Farming Simulator 25 review: several games in one

I have been playing the Farming Simulator series since version 15, with some interruptions, for ten years now. During this time, the game has progressed while remaining the same as it was. Judging by the sales results and the number of online players, this is exactly what fans need. Let’s see what’s new in Farming Simulator 25.

Numbers

But first, let’s figure out the numbers, because the authors of Farming Simulator, the Swiss studio Giants Software, do not hesitate to number their games through the whole process, not really caring about which platforms the next installment is released on.

Giants Software is a typical one-game company. Like SCS Software, it tried to experiment with different games at first, but quickly focused on the main project, which gathered a real army of fans.

Although there are already 18 games in the Farming Simulator series, only nine of them are considered to be mainstream, i.e. releases on PC and major consoles: Farming Simulator 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2022, and 2025. Starting with Farming Simulator 2011, the games in the series are released a year ahead of the numbering year, like sports simulators from Electronic Arts. All other Farming Simulator releases are mobile games for smartphones, portable consoles, or games for old systems. Thus, in 2018, Giants Software released versions of the game for the legendary Commodore 64, and in 2024 – for the Sega Mega Drive!

Since FS 2009, the game has support for mods, since FS 2011 – multiplayer and animal husbandry, since FS 15 – forestry. The studio uses its own multi-platform engine GIANTS Engine, which is constantly updated to support modern technologies. The latest version of the GIANTS Engine 10 supports DLAA, DLSS 3, FidelityFX Super Resolution 3, Intel XeSS, ray tracing, volumetric lighting and volumetric fog, and much more.

The previous version of the game, Farming Simulator 22, sold 1.5 million copies in the first week and 6 million copies by the end of 2023. Judging by the fact that the launch of Farming Simulator 25 online on Steam amounted to more than 126 thousand players, which is 20% more than Farming Simulator 22, we can expect new records.

But let’s get back to the game itself.

Machinery

For me, the Farming Simulator series is a game primarily about agricultural machinery, the range of which is growing from version to version, and as we know, in Farming Simulator 25 you can try out 400 authentic models of machinery from 150 brands.

Tedders, windrowers, subsoilers, plows, balers, harvesters, cranes, excavators, front-end loaders, trailers, trailers, sprayers, manure and fertilizer spreaders, tanks for various liquids, slurry distributors, rollers, combines, harvesters, forage harvesters, levelers, compactors, pickers, wrappers, planters, seeders, feed mixers, straw blowers, logging machines, forwarders, haulers, shredders, stump cutters, belt systems, and more. You’ll get tired even flipping through the list of equipment.

Tractors range from Landini Rex 4 GT and New Holland TK 4.80, which can be used in the aisles of olive orchards and vineyards, to real semi-tracked giants like John Deer 9RX, Claas Xerion 12 or Case IH Steiger 715, which impress with their power and size. The cockpits of modern tractors and combines resemble the cockpits of spaceships – a bunch of screens with additional information, images from several cameras, a bunch of buttons and joysticks.

After getting acquainted with Farming Simulator 15 in 2014, I started visiting the AGRO exhibition at VDNKh every year, where I could see all these amazing machines in person and even sit in the cab. It was like going back to childhood, when we all wanted to drive big machines. Now this dream can be realized in Farming Simulator 25.

Watching huge weeders or alien-like sprayers unfold is a real pleasure. The machines and combines in the game have a lot of moving parts, joints, headlights, hooks, etc. And it all works. Unlike Train Sim World 5, every button in the cab is not pressed, but there are enough operations, especially when driving combines, loaders, or logging equipment with cranes with several degrees of freedom.

Interestingly, Farming Simulator 25 has the same trucks as in American Truck Simulator and Euro Truck Simulator 2, and even those that are not yet available in SCS Software games. For example, the classic International Transtar II Eagle, Mack Super-Liner 6×4, or the electric Volvo FH Electric. Plus, there are International Series 200 and International CV Series pickups, a Skoda Kodiaq car, and even a motorcycle.

To be honest, the equipment in Farming Simulator 25 would be enough for three or four separate simulations. And this is not counting the equipment that is available in mods and will appear in DLC. This is not a game, but a real agro-technoporn.

Farming and gardening

Each type of crop has its own equipment and its own set of operations that need to be performed to get a good harvest and profit. Plowing, liming, cultivating, cultivating with huskers or rotary harrows, sowing, weeding, spraying herbicides, applying solid or liquid fertilizers, harvesting, windrowing, rolling, mulching, stone harvesting, and planting intercrops. It’s incredible how much work it takes to get a harvest, and it makes you respect what farmers and peasants do, all those millions of people who make it possible for you to have your morning toast with cheese and coffee with milk.

Farming Simulator 25 distinguishes between grain crops that can be cultivated with one type of combine and reaper. But sunflower, corn, and cotton require separate combines. So do root crops. As well as olives and grapes. So is rice, which is new to this part of the country. By the way, rice fields are a separate and very big hassle, with germination of seedlings in separate greenhouses, special equipment, flooding of fields, etc. So when you choose what to do, you also choose the category of equipment, and sometimes it is very, very expensive.

Outsourced contracts from other farmers are a good way to get to know the different machines you don’t have the money for, as well as the stages of care for different crops. And at the same time, you can earn some money. You can hire AI workers to do any work in the field, but be careful: on the same Zielonka map based on Poland and the Czech Republic, the plots near houses are tiny, so you can lose more than you earn on renting equipment and paying AI workers.

