There’s a chapter towards the start of Pixpil’s 2021 RPG Eastward in which our heroes find themselves settled down in an idyllic town. They farm. They share meals with friends. They go on lighthearted quests.
It does not last.
Without spoiling too much for any newcomers out there, I can tell you Eastward is not an entirely happy game. While its characters are often cartoonish and larger than life, there’s a deep sadness that permeates the entire adventure. Not everyone gets a happy ending, as much as we might wish they did.
Enter Eastward: Octopia, a farming DLC that decides to completely ignore everything that happens in the main story and just give everyone a nice relaxing life in a rural town. Pixpil makes it clear at the start of the DLC’s story that this is a completely different universe, so I guess that settles that.
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It is, frankly, incredible that a £5 expansion that has so little to do with the original game should be this good. And yet it is. Eastward: Octopia is probably the best thing I’ve played so far in 2024, and has scratched an itch that hasn’t quite been scratched since the first time I played Stardew Valley.
Let me be very clear upfront: Octopia is nowhere near as deep a game as Stardew Valley. Having said that, Pixpil’s effort is hiding a surprising amount of depth. While Octopia might not keep you grinding away for as long as some of the other farming sims out there, it manages to out-charm the vast majority of Stardew-likes with one hand behind its back.
Octopia opens with John and Sam, the heroes of the main game, arriving by train to an abandoned theme park called, you guessed it, Octopia. The perfect place to start a new life, I’m sure we can all agree. From here, the thrust of the DLC should be familiar to anyone who’s ever played a farming game before. You harvest crops, fish, make money, upgrade tools, and work to bring new characters to Octopia so you can all work together and turn it into a fully functioning town.
It’s not a staggeringly original formula, then, but Octopia introduces a number of smart touches designed to make chores less of a chore. Your watering can will never run out of water, for example. When John tills the land, Sam will automatically plant the seeds you have equipped. You can even buy a special one-off item that allows you to instantly grow all your crops the second they come into contact with water.
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While Pixpil could very easily have artificially padded the experience out, everything in Octopia is beautifully streamlined. A quick and easy farming sim for people that might not want to put in over 100 hours just to see everything.
Obviously Octopia also borrows its strengths from the things that made Eastward one of my favourite games of 2021: the music of Joel Corelitz and the stunning pixel art. The former is as captivating as it ever was, with old classics and some new mixes thrown in. The latter is perfectly suited to a relaxing game about settling down in a rural town, and Octopia is frequently a feast for the eyes. Whether you’re trudging through the rain in search of new, rare fish, or watching the sunset across the mountain range, this is yet another game that looks sublime on my OLED Nintendo Switch.
While newcomers to Eastward can play Octopia first if they really want to, I think you’ll get more of a kick seeing how characters from the base game end up in your town and how they contribute to your agricultural endeavours. You can even invite characters round for dinner every evening, with the meals you prepare giving you bonuses that will allow you to work the land more efficiently the following day. If you’ve the same investment in the characters of Eastward as I do, you’ll love seeing them sitting down to share a meal together in an altogether more peaceful world.
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Eastward: Octopia might not be the biggest or most original farming sim you’ll ever play, but as a relatively inexpensive DLC it’s an absolutely essential experience for fans of the base game. For anyone else? Well, pick up Eastward for the wonderful farming game and get one of the best RPGs of the last few years as a tidy bonus.
Pros: Streamlined farming elements, top-notch soundtrack, beautiful pixel art-style
Cons: It’s less than a tenner, what more do you want?
For fans of: Stardew Valley, Earthbound, Eastward
9/10: Exceptional
Eastward: Octopia is available now for PC and Nintendo Switch (both versions tested). Review code was provided by the publisher. Read a guide to our review scores here.
Featured Image Credit: ChucklefishTopics: Indie Games, Steam