My previous introduction to farming simulators was watching Twitch Streamer Ruby Juice, an ex-dairy farmer who provided unique insight into the game and machines and a wealth of knowledge. That knowledge and interest aided me in getting into Farming Simulator 19 and excited me to see the latest release, Farming Simulator 25.
Having not played a Farming Sim for a time, I decided to select the tutorial and choose the farming village I would work with. I chose the first of the three new maps and learned about the controls, tractors, and other equipment. My in-game grandfather talked me through the latest farm and the systems accessible in the menu. The first task was getting the tractor, attaching the plough, and ploughing a field; the second was to attach the seeding trailer and seed the recently ploughed field, and the third was to use the harvester to harvest a field. Finally, I unloaded the harvester into my trailer and used my tractor to deliver the goods to a nearby silo as per the instructions. Now that I had the basics down, it was time to explore the game more.
Opening the menu, I saw an astonishing amount of information available. These covered the map of the area, showing the farm numbers and where they were. Following the tab on the side, I also discovered the calendar, which shows both the current month and planting schedules and a handy forecast for weather. There was even a contracts board, production chain, current crop sale prices graph and a shop for buying, leasing, and selling tractors, trailers, bikes, cars, and so much more.
Once I had looked through the menu, I returned to the contracts tab. The contracts tab is a recruitment board that assists other farms in the area. It is designed to allow you to use your gear or lease it from the shop for a fee. For the first contract, I decided to lease the tractor and trailer and proceeded to the shop to hook up the trailer and head out to farm nineteen. I found I could drive to the shop or use the shortcut of tabbing to the leased tractor.
I spent a few in-game hours completing the task and selected collect, which also returned the leased items to the shop. Leaving Farmer Jacob looking silly and standing in the field. A quick tab, and I was back at my farm and on one of my tractors. This was my life in the game for a few more hours, taking on contracts and earning a profit, learning that if I took on a contract and leased the gear, if the original job wasn’t collected on, I was able to keep the gear. This little perk meant I was able to earn a bit more profit from contracts utilising the same gear.
In my first play session, I used a mouse and keyboard, and it lasted over four hours, and the time flew by. In my next play session, I decided to try the game with my Logitech GT wheel and pedals. Although it is an older model, it was recognised by the game, and with some slight tweaks to sensitivity, I was able to cruise around and operate the vehicles with ease. When on foot or using some equipment, such as the logging truck, I had to use my PS4 controller as I needed the joysticks. Using the controller meant a small dip in immersion, but I still enjoyed the overall game.
Unfortunately, things took a turn from there; for whatever reason, my next session began to show some issues in the game. Once the game was released to the public, I found I was unable to load a previous save, and I was also having texture issues. This disappointed me massively as I had lost hours of gameplay and progress. I was also unable to reach the multiplayer servers on my main PC. After uninstalling and reinstalling, the problems persisted. I decided that I would try to swap out my gaming laptop, which seems to have solved some of the issues, and even after following multiple suggestions from the online forums to fix the issues, it seems my main PC is not compatible with the game. So, the rest of my review has been completed on my laptop.
Using the laptop, unfortunately, meant not playing with the steering wheel and only using the controller, mouse, and keyboard. I mainly used the PS5 controller once I switched to the laptop; again, the controller was recognised, and the controls were auto-assigned. Although I have yet to try playing on them, I do now have access to the multiplayer servers. Loading into the multiplayer tab, I immediately saw the servers populate and saw games that were accessible to me. I quickly booted into one or two only to test that I could, and I did not proceed to play in them. I can see the appeal of playing on a server, especially when farming root vegetables, as the harvester requires some more attention when transferring the vegetables to a trailer, and the AI was next to useless as an assistant in this task.
With the game working, I loaded in and began to work on some of the contracts on the contract board. Choosing to borrow equipment, I headed into town to collect the harvester and tractor-trailer combo. Having two bits of equipment to get to the field is complicated. I returned to the map menu and found the AI driver options on the map screen. Selecting the tractor and trailer, I tasked the AI with driving to the field while I drove the harvester and its trailer. Once I arrived at the field, I set the AI driver to complete the harvesting. I soon noticed the tractor and trailer had yet to arrive, and looking at the notification, it seemed they were stuck. I quickly swapped to the tractor to help get it out of the jam and reset the AI. The AI driver continued to get stuck on its route to the field, and in the end, I decided to drive the tractor to the farm myself to save further grief.
With the helper driving the harvester, I used the tractor to pull the trailer alongside the harvester and allow them to empty their catchment into the trailer, ensuring to move out of the way when it was turning to prevent the AI from getting upset and stopping. This part of the game is relaxing, and I enjoyed it. After the field was completed, I asked the AI to take the grain to the silo and empty it and moved back to the contract board to find a nearby field that was ready to be harvested as well. I already had the required tractor and harvester, so I accepted the job and headed to the field and
Setting the AI to work, I quickly checked on the tractor driver to find they had again become stuck rendering assistance. I took over the task, delivering the grain where it was needed.
I carried on the above for a while, contract hopping and taking up multiple varieties of tasks, setting the AI where I could. This allowed me to earn additional dollars, and I chose to complete some of the tasks too hard for the AI. These tasks included logging, rock removal, tree trimming, and log transportation. This has been most of my experience in the game; while I have grown some canola, I haven’t worried too much about running my farm as I wanted to learn more about the gear, tractors, and other vehicles before I dove in deep at my farm. I have enjoyed the banter and chatter in the forums and see the massive variety of mods being brought in to assist and make the game better. The modding community is amazing in this, as they were in the previous games.
The biggest surprise once I had gotten into the game was the quality of the visuals and the sound. The variance in sounds for the engines of each vehicle was great, and the environment was full of life. Listening to birds singing or tweeting while also hearing the cars on the street. There are also a bunch of people and other cars on the roads, which can sometimes be more of a hindrance to the AI drivers, but it does make the game feel alive. I have also had fun riding horses and bikes and driving vehicles, small and large. The ambience of the world is very relaxing, you can listen to tunes from the in-game radio or put on your own. There is something fun about listening to a cowboy sing about the hardships of farming while you tend to yours.
Farming Simulator 25 is a huge game, and I have only scratched the surface. There is a massive amount of content to explore, and with the community’s aid, I hope to keep farming and seeing the improvements roll in. Coming from an older version, I immediately noticed the update in the textures and quality of the in-game models and sounds. However, the AI still needs some work, but for basics, it is ok. What I love about the game is the modding community; there are so many small quality-of-life additions you can quickly implement, and it seems that Giant has encouraged this.
(Review code provided to Explosion Network.
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