And animal husbandry

Animal husbandry is a whole new ball game. In the case of cows, pigs, and buffaloes, you not only need to provide them with a separate diet, but also do something with the manure. This means separate buildings, separate equipment and tasks.

Other animals are a little easier, they seem to work in a semi-autonomous mode, the main thing is to provide them with a roof over their heads, pasture and food, and you can pick up eggs, wool, honey, etc. from time to time and take them to the market. But you still need a forklift and a truck. And horses, for example, need to be trained separately by riding them. If you have a lot of horses, this can take a lot of time.

A new feature of Farming Simulator 25 is farm kiosks where you can sell your own products – eggs, milk, vegetables. In addition, you can even build your own supply chains as part of an economic or production strategy by purchasing bakeries, mills, weaving mills, sawmills, etc.

As I said, there are several separate games hidden in this game. There are no restrictions or global tasks (there are, but they are optional), so each farmer can choose his own path.

Logging

The third major component of Farming Simulator 25 is logging. Here, there are completely separate machines and it is not so easy to control them. In addition, it is quite difficult to maneuver in the forest, so we need separate equipment to pull out logs, load them, etc.

The problem with cranes, excavators, and logging machines is not only 3-4 degrees of freedom, but also problems with object interaction. The interaction of objects is generally one of the most difficult tasks for both car simulators and any technological simulators. And when a falling tree clings to other trees with its branches, and your machine clings to a tree, incredible mishaps can happen. For example, the combine will climb a tree, fall underground, and go flying.

This is a problem, but forestry is still interesting and quite profitable, although the prices for equipment are also fantastic. But if you want, you can cut down and trim the trees with a hand saw, and take them out with a simple tractor with a crane and a trailer.

In addition to cutting down trees, stumps need to be uprooted and new trees planted. There is enough work for everyone.

Graphics

Farming Simulator games have always looked good, and Farming Simulator 25 is no exception. Sometimes FS25 shows just a stunning picture. When the morning fog slides down from the slopes and sits on the fields, and the first rays of the sun break through the trees – it’s something.

Sometimes in this game you can just walk the streets of the village to look at the houses around you, look for cozy places and interesting views, as well as collectibles. For example, I spent the first hour on Zielonka’s map wandering around the village and wondering how much it looked like our Volyn. In fact, the wide fields, the ears of wheat under the sun, the distance in the haze – an incredibly beautiful picture dear to the heart of every Ukrainian.

You have to pay for beauty, so the system requirements of Farming Simulator 25 are considerable, and the game still has some optimization issues.

For the first time?

As we already wrote, immediately after the release, Farming Simulator 25 received not very good reviews. Now the game’s rating has already risen to 72/100 (5000 reviews) and is likely to grow. Because players remember well that almost every release of Farming Simulator was accompanied by problems that the authors and mods eventually fixed.

Right now, perhaps the biggest problem with Farming Simulator 25 is the screen flashing. Every 10-60 seconds, the entire screen flashes, and no amount of tweaking, editing ini files, changing drivers, or configuring the video card can fix this glitch yet. Another problem is graphics slowdowns right after the game starts. Over time, they go away (maybe it’s a background shader update?!), but the first few minutes are not very pleasant.

Other glitches include the random refusal of AI workers to work. They were just working well, and now they “don’t see the field” and you can’t do anything about it. At the same time, there seems to be a lot more opportunities to customize employees and interesting features, but unfortunately, it doesn’t work.

We have already mentioned the problems of physics. Sometimes an attempt to put a harvester on a trailer for transportation can send the combine, the trailer, and the harvester into space or underground. Forestry has the same problem. Logs and tree trunks behave badly.

Plus, Farming Simulator 25 has a lot of small bugs and inconveniences. Such as the radio not switching, villagers wearing summer clothes in winter, snow disappearing after loading, collectibles that cannot be taken, achievement glitches, and so on. All this should be fixed with patches, so players are not too worried. It’s unpleasant, but not the first time.

What’s next

For the first year, the developers of Farming Simulator 25 have prepared four updates that will be included in the Year 1 Season Pass (purchased separately). Among them are three sets of additional equipment, as if that wasn’t enough. Innovative Machinery seems to us to be the most interesting, because agriculture is the area where robotics, AI, etc. are now actively involved. Plus, the fourth map should be released at the end of the year, and it looks like Scotland.

Most likely, some additional equipment will appear during the year, plus modders will drag their products from Farming Simulator 22 to the new version of the game. Some mods have already appeared in the official section, but they are still not enough.

Thank you for the Ukrainian language!

I would like to thank Giants Software for translating Farming Simulator 25 into Ukrainian. When I first launched the game, Ukrainian did not appear in the list of languages for some reason, and I even managed to complain to the authors and make a small fuss on Twitter, but the second time I launched the game, the language suddenly appeared. You can switch languages in the game settings in the Steam library.

Well, everything in Farming Simulator 25 has been translated, including the large farming guide. And the translation is actually very good. So thank you very much, Giants Software, this is very important to us.

I would become a farmer

Numerous casual farming simulators like Stardew Valley, My Time at Portia, etc. are leading the trend of calming games by quite a large margin. Farming Simulator 25 is a calming but hardcore farming simulator. And this game will help you understand how important and how difficult this work is. Have a good harvest everyone!