its demo form.
Southfield was originally announced in January and appeared to be a cute game revolving a lot around farming. The developer, Radical Forge, had previously worked on Bright Paw, along with helping to develop other games like Gang Beasts.
Serenity
It’s really the best word I can use to describe Southfield. It is an extremely calm and peaceful game that has you play as a ragdoll-acquainted creature as you set out to farm, explore, and interact on a mysterious island. I use the word “mysterious” intentionally as there does appear to be a mystery afoot regarding the island. However, as the player, your number one priority to start is to farm.
The tutorials in Southfield for activities, including farming, are very good. They offer an explanation for what you are to do while accompanying it with a video demonstration. I found this helpful as I was learning the controls and getting my bearings. Speaking of controls, they are easy to grasp and feel very natural, especially for things like rolling (your main movement tool). I found rolling around at a fast pace to be very fun, and the silly ragdoll physics helped to compliment that. I should mention I was playing on a controller as the game suggested.
Speaking more specifically to farming, the system for it is simple and effective. You take seeds that you can acquire from various sources and plant them on a section of dirt that you have already prepared with your plow. You water them, and after a bit of time, you will be able to harvest them. I enjoyed the loop of planting and harvesting and found it very satisfying. There is also a large variety of plants you can cultivate, which spices things up.
On the topic of variety, the characters already on the island are all very different from each other. For example, one character is a robot and another character is a person made of oak. All of the characters are silly like that and interacting with them is made more fun because of that.
There is also a building system that I would like to mention that is simple yet satisfying. With it, you are able to gather materials on the island and use them to build things such as a house. I found the process of gathering building materials and then being proud of my finished build to be a fulfilling experience.
On a more general level, the music and graphics seem expertly crafted, as both complement each other extremely well. The graphics are whimsical, and the music being cheerful and calming, makes it a very pleasant experience.
Overall, Southfield shows promise as a quirky and fun farming-centric game. I found the demo very enjoyable and recommend anyone looking for a cute adventure to try it out and follow the game to where it goes next.
The Southfield demo is available on Steam through Steam Next Fest.
