Recensione: Farming Simulator 17 Platinum Edition

There is a strange category of people who, every year or so, buy Farming Simulator. The farm life simulation series, now in its 2018 edition, has been a regular fixture for some years now, with each iteration adding different locations, means and crops without changing their mechanics. Last year the 2017 edition of the simulation title of Giants Software was not long in coming, and the upgrade to the Platinum Edition. So here's to Farming Simulator 17 Platinum Edition.

We tested the Playstation 4 version for you, but it is also available on PC via the Steam and Xbox One platforms. It is not known whether the title will receive additional optimizations for Xbox One X.

La Platinum Expansion, which can be purchased separately to unlock the new content if you already have Farming Simulator17 or bundled with the base title, costs € 49.99 on the Playstation Store and 36.99 on Steam. It introduces a new series of vehicles into the game, a new location set in South America, in addition to the North American and Eastern European ones, and a new crop, that of sugar cane. For the rest, it leaves the mechanics and dynamics of the game unchanged, extremely complex and that take a long, long time to learn.

Complex mechanics

And maybe they are right there mechanical to generate the great charm of this type of game, as well ALLextreme longevity. The difficulty (which still has three selectable levels) is palpable, from the very first moments. The tutorial, long and perhaps even a bit boring, it becomes essential to fully understand how a farm is managed. Even just thinking about plowing a field becomes a considerable dilemma, because you have to think about the tractor, what implement it is used for and in what conditions it is. Obviously you will need the plow, but remember where it is, the commands to use it (different for all machines) if it is in good condition and usable or if it needs to be repaired or replaced.

It will also be necessary to remember to leave the fields bare for some time, or to fertilize them. For this we will need farm animals to collect manure and save some on the use of fertilizer, but at that point part of our proceeds from the sale of crops will be spent on the purchase of special feed for the animals. Or we will find ourselves using part of our own products, thus having a lower income, and so on.

Farming Simulator 17, on its own and without the DLCs, offers a potentially endless gaming experience, if that's your thing. Through the Platinum Edition you will have a further expansion of longevity with the new, beautiful South American area, to which particular work must have been dedicated for the management of the lights, which are truly beautiful, and the new sugar cane plantation, typical of the region even in real life. You will also have the opportunity to expand your fleet of machinery, with new tractors, plows, combine harvesters and many other agricultural vehicles and tools that you can use to carry on, expand and make your virtual farm grow.

All wedged in a simulation context which imposes itself as its ultimate goal to be as truthful as possible.

The precision of the simulation, to the point that it becomes excessively meticulous at times, is such as to recreate peasant life almost perfectly. It approaches 100% when you have the good idea, as the writer, of setting the flow of time to "real time", ie one minute on your watch will correspond to one minute on the clock in game. At that point, only the dust, mud and smells of peasant life will be missing to arrive at the perfect simulation. But you can always work around if you live in the countryside: open the window and go, that's it.

Excellent new content

The problem now is: better the base game or its Platinum version?

To explain it as quickly and understandably as possible, we can tell you that the differences between the base game and its platinum version in terms of mechanics and technical sector are absolutely identical. What changes is the longevity, which thanks to the increasing levels of difficulty is still able to keep you glued to the pad or keyboard for several months if you can get into the game and understand its mechanics and contents. Already on its own, Farming Simulator 17 is a very, very rich game, between crops and means. The Platinum is even more so, and those twenty euros more to spend are actually money well spent.

However, the fact remains that titles such as Farming Simulator 17 Platinum Edition they are niche titles, which rarely have appeal to the masses (although the standard version has sold over a million and a half units, three platforms), and if you do not fall into the category of fans of precision simulations you risk not being able to appreciate it on the way mechanics perhaps excessively precise, even if from the graphic and sound point of view it is truly appreciated by all. Sure, getting to the end of the tutorial is almost as hard as a day spent picking grapes in the sun in September (trust me, we know something), and launching the controller could suddenly become your favorite sport, but once you get into the system , seeing your fields grow luxuriant and your animals placid and healthy in their enclosures gives a certain satisfaction.

Will the new contender Pure Farming Simulator 2018 be able to remove the crown from the Giant Games title in the future?

Farming Simulator 17 Platinum Edition is not a title that we would recommend to the masses, but for fans of simulatives or more simply of the Farming Simulator series it is a practically mandatory upgrade, or at least highly recommended for the enrichment of the gameplay with the third playable area. and the possibility of planting sugar cane in addition to the usual barley, wheat, potatoes and carrots. And who knows, it could always happen that by becoming passionate about this title you will find your vocation, or if not really the desire to go to work in the countryside, at least to make your own vegetable garden, or to keep a basil plant on the terrace.