‘Cattle Country’ Review: A Grand Old Time

My first exposure to Farming / Life Sims began with Harvest Moon: The Tale of Two Towns on the Nintendo 3DS but it wasn’t until the release of Stardew Valley that I really got into the genre. I’ve had my fun with Stardew Valley but it was time to experience another game of the genre and that’s when I came across Cattle Country, which shared a lot of the same elements but was done in a western setting, which I was more than happy to experience.

Cattle Country is a Western Farming / Life Sim which involves your character moving to a small town to begin a new life. The game features farming, mining, fishing and hunting elements alongside a wide cast of characters, each with their own stories to experience.

When I first launched the game, I was pretty happy with the level of customization you can give to your character, it felt like just the right amount to avoid feeling overwhelmed or forcing you to spend hours deciding on the right look. I will admit that I wished there were more hairstyles available because none really stood out to me.

With my character created, I started the game and became excited when the opening letter had voice acting. It was a pleasant surprise that really stood out even though the game doesn’t continue that trend later on. As I settled in and planted my starting crops, I began my first mission which was meeting the 22 locals. I noticed immediately as I explored the character’s running animation reminded me a lot of the Kindergarten series of games, which made the game feel familiar alongside the same farming and skill mechanics seen in Stardew Valley.

I really want to appreciate how alive each zone feels because of the amount of animals that inhabit it. hey’re all beautifully designed and while they don’t appear to be unique to each zone from what I’ve noticed, I like that they change depending on whether it’s daytime or night. They’re also very reactive, whenever I go near, they hide in a patch of grass or tree, when I chop down a tree, they fly away and even using my weapon disrupts the entire environment, causing them to flee (I’ve since then avoided using my weapons).

As I almost approach the end of my first year, the rate of progression has been quite varied. I’m happy that I’m close to leveling up all my skills. I found that they weren’t difficult to raise. I’ve completed most of the quests assigned to me and whatever relevant upgrades such as new buildings and expansions to the town. One part that I was really excited to complete was the relics system as I managed to almost complete it within the first year aside from a few missing crops, fish and artifacts. The relic system could use some improvement as I have a hard time remembering which items can still be donated. An icon or some form of indicator for the items which can still be donated outside of the town hall would be a huge help.

I will admit that during the beginning of Fall is when I began to feel a lot of boredom, while I still had my skills to level up the gameplay felt a little too repetitive. I was basically just trying to make the most of my days, killing time while I waited for my crops to grow. I tried to level up my relationships with the NPCs however, it felt very slow with each one staying at 1 heart each. It’s possible that I haven’t been doing enough but I’ll know for sure once I continue my playthrough.

The skills in particular, which include mining, foraging, fishing, farming and huntin,g are all pretty fun activities, I especially loved the mining aspect due to its 2D nature and my love of Minecraft and the fishing system is a lot easier to handle except for the occasional lag that ruins my catch. I will admit that maxing out some of the skills felt a bit underwhelming. Every time you level up a skill you unlock recipes for furniture, food items and the occasional building but there were no perks to add that extra boost to the gameplay. 

The in-game events have been quite fun, I’m proud to say that they were easy enough to the point that I unlocked the grand prizes each time, except for the livestock festival, because I took some time before building my first chicken coop. I think my favorite event was definitely the Halloween event, which featured pumpkin carving and once the event ended, you received your custom pumpkin in your mailbox. 

There’s still so much to do in the game, whether it’s fully upgrading the town, completing all the achievements or learning about all of the characters’ stories, I’m excited to experience it all. This game has definitely had me hooked for countless hours and I’m looking forward to spending even more time on it in the future. I’m not sure what the endgame looks like, but if there’s room for more content, I’ll be all for it.

Cattle Country is developed by Castle Pixel and is available now on Steam, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S and Nintendo Switch for $18.99 USD.

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